The Kepler Track is a 64km 'Great Walk' circuit on the fringe of New Zealand's Fiordland. It explores native beech forest, sandy lake shores and stunning alpine scenery. It was originally built to take pressure off the nearby Milford and Routeburn tracks but instead has turned into an easily accessible classic trip. You can run it, tent it, winter it or even day trip some of it. This is a super friendly track, which we decided to do in three days.
Two days after we had finished the Milford Track and we were again packing our bags for another 'Great Walk'. Once we had dried and sorted our kit, we knew this time was going to be different, this time we had clear skies and light winds forecasted. So with all our normal kit sorted I managed to convince Lucy that a bottle of wine was also essential.
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| Kiwi's! |
The 13.8km and 700m of ascent soon fell away to 4 hours of walking. The journey from road, to beech trees, to alpine tussocks seems to be becoming a familiar trend through NZ, but they always seem to give enjoyment and interest. We arrived at Luxmore hut in the early afternoon and settled in quickly. Luxmore hut coupled with the good weather forecast was my personal reason for buying into this 'Great Walk'. Being sat at 1080m and above the tree line, the views from the kitchen window are spectacular, with views of lake Te Anau and the Southern Alps.
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| Fern |
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| Path to Peaks? |
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| Stairs to Lake |
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| Gap in the trees |
Afternoon entertainment at Luxmore hut comes in the form of a limestone cave only ten minutes walk away. Being two of the first up to the hut that day meant we had the cave to ourselves and gave us the perfect opportunity for some cave photography. We weren't expecting too much compared to the Yorkshire pot holes and after a few tighter bits which had to be stooped and some photos we were content with our brief explore and returned to the warmth of the sun, this is earthquake country after all.
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| Cave entrance |
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| Flow stone |
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| Creepy flowstone |
Meeting up at the hut with two doctors we walked with on the Milford Track, really highlighted the social aspect of NZ's Great Walks. Crisps, dips and wine on the huts balcony made for a fantastic night on top of admiring the view down to the lake and Te Anau flatter farm lands.
A clear forecast and a hut at 1080m, who could resist watching the sunrise? 6am and very cold feet, led us up the steps to the rise behind the hut and views across Te Anua and a beautifully coloured sky. Vibrant purple, mixed with a deep blue sky, framed by the dark valley and high clouds, gave a spiritual start to the day, quickly followed by a quick nap.
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| Lucky duck watching sunrise |
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| Sunrise |
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| Day break |
The folks down at the Department Of Conservation (DOC) described the second day as six hours across the exposed tops and with our weather we didn't want a minute less. Big views across the seamlessly endless Lake Te Anau, a 10min summit detour and a cheeky Kea that stopped Lucy from using one of the shelter toliets, gave an unforgettable day across the alpine tops. The almost first choice of beds meant we got a great corner all to ourselves and after the longest hut chat we've experienced (40mins) we took to Iris Burn falls for some night photography. A cracker of a day which we were sad to see end, especially as we knew the next day was going to be a long one.
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| Stairway to heaven |
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| Big views |
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| Clearing clouds |
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| The cheeky Kea that stopped Lucy from using the loo |
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| Haast eagle...? |
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| Skyline |
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| Iris Burn Falls |
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| Stream |
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| Bank and stream |
From the Iris Burn hut back to the Control gates car park is 32km of fairly flat track, so we decided to make this our last day. We knew that we couldn't hang around as we wanted to finish in enough time to relax at the campsite before passing out. Although we had a good pace, we found it hard not to stop and soak in the amazing views at the spaced clearings. Lunch and a brief encounter of the ranger at Monturau hut and we knew it was time to move on, sightly jealous of the fun our Israeli friends would have at the hut chat that night. Despite what crazy old mountain runners say, I can definitely understand why people describe the last bit as 'the boring bit', 16km of flat winding track that in the end, I was glad I did. Suspension bridges, nice little views and the most important, the overall sense of achievement and completion.
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| Beach time |
We chose to do the Kepler Track the day before we started it, when we knew we would have nice weather and the nice company of the lads we had already met. This coupled with the fantastic position of the track across the tops, made this trip one that seemed to nudge the recent wet memories of the Milford out of our minds. The Kepler has been a top NZ hiking experience for us and has created a very tough pedestal for the next adventure. The brochure claimed to deliver an adventure above the clouds and I am happy to say that it has lived up to its claim.
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| The long path home |
