There was also a lot of noise outside the hut in the morning as the keas put on a show.

The track wandered through mossy forests. It was open, level, and very easy walking.

I took a very short side trip on a boardwalk to Spirit Lake.

The views of the lake were pleasant.

I then continued on the track to catch up with Phil and Rachel, who had walked ahead. I caught up with them by the time we reached a bridge over the Forest Burn. This was the last bridge on the Kepler Track. 

Day 4 of the Kepler Track essentially follows the path of the Waiau River. For the most part the river is wide and meandering. 

The track finishes where it began, at the control gates for the outlet from Lake Te Anau. Here we collected our car and prepared for the drive to Queenstown. We would spend the night in Queenstown and then fly back to Sydney the next day.

I then returned to the hut and started work at sweeping out the common room. All the other walkers had left the hut by this time. The Ranger came in and we worked together and had a chat. She told me about the kiwis that lived nearby and could be seen and heard in the middle of the night (while I was fast asleep).

While we were talking a young couple walked in and started using the sink and the stove. The ranger rounded on them because they were campers and weren’t permitted to use the facilities. She quickly moved them out of the hut. I suspect it wasn’t the first time that she has had to do this.

I then commenced the day’s walking, which follows the course of the Iris Burn downstream for about 15 km. The track begins by climbing about 50 m and going to the eastern side of a knoll which separates the track by 700 m from the Iris Burn.

The track then descends and enters into an area of light vegetation. This area was flooded In January 1984, when a large landslip blocked the Iris Burn. The area has not fully recovered as yet. 

The track is easy walking, well cared for and relatively flat with a slight downhill grade. The majority of the walk passes through pleasant forest country.

Occasionally the track approaches next to the Iris Burn. In these locations, it’s possible to get some fresh water from the stream.

By mid afternoon, I had reached the shores of Shallow Bay, which connects to the larger Lake Manapouri. There was an inviting sign on the track pointing to “Cozy Nook“.

Cosy Nook is only 30 m off the track. From Cosy Nook there are extensive views of Lake Manapouri.

There is a beach on the foreshore of Lake Manapouri. Rather than go back to the track I walked from Cosy Nook to Moturau Hut along the foreshore beach. In this way, I had water views for the last 15 minutes of my day’s walking. 

Moturau Hut is located about 80 m from the foreshore of the lake. There are views of the lake and the distant mountains from the deck of the hut.

There were more keas at Moturau Huta than at any other place during the walk. The keas were large, noisy, and very cheeky. They were also quite happy to have their photo taken, and took a curious interest in the photographers.

The grassy lawn between the hut and the lake was a popular area in the afternoon, and many of the walkers had a lazy time in the sun. I walked down to the lake and had a quick swim. The water was surprisingly warm.

Sunset over the lake was beautiful.

I had dinner in the hut with Phil and Rachel. At 7:30 we had the standard talk from the hut Ranger.

The hut was full, and the dormitories were quite noisy that night. I am told that I occasionally snore, although I’ve never heard it myself, but I can guarantee you that there were a number of other people snoring in the hut that night. 

Phil, Rachel and I decided to sit it out in the hut for a while and see if the rain eased up. It was getting lighter, but it was still set in so at 10 am we decided to get walking.

There had been keas on the balcony of the hut in the morning, and there was a kea following Rachel as she walked up the track a couple of hundred metres from the hut.

The track climbs gradually for the first 3 km. At one stage it crosses a loose, shale, scree slope, and then sweeps around the flanks of Mount Luxmore.

There is a side trip up to the peak of Mount Luxmore (1472m) and I decided to take 15 minutes to walk to the peak. When I got to the peak it was clouded in and there were no views available. It seemed that I was the only person who was bothered with making the side trip given the way the weather was so set in.

After Mount Luxmore, the track continues for another 1.5 km along the ridgeline and traversing around any high points until it reaches the Forest Burn emergency shelter. I stopped at the shelter to have some morning tea, and also used the toilet there which, unusually, did not have a door at the time (I had been warned about this by the Ranger the night before).

