Invercargill, NZ
I did the Kepler Trek! It's been one of my dreams for years to hike in Fiordland Nat. Park, and it was simply wonderful. The first day we skirted around Lake Te Anau and then started our ascent into the mountains. This meant a couple of hours hiking along cutback trails through some marvelous forest. The clouds didn't really affect the views as there were none while we were still below the bushline. Fortunately, the fog lifted as we cleared the bushline and we got some amazing views of the land around us. The sunset that night was spectacular.
The second day was really the highlight of the walk. We spent most of the day walking along ridgelines, and were constantly stopping to taking in the views which were breathtaking. When we woke, there was fog below us in most of the valleys, but this burned off as the day progressed. Finally, near the end of the day, we dropped off the ridges and descended to the second hut which was nestled in a valley next to a river. We'd heard it was cold there, and it was, though I was more than warm in my sleeping bag.
We were greeted on the third morning by Keas, I finally got to see some Keas! I've always thought that they should be the Nat. bird of NZ as most people describe them as cheeky. And they are. The first that I met was either trying to steal or eat a wheelbarrow, and his mates were simply hopping about looking for trouble or things to steal. The third day was a long one, but it was mostly flat terrain and we were able to make good time along the trail. It was mostly walking in forest. The forest here was simply covered in moss, everything, moss would run 50 ft. up a tree and the entire landscape was a soft green. That, and mushrooms, which grew everywhere. The best we saw was on the third day, they were a bright, bright purple.
I'll add more to this account at some point, but I don't have much more time to write at the moment. I've got to get some food and then shoot off, I'm headed to Stewart Island, which seems to be NZ's Tasmania. I can't miss that. I'm spending three nights there, hopefully the clouds will clear and I'll get to see the Southern Lights, which have been out during the past week. Stewart is the farthest South I'm going on the Trip, after there, I finally start moving Northward. Stewart by the way, has less than 300 residents, and I think the power goes off on the island around 9pm. Well, we'll see.
The second day was really the highlight of the walk. We spent most of the day walking along ridgelines, and were constantly stopping to taking in the views which were breathtaking. When we woke, there was fog below us in most of the valleys, but this burned off as the day progressed. Finally, near the end of the day, we dropped off the ridges and descended to the second hut which was nestled in a valley next to a river. We'd heard it was cold there, and it was, though I was more than warm in my sleeping bag.
We were greeted on the third morning by Keas, I finally got to see some Keas! I've always thought that they should be the Nat. bird of NZ as most people describe them as cheeky. And they are. The first that I met was either trying to steal or eat a wheelbarrow, and his mates were simply hopping about looking for trouble or things to steal. The third day was a long one, but it was mostly flat terrain and we were able to make good time along the trail. It was mostly walking in forest. The forest here was simply covered in moss, everything, moss would run 50 ft. up a tree and the entire landscape was a soft green. That, and mushrooms, which grew everywhere. The best we saw was on the third day, they were a bright, bright purple.
I'll add more to this account at some point, but I don't have much more time to write at the moment. I've got to get some food and then shoot off, I'm headed to Stewart Island, which seems to be NZ's Tasmania. I can't miss that. I'm spending three nights there, hopefully the clouds will clear and I'll get to see the Southern Lights, which have been out during the past week. Stewart is the farthest South I'm going on the Trip, after there, I finally start moving Northward. Stewart by the way, has less than 300 residents, and I think the power goes off on the island around 9pm. Well, we'll see.
posted by Bob Stein at 3:46 PM
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