Arrived back at our unit tired but happy and with a sense of accomplishment after walking the start of the Routeburn Track. Having risen quite late we did not set of until the very uncamping like hour of 10am. It has been a beautiful day with temps in the mid teens, no wind and brilliant sunshine.
After something of a tailback into Queenstown, we quickly settled to enjoy the magnificent scenery offer by the road to Glenorchy. This is one drive that was more enjoyable than in 08/09 when there was a raging gale which made any ventures out of the car unpleasant. Today we were dazzled by the sun on Lake Wakitipu and marvelled at how the road hugged the shore AND provided largely uninterrupted (by trees) views. I did miss Summer's Lupins.
We ambled along with Tess trying to snap from the moving vehicle as usual. On one of the few roadside stops we chatted to an Aucklander who had been traveling for several years in her $160K English motor home. She showed us through and it did look clever and comfortable. She planned to spend 2 years in the South Island alone! Something to look forward to:)
More soon .. dinner has arrived!
After a very leisurely drive, we turned left at Glenorchy and headed straight to the road head for the Track. I was relieved to find the road bitumen for all but the last 5 ks and that was hard gravel with no traffic. Quite a contrast to the nerve wracking drive from Wanaka to the foot of Mt Aspiring for our glacier walk back in 08. That was 25k of dusty gravel with much traffic throwing up rocks likely to damage the hire vehicle.
The road twisted its way through beech forests, a hint of what was to come. The large parking area was proof of the track's popularity but most hikers had left before our midday start. Tim had assured us that the walk was within our capabilities so we crossed the swing bridge over the Dart River and followed the well made path gently up through lush, wet beech forests.
We soon came to another swing bridge across a raging torrent and the climb became steeper. I eventually discovered we were climbing Sattler's Pass and it was enough to test our poor fitness levels. Tess paused for lunch just short of Forge Flat, where I also called it quits. I took some video of some runners as well as stills of the loo with a view - well on one anyway.
As expected, the return journey was quick and uneventful, taking in the nature trail and ending at the modern toilet facilities. The track would be a very different animal in wet or cold conditions. As it was, we were quite tired after our sampling of its lower, northern reaches but I would enjoy having another go sometime in a fitter future.
An easy dinner in the next door pub followed by Anonymous, rounded a=out another enjoyable day. Looking forward to tomorrow's Milford flight.
Cheers,
- PS Better photos will be attached when I can. For now, ......
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