December 20

End of Routeburn Track

I wanted to get an early start today, because rain was predicted in the afternoon. I was one of the first up at 6:30, and finished breakfast and was ready to go at 8:30. A sign outside said it was a four hour walk to the Divide, where the trail meets the road between Te Anau and Milford. The same sign said it was a three and a half hour walk up to Harris Saddle, which seemed odd, since the sign at Harris Saddle said it was a four hour walk down to here.

It was cloudy, but not raining, as I set out through the forest, passing the guided walker's luxury hut. There were occasional views down the Hollyford Valley, all the way to the sea. A very two-dimensional-looking triangular peak was visible among the mountains ahead. I thought it must be Pyramid Peak. The trail went up and down, passing through an open spot with a lake, known as "the Orchard", although the trees were beech, not fruit trees. The trail later passed close to the bottom of a large waterfall, Earland Falls. Its spray made the trail very wet here, and taking pictures close to it was tricky.

The trail continued down to Howden Hut at the intersection with the Greenstone Track, which gives an alternate ending to the Routeburn Walk, leading back toward Glenorchy. A short climb beyond was Key Summit. A few other people were here. It was only an hour or less from the Divide, so it makes a popular day hike. There is a nature trail on top. Many backpackers leave their packs at the trail junction, but this is risky when there are keas about (I saw some). Keas will peck at anything, so I left my pack on and climbed to the summit. There were many zigzags and it was windy, but the climb was not steep. I had seen the zigzags yesterday from the ridge near Harris saddle.

From the top, there was a long view down Hollyford valley, including the blue-roofed buildings seen yesterday, as well as an airstrip and road. The high valley I had walked from, at McKenzie Lake, was also visible to the right of the Hollyford Valley, as well as the trail I followed yesterday from the saddle.

I picked up a guide card for the Alpine Nature Walk on top. The cards were sturdy and hefty, to stand up to the weather. Signs marked the sights along the way. I followed the nature trail, which pointed out many features of the tarns and tundra, and then followed a ridge walk which went out a long way across the tundra, giving views of a lake in the hanging valley in the mountains across the way. I saw a couple of other people from MacKenzie hut here as well. The "10 minute" walk mentioned on the sign was actually much longer.

The ridge was muddy with many bogs. Finally, I arrived at a high point where the trail ended, but I went a little further down through a tussock and boulder field for a view of a big lake I had a glimpse of across the ridge, which I believe I had seen as well from Conical Peak. I stopped there and had lunch, with no one else around. There was a lot of wind on the ridge. I turned back, not wanting to be late for the bus, and encountered a large group of Japanese tourists without packs as I approached the Nature Trail. I passed more day hikers on the way down the zigzags, and many more on the main track.

The forest became denser and more like the Milford forest, though I saw few fern trees here. Going down the final switchbacks, the road soon became visible. I reached the bottom at around 2:30, a half hour before my bus was scheduled to arrive. The sandflies were really annoying here, though I never found sandfly bites to be very itchy. A number of people were waiting, including two unsuccessful hitchhikers.

The Kiwi Experience bus stopped at 3:15, fifteen minutes behind schedule. It makes daily sightseeing trips from Queenstown to Milford Sound and back. Kiwi Experience is one New Zealand's "alternative bus" companies, which cater to more casual, and perhaps younger tourists, and try to stop to do interesting things along the way. The bus was brightly painted with a mural, as is common for these busses. There were flags, fuzzy dice, and stuffed bungy-jumping kiwis hanging inside the windshield. The driver was barefoot, and wearing a tank top and sunglasses.

The hitchhikers gave up and reluctantly paid the $45 fare back to Queenstown. Tapes of classic rock (60's - 70's mostly) played on the way. We stopped briefly to see Mirror Lakes, which had mountain lupins blooming along the shore. We arrived in Te Anau at 4:40, and had a break there until 5:00. I thought about going back to the hostel for my food, but it was a long walk, and it was hot and sunny now. I decided it wasn't worth the trouble, and got an ice cream cone at the dairy instead.

On the way out of Te Anau, we went up a gravel road to a viewpoint overlooking the town and lake. The driver said he had just discovered this place recently. The hill was in the middle of sheep fields, but was marked by signs and had a locator on top showing features of the landscape.

On the trip back to Queenstown, the driver showed a video of "The Lion King". The bus made a few stops in Queenstown, getting to the YHA at about 7:15. Then, I showered and changed and went out to eat. I went down to a pedestrian mall in the center of town, and chose a pizza bar, Winnie Bagoe's, because of their interesting pizza selection. I ordered a "tandoori lamb" pizza, which included broiled spiced lamb, chutney, and minted yogurt toppings. I had a Black Mac to go with it. There was live jazz in the bar, and the roof was open. It was attached to hydraulic cylinders that allow it to be lifted on a nice day like this one.

By the time I finished dinner around 10 PM, most of Queenstown was closed. Except for bars, things don't stay open very late in New Zealand, even in the resort towns. Not seeing any place to get an interesting desert, I walked back to the hostel and went to bed.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.