I then continued on the track which crosses a saddle, and then continues to traverse around the high points of the ridge. My brother, Phil, took my photo at one point on a rock that was supposedly a lookout. At the time all I could see was mist. 

At last the weather began to clear, and I could see the views that I had been missing. There were extensive views in all directions, and you could see the track clinging tightly to the top of the ridge.

At Hanging Valley shelter I had another break. The shelter has a toilet that is scenically located.

While I was at Hanging Valley shelter my sister Rachel arrived. We had a chat and some afternoon tea.

There were quite a few people at the shelter because the weather had finally cleared, and they were all enjoying a bit of sunshine at last.

After leaving Hanging Valley shelter the track begins to descend along the ridgeline. After about 1.5 km, the track finally leaves the ridge and begins a steep descent to the west towards Iris Burn.

The track down to Iris Burn is extremely steep and, following the rain over the past 24 hours, it was wet and slippery. Rachel told me later that she was followed by a kea for about 500 m down the track (she seems to be on very friendly terms with the birds).

I reached Iris Burn Hut in the late afternoon. There were sandflies in the area, so I stayed inside the hut. There were also kea roaming the grounds and threatening to take any loose items of clothing that were left out to dry.  

We drove our hire car to the track head on the southern shore of Lake Te Anau. The walk begins by crossing the control gates that regulate water flowing out of the lake.

The sun was out and the walking was easy as the track followed the shore of the lake. The vegetation comprises moist forest, and there is the occasional creek crossing.

Along the track we saw many brightly coloured mushrooms. These are not native to New Zealand, and we were later advised by a park ranger that it was fair game to kick them over. 

After about 5 km of walking we reached the Brod Bay Shelter. It’s possible to catch a boat across from Te Anau township to Brod Bay and avoid the first part of the walk. Personally, I liked the first part of the walk and I wouldn’t want to avoid it. It was shady and level and the track was in excellent condition. 

After Brod Bay the track begins to climb. The total climb is about 800 m. The climbing begins slowly but, after a kilometre, the track steepens and begins to zigzag up the hill.

We saw a number of stoat traps next to the track as we were doing the climb. Beware Zealand’s Department of Conservation put a lot of effort into trying to control feral animals, particularly stoats which have a serious impact on the indigenous wildlife.

Eventually, the track reaches a cliff line and traverses underneath the cliff. There are views across Lake Te Anau and to distant mountains. I had my lunch here.

The climbing isn’t over, however, and there is another 200 m of elevation to gain before the forest finishes and the alpine meadow begins. When emerging from the forest, the wind was blowing a gale. I took shelter next to the track behind a rock, and Rachel joined me to have a bite to eat.

The track then rises gently for the next 2 km across the alpine meadow before rounding a spur and reaching Luxmore Hut.

There was a side trip up to the Luxmore Caves but, given the gale that was blowing outside, I decided to take it easy and stay in the hut. 

There was a kea on the balcony of the hut, which kept us all amused. We also played cards to pass the time. Dinner was excellent: smoked salmon fillet in a creamy pasta sauce, one of Phil’s specialties. 

As the track leaves the Lake Mackenzie Hut it enters the forest that includes ancient beech trees, hundreds of years old.

The track rises slowly and traverses along the side of the Elisa Mountains. At times there are views across the Hollyford River Valley, particularly where a landslide has taken out some of the forest.

After about an hour of walking, the track reaches an area known as “The Orchard“. There is sign posting to mark the area. There is no orchard there now, but the area is relatively flat and open – I’m not sure if it was ever used as an orchard.

The track continues for another 30 minutes, and the Earland Falls become visible. These falls are over 170 m in height and were flowing well when I passed underneath them. The Earland Falls originate from Lake Roberts, which is situated above the track but is not visible.

For the next hour, the track descends gently until it reaches Lake Howden. There used to be a hut next to the lake, but it was destroyed by a landslide a few years earlier. There are picnic tables which I took advantage of to have my lunch, whilst the sandflies lunched on me.

