Part II – Great Walks of New Zealand

This description of a hiking trip in the South Island had caught our attention a few years ago. It promised a taste of three of the most iconic walking tracks in New Zealand – the Kepler, Milford and Routeburn. We booked a night in Queenstown and four nights in Te Anau in order to experience a day on each track.

An early morning flight from Whangarei to Auckland and then on to Queenstown gave us an afternoon to explore the lakeside and an evening to enjoy the town. A long, leisurely lunch by the lakeside and then a gentle stroll through Queenstown Gardens meant that by the evening all we needed was beer and wine from a bottle store and a couple of packets of crisps to consume on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

After a leisurely start and a café breakfast we had a scenic bus ride to Te Anau and an afternoon to explore the town.

The next day was scheduled to be a helicopter ride up to the Luxmore Hut on the Kepler Track. However, low cloud and steady rain led to a reshuffle and we found ourselves heading to the Divide – and the start of the Routeburn track.

Knowing that the weather was supposed to improve later in the day and with no time constraints, our guide for the day did her best to delay the start of the walk. She made frequent stops for distant views into the low cloud and then took us past the Divide to experience the literally hundreds of waterfalls that had sprung up – all feeding the Hollyford River next to the Milford Sound Highway. The overnight rain and the steady drizzle this morning meant they were well worth viewing.

Eventually, our guide ran out of distractions for us and we were forced to return to The Divide and start the Routeburn. Fortunately, her ploy had worked and we had avoided (at least the worst) of the rain.

The walk started in thick, temperate rainforest and climbed steadily into the alpine environment of the Key Summit. The track, which was rocky but not slippery, was basically a river bed for nearly the entire tramp. Our guide was not impressed with the engineering. Although it felt safe enough, we were frequently in up to ankle-deep water – the constant (not unpleasant) sound of the running water is a strong memory of the day. Unfortunately, the low cloud hid most of the expansive views that we were hoping for upon reaching Key Summit. Instead, we got occasional glimpses of snow capped peaks and alpine lakes – to be filled by our imaginations. It was an incredibly beautiful afternoon’s tramp and left us all feeling quite invigorated.

We live and learn…We knew nothing about the New Zealand tree nettle until today. Obviously we had been lucky not to have come across it. It is one of New Zealand’s most poisonous plants and occurs throughout the North and South islands. The tip of each tooth on its leaves has numerous white stinging hairs. These are hollow cylinders with tapered points, which break after piercing the skin, injecting toxins into the tissues, giving rise to pain and a rash and can cause numbness, severe headaches, blurred vision and extreme fatigue. Dog and horses have died from its sting. Definitely worth knowing what it looks like.

The next day brought an early start as we had to retrace our drive from yesterday into Fiordland National Park, past the Divide and into Milford Sound. Here, a water taxi took us across to Sandfly Point and the start (or end) of the Milford Track.

The scenic track follows the Arthur River to Lake Ada and then on to the Giant Gate Waterfall. This was our turning point where we had a short break before heading back to Milford Sound for a scenic cruise through the spectacular fiord.

We weren’t overly bothered by sandflies but clearly they are an issue and have been for many years. This extract was part of a wall display in the shelter at Sandfly Point. It was written in 1895.

The walk took us through more temperate rainforest with tantalising glimpses of majestic peaks all around us but later in the afternoon we got to see the whole panorama on an unimaginably glorious, sunny day.

What a difference a day makes. On our trip back to Te Anau we stopped at Monkey Creek next to the Hollyford River. Yesterday we were here in the rain, today was glorious sunshine.

Saturday was our final day of walking – and the weather gods continued to smile on us. Today we were to take our rescheduled helicopter ride to the Luxmore Hut on the Kepler Track. The low mist that hung over Lake Te Anau gradually burned off as we waited for the helicopter.

We had panoramic, birds eye views over the lake and surrounding mountains as we ascended from Lake Te Anau to the Luxmore Hut on the Kepler Track. This was our starting point for the day and from there, we followed the trail up Mount Luxmore until everyone thought we had climbed high enough and then began the approximately 1.2 vertical km descent.

This was almost a reversal of day 1 where we began in temperate rainforest and ended in alpine scenery. Today we were whisked straight into the alpine tussock and then wound our way back down to the silver beech forest at Brod Bay. From here a water taxi took us back across the lake to Te Anau.

We are used to seeing predator traps as we walk around Whangārei Heads but the ones we saw here seemed much more robust. Our guide on the Routeburn track explained why: The traps have a double entry with bait in the middle. The bait is usually an egg and a piece of dried meat. The rats or mustelids that are being targeted could enter from either end and be killed in the spring trap as they try to get to the bait. When the traps were first used the DOC rangers were surprised to find traps sprung and bait missing but no dead pests. It took some time to discover that the local kea had found that they could lift up one end of the trap box and be rewarded with a lovely egg and piece of meat rolling out of the other end. As an added bonus, when they dropped the box the spring traps inside made a delightful noise as they went off. Once this was discovered the traps were pinned to the ground with large steel pegs. The ever resourceful keas then discovered that they could chew around the bolts holding the lids on and get into the boxes that way. Now the area around the bolts is re-enforced with steel. This has defeated the kea, so far at least!

Our walking days were now complete. Just one more early walk for Nigel to visit the takahe enclosure by the lake then we were back on the bus to Queenstown airport to catch a plane to Auckland while Pete and Philippa collected a hire car to explore a little more of the South Island.

Well that was the plan. There was a last minute change.

Our flight to Auckland was late and then there was a further delay due to a ‘medical emergency’. It turned out that the medical emergency involved one of the cabin crew and the plane was now short staffed for the return journey. The call came for ten volunteers to remain in Queenstown overnight. Since we knew we had already missed our connecting flight to Whangārei, we volunteered.

As a result we had a night in the Queenstown Hilton who ,because they were full, upgraded us to a two bedroom suite. We enjoyed a fabulous meal (courtesy of Air NZ) and were given $600 worth of travel vouchers to spend with Air New Zealand. The catch? We were put onto a bus to Invercargil the next morning in order to catch our flight to Auckland. C’est la vie.