Sunday, 15 February 2009

Tramping through the Fiordland

We just completed a 3 day hike (aka tramp) through the Fiordland National Park.  It was a NZ Great walk and the track is called the Routeburn Track.  We saw the best that New Zealand has to offer up close - rainforests, lakes, waterfalls, gorges, mountains & glaciers.  Further details of the 3 day breakdown is below.

Day 1:DSC_1718

2.5 hr hike from Car park to our Routeburn Flats Hut, 150m ascent.  This was an uphill climb through a dense red beech forest where we walked alongside a gorge with beautiful blue water where the routeburn river gushed through.  DSC_1732 We had great weather for hiking - sunny with some cloud and breeze.  We also went across 6 swing bridges.  I have a lot of fun bouncing on these bridges but I started to get glares from Syd after a while.DSC_1719

We stayed in a small hut with 20 bunks that night.   It had sweet glacier views.DSC_1746 I also saw some cute birdlife at the hut.  This included a yellowhead that made high-pitched shrill chirps, some rifleman(NZ's smallest bird) hopping around and pecking at some trees.  My favourite was the NZ robin who had a puffy white chest (not red like we know).  She was a very curious bird and stayed under the sink just watching me while I brushed my teeth.

Day 2:IMG_0627

7 hr hike to Mackenzie Lake hut, 550m ascent to saddle, 350m descent to hut.  The morning was a steep climb through forest with some more swing bridges and waterfalls! IMG_0630 Our calves were feeling the pain a bit more on day 2.   We walked across a slip that washed out the track in 1994 and is apparently very dangerous to cross still while its raining (thankfully it wasn't). DSC_1751 I lost my sunglasses in this part of the track (note to self - don't put them on your hat as you don't feel they are there when you go to take your hat off!). 

It was then an exposed hike with strong winds up the face of a small mountain to get to the saddle between 2 mountains. DSC_1761 There was a hut there called 'the saddle hut' where we stopped for our lunch break, but Syd climbed the conical hill first (1 hr return).  IMG_0641 IMG_0640 It was a steep climb, but it was so cloudy that day that he basically was above/within the clouds but couldn't see anything.  He thought it was neat though.

The next part of the track was stunning.   As we walked along the edge of a cliff, on our right side was the mountain range called 'the Darran Mountains'.  DSC_1787 It was amazing to be so high above the treeline, and be so close to such great mountains.  Whenever there was a break in the clouds, we would get a glimpse of the glacier peaks.  Just fantastic.DSC_1781

The last part of the track saw us above lake Mackenzie, which was green due to the copper in the rocks.  Looked like an emerald from above.DSC_1789   Then we descended into an eerie forest that was all covered in hairy moss & lichen - it was so alive.  It was so green inside that forest that it was almost blinding on the eyes after such a cloudy hike.  It was so quiet and atmospheric in the forest that I felt like we were in a movie set of the Wizard of Oz and the flying monkeys were going to jump out and grab us! ;o)DSC_1794

Mackenzie hut was massive (60 bunks) but we found other Canadians to play cards with and the night flew by.  Oh yeah, hikers go to bed at 9:30, so we did too, but it felt weird going to bed that early...though our tired muscles appreciated it.

Day 3:

3.5 hr hike to carpark (the Divide), 150m ascent then 350 descent to the Divide.  The ranger the night before informed us that it would rain all night and into the next day. Apparently the fjordland gets 200 days of rain (hence all the moss).  Also, its not quite the routeburn experience unless you get a day of trekking in the rain.  So, we loaded up our gear and tryed to waterproof it as much as we could with limited resources, and started off.  IMG_0669

The first hour of trekking in constant rain was actually okay. We thought it was actually kind of fun.  Then, once we had to walk through a river without stepping stones and both got soakers (and were soaked through everywhere else too), we decided that the fun is short-lived but bearable.  We passed at least 7 waterfalls along the way.  We heard the thunder of one on our approach and I almost fell over in awe at the sight of the falls. Its called Erland falls and its 174m high.  In the rain the volume was massive and gorgeous!  Amazing sight.IMG_0673

I was surprisingly in good spirits and had lots of energy, and we burned through the track in 2.5 hours to get to the next hut where we stripped off the wet clothes and took an hour break to chill before heading off again to the car park.  It did create an ambiance to have rain create a slippery, shiny sheen on everything.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wow!! Wow!! Wow!! do you kids know how to travel.oh my could nature be any more breathtaking so glad your sharing it with us. Hope you had a lovely Valentine Day. Always in our hearts Love Mom & Dad