I left Lake Howden and shortly afterwards took a side trip up to Key Summit. I was now getting close to the end of the Routeburn Track, and there were many daytrippers on the track. As I climbed Key Summit I was engulfed by commercial tour groups, in much the same way as the sandflies had engulfed me at Lake Howden. There are great views from the top of Key Summit and I recommend walkers taking the side trip.

Less than an hour later I was at the end of the track. It took a while before Phil, Andy and I were able to regroup and have the obligatory photos taken in front of the track sign. 

After breakfast, I started walking with Phil and Andy. The first stop was within five minutes of the hut, when the track climbs up next to the Routeburn Falls. 

The next 3km of the track is a steady climb around a valley created by the Route Burn. The vegetation is sparse and at times the track crosses over scree slopes.

The scenery is spectacular looking across to Mount Xenicus and framed by mountains on all sides.

As the track climbs, views down the Route Burn valley expand.

The track continues to climb until views of Lake Harris, which is perched higher above the valley, become visible.

Eventually the track crosses over the Harris Saddle, and the next valley (the Hollyford River) becomes visible. There is a large shelter located at the saddle. It is actually two shelters, one of which is reserved for people using commercial guides. 

I had some morning tea in the shelter, which was crowded with other walkers who had set off from Routeburn Falls Hut that morning.

I then set off on a side trip up Conical Hill, a climb of 260m. There is a clear track up to the summit of Conical Hill and, whilst it is steep, it is easily negotiable.

From the summit there are 360° views of the Serpentine Range to the north, the Darran Mountains to the west, the Alisa Mountains to the south, and the Humboldt Mountains to the east. It was a clear day and I could see all the way down the Hollyford River valley to the Tasman Sea. 

From the northern side of Conical Hill I could see the Routeburn Track rising up from Routeburn Falls to the east, and then continuing around the other side of the Alisa Mountains towards Lake Mackenzie.

Phil also made the side trip up to Conical Hill and, after a chat on the summit, I descended back to the Harris Saddle shelter where I had lunch.

After lunch, I continued on the track for 4km. This part of the track traverses on the upper slopes of the Hollyford River valley. After 4km, the track makes a sharp turn to the east and Lake Mackenzie becomes visible below.

The track descends steeply towards Lake MacKenzie through a number of hairpin bends. The track in this location is not as smooth as it is elsewhere, and the going is a bit slower. Andy, in particular, was not keen on this part of the track. 

As the track approaches Lake Mackenzie the vegetation changes and enters a forested area. It was here that I found an owl next to the track. It was in a tree and looked at me for a minute or two, with a regular movement of its head and a quiet screech. The owl had a partner in another tree about 15m off the track.

Lake MacKenzie Hut is situated on the banks of the lake. There are grassy areas for lounging and, for people who didn’t mind freezing water, it was possible to have a swim. I got into the water up to my ankles, and that was enough for me.

I then took a side trip to Split Rock. This rough track follows the shore of Lake MacKenzie for about 20 minutes. Split Rock is a monolith that is split down the centre. It’s possible to walk through the split, although I didn’t try.

I fthen returned to MacKenzie Hut. After dinner we had the usual presentation by the hut ranger. He had an amusing sense of humour that was so dry that it could be described as “arid”.

The excitement that night was a false alarm on the fire detection system. The hut ranger had warned us that this might happen. At 11pm, as the alarm sounded, all the walkers casually left the hut and gathered outside. The hut ranger sheepishly told us that he would need to look at the alarm and see if there was some way of preventing it from randomly going off.

We wanted something with huts each night, a well-maintained track, and with some alpine scenery. 

And so it was that, a year later, I met up with Phil and Andy to do the Routeburn Track in New Zealand.

One logistical issue is transport. The track is 33km long but it is a 340km drive from the beginning to the end. We used a car transfer service (trackhopper.co.nz).

The weather forecast was for rain in the morning, but clearing later in the day. We figured that we could take our time getting to the start of the walk and wait for the rain to clear. After collecting our lockbox for the car keys we went to a cafe in Glenorchy and had some morning tea.  The rain wasn’t easing, so we decided to get started.

