My mom arrived last week for a three week whirlwind tour of New Zealand, and luckily we have it worked out so I won’t be seeing anything I’ve already seen! In a lot of ways I saved the best for last, including the famous Milford Sound (on the cover of all the NZ guidebooks) and the Routeburn Track, allegedly the best out of all nine of NZ’s “great walks”. So we set off south through beautiful Tekapo, where I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the blooming lupine even though I’ve been there once before. From there we headed on to Queenstown, where we enjoyed checking out the town and some great food before getting ready to embark on our hike the next day.
Next stop, Routeburn Track! We drove out to the trailhead in the rain, dreading the possibility that we might spend the next three days cold and wet. But by some miracle the rain stopped right as we reached the car park and we barely saw it again for the rest of our hike! The first leg of our journey was short, only about 3 hours, and it paralleled a pretty river for a while before climbing through the forest up to Routeburn Falls Hut. The rain started up again about halfway through and turned to snow as we gained elevation so we were quite glad to get to the hut! Unfortunately the hut was freezing, stupid coal stove in the corner, but the ramen and reading and people watching kept us entertained.
Track profile - we walked from right to left
Clean!
Crazy New Zealand water colors
Weather deteriorating but pretty anyway!
View from the hut after the blizzard stopped
On the second day the track climbs through the alpine section, which is at high risk for avalanches. We didn’t know this until we picked up our hut tickets in Queenstown but part of the track is still in avalanche danger so DOC is offering a subsidized helicopter ride across the short section of the trail that is unsafe. We had our hearts set on doing the whole track so we decided it was worth it and on the second morning we had a pretty hour-long climb up a snowy valley to where the track was closed. We waited for our helicopter at the gorgeous Lake Harris and soon saw what a slick system they have worked out. The helicopter ride was very short, just up over the ridge and back down, but it was still fun! The way they run their national parks is very different from what would, excuse the pun, fly in the states, but I tried not to consider the environmental effects of my tourism until I was done enjoying the hike. Sorry, dad.
View of Routeburn Falls Hut and valley below
Lake Harris
From Harris Saddle where we got dropped off there were amazing views of an open valley in front of us and mountains all around, which I soaked in as we hiked for the next few hours. Then we started winding our way down a side valley and soon we had a view of our next gorgeous destination – Lake Mackenzie. After an annoying downhill we were there! I feasted on ramen and then went outside to enjoy the sun. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more scenic spot for reading. These were some of the best hours I’ve had while I’ve been in New Zealand.
View of Lake Mackenzie and the hut
Gorgeous Lake Mackenzie
Crazy NZ water
Best reading spot ever, totally worth the sunburn
View from my spot
The last day of the hike was mostly in the forest and pretty but not notable aside from the big waterfall we passed and the pretty Lake Howden on the way out. After four hours my feet were finally feeling the strain of 34km of hiking and I was very happy when we got to the car. Overall, though, this was one of my best hikes in NZ – good weather, good spirits, little pain, amazing scenery. Two great walks down, seven to go!
Earland Falls
Lake Howden
Done! and apparently lost my eyebrows and got a lot uglier on the way.
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