Day One: Climbing up up up up through forest, switchback after switchback, then finally, clear of the trees with dramatic views of Te Anau and Lake Te Anau. Another 3/4 hour and we reached the first hut. It had a tremendous view of the mountains and of the lake far below, and it was crowded with a jolly and very international crowd, including some Germans who'd carried their one-year-old up the 1,000-metre climb! Good sleep (courtesy of earplugs), breakfast then out on day 2. Clear and calm ("fine" in Kiwi-speak), and we climbed more (and more and more) and then we traversed a series of connected sky-top ridges with absolutely fabulous views in all directions over mountain ranges and the fiords. Then the trail turned and followed a ridge down to tree-line, headed for the valley in which our next hut was located. The views (and the fun part) over for the day, we dropped down seventy-nine stinkin switchbacks (by actual count). We were tired, hurtin' cowpokes by the time we reached Iris Burn hut beside scenic Iris Burn (all geographic features hereabouts were originally mapped and named by Scots - burn, tarn, tor). Many of the same folks at this hut as last night, so lots of conversation and commiseration.
Easier day Three: followed Iris Burn down to Lake Manapouri (2nd deepest in NZ at 480 metres, formed by glaciers, so incredibly scenic); nevertheless happy to fetch up at Motoau hut, much smaller than the other two, and fewer people, as some of our cohort walked to a bail-out just a way along. Swam in glacial Lake Manapouri (it was just as you'd imagine...) before supper and to bed. This a.m. a short walk to civilization, hot shower and pub lunch. Aside from the tedium of seventy-nine switchbacks back to back, this was the coolest walk we've ever done - there was a price to be paid, but the day on the ridge-tops was absolutely top-rate - right up there with Skyline trail in Jasper.
Loverly dinner tonight, then Doubtful Sound Cruise tomorrow: Boat across Lake Manapouri, then bus across a pass, tour an underground hydro station (they diverted many rivers - in this national park...- built a ten-mile tunnel with a hydro plant at the end, producing enough power for an aluminum smelter and half the South Island), and a boat cruise on the Sound, which is a long, skinny, twisty ocean fiord, formed by glaciers long ago. Pengiuns, dolphins, majesty, etc etc. Bye for now. B&M
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Hello U 2. What an amazing time you must be having. Thanks for the vivid descriptions of your travels. Although we don't see any photos one can just Google the places you are talking about and from there we get to see what it looks like. Take care and enjoy!
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