Day 1 of the Routeburn Track - 8th Dec

Today was our first day on the Routeburn Track which is considered one of NZ's greatest walks; apparently second only to the Milford Track but with the added bonus on no biting sandflies. It's 38km long through varying terrain and was going to take us 3 days to complete. We had booked with Ultimate Hikes who were providing our food and accommodation on the walk but we had to carry a pack with all our clothes and lunch in it.

On the walk with us were 2 English, 2 Americans, a family of 5 from Singapore and about 15 Japanese women who had very basic English but who really impressed us as the youngest in the group must have been late 60s yet they'd just completed the 54km (4 days) Milford Track and after one nights rest were tackling the Routeburn Track.

For our first day we had a really early 5.30am start so we were checked out of our hotel and ready to catch the bus by 7am. We then travelled by coach for about 4 hours (with a break half way for scones and coffee) to get to the start of the Track.

For the first part of the track we walked up for 1hr to the start of Key Summit. This was an optional 40min hike off the track climbing to 919m where we had views of 3 major river systems – the Hollyford, the Eglinton and the Greenstone. It was worth the climb for the views.

 

Shortly after the decent and a bit further walking we stopped for lunch at the Howden Hut where our Guides had boiled the water already for tea, coffee or miso soup.

We then walked for 4hrs, around 250m ascent over 10km, along the mountside, past Earland Falls (where one of the brave Americans took a dip) and through a grassy patch of ribbonwood known as The Orchard until we reached the Mackenzie Hut which was to be our accommodation for the night.

The hut was amazing considering we were in the middle of nowhere. There was hot water, a drying room so we could wash and dry our clothes and me and Andy got our own room. Mackenzie Lake was right by our hut and before dinner Andy went to take some photos but I ran away as there were lots of midges.

After a 3 course meal (you'd expect no less on the top of a mountain) we went to bed as the generators for the lights switched off at 10pm.

 

It was a surprise to find out that one of the Americans in the group worked for the same company as Andy – although he had only 4 weeks off work for his honeymoon.

Christmas Eve - Aussie style

Sunset at the Campsite

A day around Queenstown - 7th Dec

Today, after a nice lie in, we headed to the tiny mountain town of Glenorchy, 50km north west of Queenstown. The drive followed the length of Lake Wakatipu and was really scenic. In Glenorchy we did a 2km loop of the Glenorchy walkway which took us around the town's lagoon. This took us to 1pm and we needed to drop off the car and be at a briefing for our 3-day Routeburn Trek in Queenstown by 3.45pm.

Lake Wakatipu

We thought we'd have plenty of time to grab a take-away sandwich and then drive back so Andy went to get the car and I went to order 2 ham sandwiches. It turned out that I'd selected the one place which made the most elaborate ham sandwich imaginable – when it came it included relish, mayonnaise, salad, ham, avocado, brie etc etc. This ham sandwich took them half an hour to make and I started hyper-ventilating and pacing the restaurant floor waiting for it.....and they still hadn't found time to slice it in half!! I had to try and feed Andy bits of the 'elaborate-sandwich' whilst we drove back to Queenstown which was a challenge in itself.

Back in Queenstown we dropped the car off and ran to the Routeburn briefing with no minutes to spare. The briefing was helpful and they handed out our rucksacks to pack, towels and sleep sheets.

Back at the apartment we had warmed-up pasta for tea and spent the evening packing for the next 3 days. With a 7am pick-up the next morning we managed to 'not' get an early night and fell into bed at 12.30am.

We had the top floor

Christmas in a Camper

Hear is our home for the next 15 days. Unfortunately unlike the Tardis......

The MCG - final preparations for the crucial next test

I hope the weather improves

If it is any consolation?

If it is any consolation to all those having fun and games with the snow back home in the UK, for the last 48 hours we have had heavy rain, and we mean HEAVY rain, in and around Melbourne....