The walk begins at the Routeburn Shelter, which is about a half hour drive from Glenorchy.

We parked the car and, after the usual amount of faffing around, started walking. There were a lot of people coming in the other direction who had walked that morning from the Routeburn Falls Hut and were planning on catching a bus back to Queenstown. It must have been a wet morning because they all looked soaked and were very happy to be finishing. 

A “burn” is another name for a river or waterway. In this case, the river is called the Route Burn, because there is a route that follows the burn. I guess it all makes sense. The track follows the Route Burn on the first day. It begins climbing slowly and then more steeply until it reaches a pass and enters the Routeburn Flats. Along the way, it passes a number of creeks and waterfalls.

The Routeburn Flats are a wide grassy area at the confluence of the left branch and the north branch of the Route Burn.  There is a hut located next to the river at this point. We stopped to have some lunch. Phil made friends with the local birds.

After lunch, we began the climb towards the Routeburn Falls Hut. It is only about 2 km. As you climb the views improve, with the flats below and the mountains around. 

We arrived at the Routeburn Falls Hut late in the afternoon. The hut was quite full. It is a modern hut with great views down the valley and around the mountains.

Being the first night of our walk, we had brought fresh fish with us to eat. We fried the fish and had a good meal in the common kitchen area. At 7:30 pm the Department of Conservation Ranger gave us a talk, outlining the features of the walk ahead and the safety procedures to be followed whilst in the hut and on the track.

I wanted to make an early start, having heard stories from other walkers that the track was going to be difficult today. And the dawn brought another beautiful day with clear blue skies.

After about a kilometre of walking through forests, the track reached an open area known as  Dredge Flat. A large, industrial dredge had been installed on the flat around 120 years ago. It only operated for a couple of years looking for gold which wasn’t found. There’s no sign of it now.

The track continued along the eastern side of the Dart River which, at times, widened to about a kilometre of water, gravel and sandy flats. On the western side of the river, snowcapped mountains were visible.

The track was difficult in places, but no more so than it had been on the previous days. There were plenty of tree roots, and the occasional fallen tree to climb over, but this was standard for the Rees Dart Track.

Some parts of this track had been closed in 2014 for three years, and had been repaired and reconstructed, including an area bounded by a steep drop to one side and an overhanging cliff to the other.

When the track wasn’t located on the riverfront, meadows or gravelly flats it travelled through lush forests. 

Most of the side creeks are crossed without bridges, although there is a bridge across the Bedford Stream, which is constantly flowing and would be impassible in rainy conditions.

I stopped at this point to have a feed, and to swat the sandflies that quickly gathered around me.

Upon reaching Chinamans Bluff there was a short diversion to another rock bivouac. This was not quite as large as the previous day’s, but would still provide reasonable shelter in a storm.

Beyond Chinamans Bluff, the river widened considerably.

We reached the bus shelter with an hour to spare. Another man arrived having done a massive walk from the Dart Hut, which had taken us two days. Together with my walking companions, Jenny and Kirsten, we waited for the bus.

When the bus arrived, the bus driver gave us a guided tour to Glenorchy, describing all of the movies that have been shot on location in this area (Lord of the Rings, X-Men – Wolverine, etc).

The track follows the southern bank of the Dart River, generally traversing the slopes above the river (and out of the flood zone)

After 2 km, views open up along the valley of the Whitburn River on the northern side of the Dart River valley, leading up to the Whitburn Glacier and the Snowdrift Range.

The track continues through mountain forests with dappled light falling through the forest canopy.

The track crosses a number of side creeks. There are no bridges over the majority of these creeks. Crossing them is a relatively simple exercise because it hasn’t been raining and so the water levels are low, but I can imagine that there would be times that these creeks become impassible.

At times the river valley opens out. The river itself can become a wide, gravel-covered expanse. Occasionally the track descends and meanders across the gravel.

The majority of the track crosses alpine meadows above the gravelly river base. There are occasional glimpses of ducks, their heads protruding comically above the level of the grass. 

