The Kepler Track

We just completed one of New Zealand's "Great Walks" - The Kepler Track which was a 60km track taking  3 days to complete.  The walk started off leaving the touristy town of Te Anau following the shores of the Lake, which felt like being beside a pretty beachside with it's white sands and turquoise waters.  Once past the end of the lake, the track weaved through a beech forest gaining 600m of elevation, before emerging above the tree line in to an amazing alpine landscape.

 Over the three days we walked up and over an expansive mountain ridge line, sheltered from gale force winds in the quaint emergency huts, witnessed the chaos following a tree avalanches and finished off walking through a remote rain forest. We felt like we had the whole mountain range to ourselves, only ever meeting other people once we arrived at our hut for the night.

The accomodation along the way was excellent.  The Luxmore Hut which we stayed at the first night had great panaromic views across to Te Anau and the surrounding mountain ranges.  We met a few guys from Israel and spent the evening chatting with them, sharing stories of travels and trying to learn each other's language (Welsh and Hebru).   The second night at the Iris Burn Hut, was as equally comfortable, (despite the pesky sandflies) and we spent the evening in the company of Luke from Holland, who had walked our 2 day trip in just one day! 

The following day we walked out through a dense rainforest back towards Te Anau, where Rob hitch hiked with an electrician back to get the van and then picked up Luke and I for a much deserved drink and shower back in Te Anau.  Later that evening we met up with Gaby, our Italian friend from Cardrona, and had an incredible and entertaining evening at La Dolce Vita in Te Anau - highly recommended, not just for the food, but for the entertaining owner!