The Burnhams in Kiwiland 2001-2

The tale continues. We are now in the extreme south of New Zealand after having travelled the length of the West Coast of the South Island. We had great weather until we started to drive to Invercargill, but hey, we needed a down day.

I have decided that Kiwis must be very determined people to ski. After seeing the ski fields in the Nelson Lakes area and then visiting the Remarkables ski fields in Queenstown in the summer, I admire their determination. Just outside Queenstown, a sign at the entrance of the ski road warns drivers to put on their chains; good advice. You drive for nearly 45 minutes over 14 K of dirt road switchbacks to get to the base lodge at the foot of a bowl at 1935 M. According to the literature, the vertical is 357 M. There are three quad chairs going up different sides of the bowl but in the summertime the slopes don't look very skiable. They are just big rock piles. They must need a lot of snow to cover all those rocks and there was no evidence of any snow making equipment. We wanted to get to the top of a ridge we could see above one of the tows. It took us 45 minutes to climb up a service road, then a rocky trail to get to the top. The highest peaks of the Remarkables Range are at 2324 M and we reached a small viewing platform on a saddle just below. Our reward was a great view of Mt Aspiring in the north and two arms of Lake Wakatipu. We took a different route back down to the day lodge, passing a small glacier lake. We passed two fellows who said they had been in for a swim, but it looked too cold for our taste.

Milford Sound is no more than 100 K due west of Queenstown, but there are no roads going directly there. Instead, you have to drive 100 K south, along the shores of Lake Wakatipu and into rolling hills, then head west another 100 K to Te Anau before taking the 120 K long Milford Sound road north again. We had a reservation for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound on the Wanderer, so off we drove on Wednesday, January 30. The most scenic part of the trip is the Milford Road section. There are lots of mountains to see and waterfalls to stop and admire. If we had had more time, we could have hiked the last section of the Routeburn Track, which ends on the Milford Road.

Up to 80 buses a day drive this road during the day, bringing their passengers for a day boat tour in the Sound. We drove to Milford in the afternoon. That meant that a steady stream of buses leaving Milford passed us on the road in. The hairiest part of the route is a 1200-M long tunnel. It was narrow and downhill all the way and the only light was from headlights shining off reflectors on the sides of the tunnel. You just hope you don't meet many tour buses in the middle. We passed several bicyclists before we reached the tunnel. They were being followed by a support van that would pick them up and drive them through the tunnel. It would not be a fun ride in the dark.

We were very pleased with our overnight cruise. We left the dock at 5:00 PM and the only boats in the Sound were our boat, the Wanderer, the more upscale sister ship, the Mariner, and one small tour boat making an early evening trip. The Wanderer can accommodate about sixty people. The small cabins on the lower deck each slept four people in bunk beds. The dining room on the next deck had small booths around the sides and a long table in the middle. We were served soup and a roll soon after we left the dock. We would be eating dinner on board later, but first we had a tour down the Sound.

Milford Sound was formed after glaciers receded from the sea, leaving sheer cliffs on either side of a narrow finger of water. The annual rainfall in Milford is 6 M, but the whole of Fiordland had been experiencing a drought for the last month and it was clear sunny skies the evening we visited. The crew told us they consider the Sound is at its best during a heavy rainfall. Since there is almost no soil on the surrounding mountains to retain the rainwater, the cliffs turn into one continuous waterfall. I was content to admire the few remaining permanent waterfalls in the warm summer evening.

Waterfall in Milford Sound
Kayaks for our use	Ray takes a turn

Near the mouth of the Sound, we anchored and got ready to go kayaking. The boat carried about 26 one-person kayaks for us to use. Ray and I made sure we got in line early to get a boat. It was a lot of fun. We spent about an hour paddling around the bay. The only disappointment was the lack of wildlife. If you are there at the right time of year, there are penguins on the shore and dolphins swimming beside you in the water. They all had the day off when we were there. Personally, I think the penguins are a hoax. Despite all the hype, I am still waiting to see one in the wild. Oh, well, the South Coast promises more penguins. In the meantime, we enjoyed paddling around by ourselves.

Dinner, what I would call good nourishing Kiwi food, Lamb Shanks, potatoes, kumara (sweet potatoes) and veggies, was served shortly after we got underway again. We motored out of the sound and toured a short distance around the mouth. No one lingered over their dinner, although it was very tasty, as they all wanted to be outside watching the sights. We stayed out long enough for the sun to make a beautiful display as it set over the ocean. Then it was back down the Sound to our mooring for the night in Davis Inlet, a nice peaceful location. We had time to find the Southern Cross and get a short lesson in Southern navigation before heading to bed. The next morning we had a good breakfast and another tour of the Sound before returning to the dock at 9:00 AM. I've been recommending the cruise to all our fellow travellers ever since.

We drove back to Te Anau where we stayed at Rosie's Homestay hostel. Rosie has been renting rooms in her family home to travellers for the last nine years, but chooses to to run a full Bed and Breakfast operation. Her four children, aged 9 to 17 are quite used to strangers in their home and were pleased to tell us about their schools and life in NZ. It was nice to have the interaction with a Kiwi family.

