The Overland Track, Tasmania: 5 Reasons it's become one of my top hikes

I had never really considered rating and listing past trails and trips, each one for me an adventure into a new part of the world, normally. Then I stumbled across besthikes blog, that not only states the best multi day in the world, but list's them into a top ten bucket list. This is where I was introduced to the Overland Track and since we were down in this corner of the world, it was the perfect opportunity to take a trip over to Tasmania.

Being the first multi day walk in Australia for me, I had an open mind and no pre judgements for the tenth best walk in the world. Luckily for me, it was an amazing trip. It was clear that a number of factors contributed to making this an awesome trip, but I believe the five reasons below took a good trip to the next level.

•The Unique Landscape

The dolerite mountain tops of the cradle mountain national park have a very unique stature. I was blown away by the tall dominating rock towers, rising out of the green bush that rolls around their bases. The dark towers that were formed by heat and pressure a few millennia ago, textured by columns and pinnacles, that would have been surrounded by glaciers during the ice age, which carved the surrounding bushland into rolling hills, deep U shaped valleys and extensive plateau's.

Looking down towards dove lake car park

Dove lake 

Mt Oakleigh

Looking down on the pinnacles

Looking down the gully on Mt Ossa

•The Possible Side Trips

On top of the 80km trail, The Overland Track offers a range of side trips to complement the adventure. Varying from tracks to the summits of some of the dolerite towers, including the tallest mountain in Tasmania; Mt Ossa, ventures to viewing platforms of impressive waterfalls, peaceful alpine lakes and to top it off, it even has a whole valley to explore, which in itself has more side trips to summits and hidden plateau's. I almost felt like a kid in a candy shop, with at least one side trip for every day. I'll have to admit that I found it near impossible to walk past some of the cloud covered summits without tackling their trails.

Barn Bluff summit

The steep scramble on Mt Ossa gully

The full and impressive D'Anton waterfall

•The Wildlife

With Tasmania being detached from mainland Australia, it has a number of endemic animals, with the most famous being the Tasmanian Devil. Although we didn't see the shy and nocturnal devil, we did stumble across some sort of bone filled scat and due to our lack of knowledge in all poo related matters, we decided that it almost certainly was devil poo, or maybe even the traces of a thought to be extinct, Tasmanian Tiger. Although we didn't see any devil's, the range of furry and seemingly exotic critters was more than enough to captivate an English hiker like myself. Our trip was filled with Black Currawongs (crows), that can raid zipped pockets and possums that are so chilled you can practically stroke them (touching one's tail counts as petting... right?). Then you have the nonchalant wombats and the erratic wallabies that seem to appear from nowhere and everywhere.

Wombat

Black Currawong

Wallaby

Possums

•The People

Heading on to the track a few weeks before the summer booking finished meant that there were only six others who started the same day as us. Compared to the maximum capacity of sixty four, we knew it was going to be a quiet trip. Even though it was a quiet trip, because most people tend to plan the same days and use the same huts, we had six days to get to know the people who shared the trail with us. From six people, there were three nationalities from all around the world. It's easy to image the multi cultural experience the trip would offer in summer, with comradery against the weather, a wealth of trail tales and a variety of new card games to learn.

Clear weather on the start day

Lucy on the chains

•The Detachment

Everyone likes a bit of escape from their work, routines and modern life, be it a spa retreat, beach break or yoga classes, but the Overland Track hands out a whole new form of detachment from the modern world. Just like any adventure where you carry everything you'll need for the foreseeable future on your back, the Overland tops off the experience with no man made infrastructure (except from the huts and trail) in sight, no light pollution and a very real sense of being in the back of beyond. The renewed sense of clarity as I stepped off the ferry, back into civilisation and in front of a bowl of chips was a very satisfying moment.

Steps in the woods

Filling the water bottle

Our last night accommodation (shame there was no heater)

The walkway to the ferry jetty and our way out back to civilisation

The Whitby lucky duck on top of Mt Ossa

New Zealand's most climbed mountain: Mt Taranaki

Mt Taranaki from near the car park

The volcanic, 2515 metre summit of Mt Taranaki dominates the skyline from New Plymouth and the surrounding coast. This easily accessible alpine peak has been dubbed 'the most climbed peak in NZ' and rightfully so. Although it spends most of its time hidden in the clouds, the impressive view of the volcanic cone, standing above the farmland would get any wannabe hiker dreaming of a summit attempt. Luckily for us we had a cloud free morning to soak up the giant views.

