Hello friends and family!
Life in NZ has been splendid as usual, and this past weekend I completed the Kepler Track with some mates. The Kepler Track is one of 4 Great Walks on the South Island. The Great Walks are maintained especially well by the DoC and are aimed at attracting tourists with magnificent views and "lux..urious" hut accomadations- meaning there are gas stoves in the huts and flush toilets. The trip went fantastically and the tramp was gorgeous as usual- with the second day being the most beautiful as we walked on mountain ridges. Heres some details:
Crew:
Matthew (USA)
Ferran (Spain)
Tina (Denmark)
Astrid (Norway)
Timetable:
Thursday: Drive to Te Anau, spend night in hostel
Friday: Bus to tramp start, 7 hr hike to first hut
Saturday: 7 hr hike to second hut
Sunday: 6 hr hike to tramp end, bus back to car in Te Anau, drive back to Dunedin
Ferran is very cool and gave me these pictures of the tramp route:
The hike was moderately difficult, but the path itself was paved with rocks and felt like a freeway compared to other tracks that I have done. The first day was a steady climb next to beautiful Te Anau Lake, and ended on top of the mountain side at Luxmore Hut. The huts all weekend were crowded, but with great people from around the world, so it was very exciting to meet people. The collest part abot the Luxmore Hut were the caves located just 10 minutes away. Ferran and I explored the caves for over an hour and still did not reach an end! They were fantastic and scary at times, escpecially when we turned our lights off and sat in pitch-black darkness. Here are some photos leading up to the caves:
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Myself, Tina, Ferran, and Astrid pre-tramp
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| Marching up to Mt Luxemore |
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| Ferran caught me mid-laugh |
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| Exploring the caves! |
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| Things got pretty tight at times |
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| Sweet mineral formations that took hundreds of years to develop |
The second day was by far the most beautiful, as we hiked across the Mt Luxmore ridge to the Iris Burn Hut. The day started out rainy and cold, and when we climbed up to Mt Luxmore's peak, we couldnt see further than a couple metres ahead. However, as we continued the hike atop the ridge, the clouds suddenly parted before our eyes and revealed a magnificent scene in the mountain ranges and lakes that surrounded us.
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| View from our hut in the morn |
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| chillin |
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| party hut!! |
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| Top of Mt Luxmore (fabulous view!) |
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| Clouds parting right before our eyes! |
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| That's me chillin on the ridge |
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| Ferran mid-happy jump |
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| Trail over the ridge |
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| Ferran and I took a bath in the freezing waters by the waterfall. If you can see our expressions, you can understand why the bath was very, very short! |
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| Awesome waterfall off the mountainside- the winds made the falling water dance in different ways |
The day was made up of a 6 hour hike to the trail end through mostly forest terrain, with some marshes along the way
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| Ferran showin off his moves |
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| Deer skull we found |
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| Marshes |
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| Clouds over Lake Manipori |
Once again, the trip was amazing. I really enjoyed meeting people from around the world at the huts, I even talked to a girl from Isreal for quite a while and was truly enlightened by what she told me about life in Isreal, which differs greatly from the preconceptions Ive obtained from media and such. As I continue to meet new people, it seems that Mark Twain was truly correct when he said: "Travel is fatal to prejudice."
Love to All,
Matthew
What a great time you are having. Are you in school. Thanks for sharing beatuful scenery and what you are doing. Be safe Matt.
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