For those of you who might be interested, Kiwi bathrooms, especially in Backpackers, are models of efficiency. Most are designed in the English fashion with separate rooms for the toilet and the shower. Usually both rooms have a sink designed to fit in the smallest of spaces. When I first encountered one of these mini-sinks, I thought they were quite useless. Now I am quite used to them and have even grown to admire them. They have a faucet at each end and are only about one small hand span wide. Just big enough to wash your hands or brush your teeth.

We left the next morning, Friday, February 1, to start the Kepler Track. We took a boat shuttle across Lake Te Anau to Brod Bay to cut off a boring round the lake walk. If we had known the walk up to the first hut was going to be so short, we probably would have elected to start at an alternate location half way around the lake. That extra leg only took most people a little more than an hour and we reached Luxmore Hut at noon. It was a steady climb on switchbacks through a beech tree forest to the hut over immaculately kept trails much like the Routeburn Track. We actually went up 800 M to the hut, almost the same altitude gain as the Gillespie Pass, but the switchbacks and the condition of the trail made it a piece of cake.

Luxmore Hut, in a meadow above the tree line, was the most luxurious hut we have stayed in to date. It had a large, separate kitchen and dining area and two bunkrooms. There were even indoor flush toilets, although there was only cold running water and no showers. We were almost the first guests for the night so we chose beds in the smaller and sunnier bunkroom that had two banks of quad bunks. The other room had single bunks for another 40 people.

We were greeted by the hut warden, another middle aged woman, soon after we got there. She was waiting for a helicopter to arrive, bringing a new hut warden for the week and taking her back home. A few minutes later, the helicopter came into view and landed on a wooden platform right next to the hut. Carpenters had been working on new windows in the hut the previous week and there was much debris to be flown out. The helicopter exchanged its passengers, hooked up two large bags of debris to its undercarriage and took off again without even shutting down its engines. It was quite a sight.

Helicopter brings passengers and leaves with debris

Trig on Luxmore summit

The day was sunny but cool, just right for an afternoon walk. We took a recommendation to hike ahead up the trail to the Luxmore Saddle and climb 15 minutes to the Luxmore summit. From there we had a beautiful 360-degree view of the mountains, Lake Te Anau and the nearby Lake Manapouri.

We made a detour on the way back to the hut to visit the Luxmore Caves. There was a lot of limestone in the area and that meant caves. The main cave extends nearly 1 K into the hills with many side passages. There were sturdy wooden steps leading down to the cave but you needed to feel your way along after that. We just had a weak headlamp to guide us so we didn't go very far into the system. We made sure we could still see the light from the cave opening and walked until we came to the first stalactites and limestone formations. It would be interesting to explore with proper headlamps and a guide. Ray is getting very brave about caves and claims we wouldn't need a guide.

Luxmore Cave Formation

By the time we got back to the hut near 4:30 PM, a horde of other trampers had arrived. There were about 40 people staying in the hut that night, but there was room for everyone.

Kepler Trail

Kepler trail stairs

We had perfect weather for the second day of our walk. The majority of the day followed a ridge above the tree line before descending through the forest to the Iris Burn Hut. It was warm and sunny so we had the maximum views all the way. No one was in a big hurry to leave Luxmore in the morning so we were one of the first people to start on the trail. We hiked in glorious solitude until lunchtime. Even after that we only met the occasional tramper. With a relaxing break for lunch we had six hours of hiking over more pristine trails. Even one section down a steep rocky slope was made easier by wooden stairs. The section through the forest dropped 900 M over multiple switchbacks, making it easier on our knees. We were told afterwards that there are 96 switchbacks on the Kepler Track. All the same, we were glad to take our boots off and rest when we reached Iris Burn Hut.

Kepler Iris Burn Hut

Kepler Fern Forest

Iris Burn had similar facilities to Luxmore Hut. Our only problem was that although gas burners were provide you needed matches to light them and we, along with all the early arrivals, forgot to bring any. We had to wait for the later arrivals to get our afternoon tea. We washed out some of our clothes in cold water and hung them on the line to dry. It was so warm it took no time at all to dry.

Our last day of the hike was through the trees nearly all the way. We have seen a lot of NZ beech tree forests, so we didn't waste too much time admiring the view. Like many of our fellow trampers, we hustled ahead to the end. One stop we did make was at the Big Slip of 1984. Part of the mountain 400-M across the valley gave way during heavy rains and pushed huge boulders and mountains of mud and stone all the way across the valley. Nature sure is powerful. We had lunch at Motauro Hut, where you can stay a third night before hiking back to Te Anau. We had planned to hike an hour further to Rainbow Reach where a shuttle bus makes a regular daily run to take trampers back to town. We were double glad we had made that decision, as the sandflies were fierce at the hut. Even my DEET was no match for them. They soon drove us indoors to finish our lunch.