Along with the normal European first ascent, Mt Taranaki has a deep Maori legacy. Mt Taranaki is said to have once lived further east within the tribe of the other volcanoes. Whilst there, Taranaki fell for a pretty little hill called Pihanga, who unfortunately was also the lover of Mt Tongariro. Just like all other love struck blokes, the two volcanoes had a big battle and Taranaki fled to the east. On it's way, Taranaki carved the deep Whanganui valley, filling it with his tears and forming the river which is now the home to the very popular Whanganui canoe river journey. Due to his sorrow and shame, Taranaki is said to spend most of his time hidden behind the clouds.

Our first view of Mt Taranaki was from state highway 45 as we made our way towards New Plymouth. This giant mass, dwarfed the surrounding countryside, and even though the summit was hidden by cloud we could tell the peak stretched far into the sky. The weather was set to improve the day after, but from the encircling surf highway the dark mass had little promise.

Waking early after the persistent thunderstorm to clear blue skies and an impressive view of our objective for the day, motivation was at an all time high. Clear skies and low winds, this was the time to tackle the mountain if there ever was one. This knowledge had obviously been triggered in a fair few heads that morning. I wasn't counting but we estimated on the way down that we saw close to a hundred people going for the summit that day. Although that's nothing compared to the Alps and European ranges, for NZ were fifteen seems like a lot, this felt like grand central station.

Lingering cloud

8-10 hours return, is the suggested time the summit track takes. Clearly marked on finger posts at the car park, the less daunting summit looks almost like you could reach out and touch it. The ascent is split into three separate stages; lush forest, alpine shrub and volcanic rock and despite some descriptions, it's well marked and trodden. The steep climbing means that height is gained quickly and before we knew it we were above the clouds, rewarding us with big views across to Mt Ruapehu. Shortly after our views the cloud closed in, offering us the pleasure of a cooler and wetter ascent.

Big views north

Mt Taranaki also has a darker side. To complement the mountain as NZ most climbed, Mt Taranaki is also one of NZ's most deadliest. So far 88 people have lost their lives on the slopes, although compared to Mt Cooks 230, this is still regarded as one of the top killers. This is due to a number of factor's; accessibility, under preparedness, popularity and the quickly changing weather and so far we had seen nearly all of these factor's.

Steep staircase over volcanic scree

Scrambling into a volcanic crater has got to be one of my more surreal experiences. Even though the mountain is dormant, standing in an amphitheatre surrounded by rock peaks in thick cloud was an experience I'll remember. Reaching the summit the psychological high of climbing our first volcano meant that we were so preoccupied that we missed a summit selfie. Which probably would have ended up with all the other anticlimactic misty/cloud summit shots I have hidden away on the computer, so it's probably not a bad thing.

Our world for a few hours

A clearing in the cloud on the final ridge

A cracking climb, that with the right conditions and weather, can give a truly amazing experience and a view I can only dream of. On our way down, just as quickly as it came in, the cloud parted for a brief spell, giving us views to the summit and the swirling mass of clouds below.

One magical moment.

This meant that the sun was above us and cloud below. Casting our shadow's onto the grey below us and forming a natural phenomena I have longed to see. A Brocken Spectre. Derived from the German for breaking into ghost, this phenomena has haunted mountaineers around the world. Caused by the light falling on the water particle's in such a way that forms a rainbow around the person's shadow head. Only seen by the shadows caster, the brocken Spectre is a personal memory.

Colourful halo round my head

A memorial trip that is worth it's title of most climbed peak in NZ. 

Routeburn and Caples

Completing two fantastic walks in Fiordland we were ready to hit the hills in a new area, and hopefully somewhere that didn't rain as much. Unlucky for us the long string of mountains which stretches up the south islands seems to create the same sort of weather and that's normally windy, with a dash of rain! nevertheless we were determined to explore the Glenorchy area what ever the weather.

Wind, rain and snow down to 600m... Even after the two and half hour drive you could tell we were still close to Fiordland. In fact all we had done is drive round the back of one of the many mountain ranges and sat all most in between two of the national parks; Fiordland and Aspiring. We choose this area because its the epicentre of many great trips into an area we hadn't explored but with the weather forecast most of our desired trips started to look a bit to daunting. Trying to pick the best option to give maximum enjoyment and satisfaction with a crummy forecast is all most like playing the lottery. You have a ton of numbers that you want to play and you want to play the right ones and don't want to look back after and kick your self for not picking the other options. So after a whole morning of discussion, we finally settled on a plan.

The Routeburn and Caples combination is a 60kmish horseshoe that took in two alpine saddles and three stunning valleys, mixing a busy 'Great Walk' with a quite back country fishing valley. With only one day on the forecast looking good, we decided to pack the days full of walking so to be on the highest point of the route in good weather. This meant that we couldn't use each and every hut and as freedom camping is allowed on the Caples, we planned for a 3-4 day camping trip.