The topographic map indicated a rock bivouac near the track. Jenny and I decided to investigate and searched off-track to the precise point shown on the map. What we found was decided underwhelming, a rock with a very small overhang. There was, however, one resident. A robin that jumped around and came very close to us.

We continued on the track for another couple of hundred metres where we passed a sign and a clear footpad to the (real) rock bivouac. The place marked on the map was incorrect. Jenny and Kirsten continued on the track while I decided to detour to the rock bivouac. 

This was definitely a place worth investigating. An extremely large overhang with plenty of room for camping if you were unlucky enough to get caught in a storm. A fireplace had been built from local rocks, and there was also some cooking equipment in evidence. I decided to have my lunch here.

The rock bivouac is adjacent to a mountain stream that provides fresh water. There are also a lot of mushrooms in the area, which make for a magical setting (but I’m not sure I’d want to eat any).

I continued back along the trail and eventually caught up with Jenny and Kirsten.  The walk from Dart Hut to Daleys Flat Hut is about 19 km. As we neared Daleys Flat Hut there is a bridge across the Dart River. This bridge consists of only three wires with some netting. I was glad I didn’t have to cross it because it looked somewhat flimsy and intimidating. 

500m later we could see Daleys Flat Hut. There were many walkers who had come from the other direction that day so the hut was quite full, a contrast to the previous three nights where there were only eight people in the huts. 

Most people stayed indoors as the sand flies at Daleys Flat are voracious and very quick to settle on any stationary targets.

My plan today was to make a side trip to the Cascade Saddle. However, the logbook in the hut had a note from a few days earlier, saying that an avalanche had blocked the track. It didn’t say where the avalanche was.

The upper Dart Valley is spectacular. It’s wide and mostly flat. It’s flanked by mountain ranges topped with glaciers that constantly feed the many waterfalls tumbling down the bare rocky slopes. 

The track is quite clear on the eastern side of the valley. At one point the river had eaten into the side of the valley and removed the track. At this point there were cairns and markers leading up the hill and there was a rough footpad to follow. Eventually the footpad descended back to the valley floor. 

As I continued up the valley a helicopter approached. I discovered on my return to the hut that the helicopter belonged to the Department of Conservation, and that a ranger had looked at the avalanche up ahead, and was planning to mark a new route.

I got to the head of the valley. There is a warning sign when you arrive at the Dart Glacier. It’s difficult to see the glacier at first because it is covered in gravel and the ice isn’t apparent. 

From here the track climbs the southern side of the valley, rising steeply towards the Cascade Saddle. I followed the cairns and markers up the hill for a few hundred metres. Now the track disappeared into a recent gouge created by an avalanche. This was the place that had been mentioned in the logbook at the hut.

I continued uphill off track and discovered that the markers reappeared further up the hill. I continued to follow them but, again, they disappeared into the gouge.

At this point I crossed the avalanche. The ground was very loose, but it was traversable and, on the other side of the gouge, the track reappeared.

I continued following the track up to a point where it reached a scree slope. 200m away, at the top of the slope, I could see another marker. However, I wasn’t convinced that the slope was stable and there were no footpads or markers to indicate a route across. So I turned back at this point.

As I retraced my steps back down the hill I met the family from Noosa coming up the hill. We talked about the avalanche and the difficulties of climbing further. They also decided to turn back at this point.

The views of the Dart Glacier and the river valley were spectacular from the hill as I descended. There are large blocks of ice in the river valley broken off from the glacier. I imagine that the water is freezing, but I wasn’t brave enough to try.

On my return trip I passed a young German woman. She told me that she intended to climb up to the top of Cascade Saddle and then proceed onwards to Aspiring Hut. I didn’t see her back at Dart Hut that evening, so I presume that she was successful.

I returned to the hut by mid afternoon, and had a relaxing time with the other people there. It was the same group as I had been travelling with since I began the walk. Ranger Emma was also in residence but was staying in the ranger’s hut nearby. She told us she planned to mark a new route up to the Cascade Saddle the next day.