The one hour walk to the campsite on the Routeburn was done in the evening after the afternoon was spent packing up the kit and sorting food. The snow and sleet, through the jungle like forest gave a very surreal start to the trek, but soon the smell of wood smoke from the first hut and camp site reminded me of where I was. Due to the snow the ranger at the hut offered the posh new porch for the campers to set their tents up in; dry tent, outside gas cooker, tap and space to shelter under, I was surprised when we were the only ones to take the offer up.

Inside camping

Maybe the other campers had known, that once we were settled in bed and the light began to fade, that a Kea would hop under the porch and invent a new game. This game can only be described as a cross species game of the kids game 'What's the time Mr Wolf'. The cheeky Kea would bounce towards us until we'd shine a light on him, where he'd turn tail and hop off to a safer distance. This went back and forth a few times and the Kea used all sorts of techniques, he'd use the benches and posts to hide most of his body behind and peer around the object, he'd fly off and play with a rubber mat so we'd zip the tent back up and he'd also run off into the bush squawking giving us the impression he was bored. He definitely wasn't bored, as this game lasted an hour. Normally I wouldn't have minded playing this entertaining game but I knew that the kea wouldn't have just came and said hello, they love to chew things up, just like a teething puppy but keas can chew up more than your slippers. I once read about a soft top 4x4 left at Aurthers Pass in New Zealand, the keas had chewed through the roof and got at the seats, steering wheel, dash board and electrics. Their damage was so extensive that the car had to be towed back to Christchurch. So when laying in bed watching the tent roof moving to a tugging motion I was a little concerned. Even after the prevoius nights fun he still decided that the morning was a good play time too and once again at 5am we were looking out at this pesky Kea.
Despite all the fun and games of the previous night and morning we got away unharmed at 7:30 ready for a bigish day. I felt a little bit of envy when walking past the Routeburn falls hut, which is perched on top of wooden legs, looking out over the Routeburn valley. This soon left me as we ascended onto the newly lowered snow line and wandered up towards the first saddle of our route. Blue sky, moody clouds, a dusting of snow and only a hand full of people on the trail made our pass over Harris saddle a contrast to our other great walks. The kilometres seemed to fall away as we traversed the hill side with a breathtaking view along the Hollyford valley to the sea, with the highest mountain in Fiordland Mt Tutoko, towering above us and the valley. After 6 hours of walking we reached the second campsite of the Routeburn and a sign indicating our campsite for the night was another 3 hour walk... this went soon enough, helped by regular chats with folk going the other way. Arriving at the campsite we weren't convinced it was free so instead of worring about a Kea chewing up the tent, we were worrying about a ranger demanding a ticket we didn't have, lucky no one turned up. Before falling asleep that night I had a chuckle to myself, mid winter in Queenstown I wished for the cold and snow and now after cooking in a snow shower at 600m I was starting to wish for the warmth of summer.

Spring snow

Just above Routeburn falls hut

Looking across Hollyford valley

Waking early we made our way onto our second saddle and marvelled at the jagged peak of Mt Christina trailing cloud. The next 20km descended through sub alpine to beech forest finally ending in alpine meadows. This was the best weather day, which gave us a great contrasting view up the valley with lush green meadows and forests against the grey and white alpine peaks that enclosed the views, capped by blue sky. This made for the best campsite of the trip especially as it was only an hour from the trail head.

Mt Christina

Stream shot

Meadow campsite

Another early morning wake up call in the form of some curious cows. Maybe it was the green tent, the snoring or the smell of the unwashed pan, but these cows were so interested in us that they hung around watching until we had fully packed down. This was the day we had worried about, 30+km of hitching on a dead end road. An hour wait and a chat to some guys working on one of the swing bridges, we were bored and decided to start walking. Another hour of lake side views and our first lift picked us up, a couple of kiwis we had spoken to on the Caples, they kindly dropped us off at the road junction towards our car. Another 20 minutes walk and two non-pick ups, our second lift picked us up, another walker we spoke to but this time on the Routeburn who was heading back up for some fishing.
We were relieved to reach our car, a DOC ranger had said that transport for the road section is best arranged as she had heard of a guy taking a day to hitch it, but lucky for us we had taken about 2 hours with half of it spent walking. Needless to say the fates had aligned and we have learnt to chat to everyone on the trail!
All in all this was a nice trip, with varied weather and scenery topped with a reminder of the kindness of the people in New Zealand.

The Kepler Track; An adventure above the clouds

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.

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.

Fern

Path to Peaks?

Stairs to Lake

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.

Cave entrance

Flow stone

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.

Lucky duck watching sunrise

Sunrise

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.

Stairway to heaven

Big views

Clearing clouds

The cheeky Kea that stopped Lucy from using the loo

Haast eagle...?

Skyline

Iris Burn Falls

Stream

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.

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.

The long path home