NZ -- Thursday, 10/26 (Routeburn Track)

Got up at 7:30 and hit the road today. Not a really long driving day. Just a few hours to the north and east up to Queenstown. It goes without saying that this is a very pretty drive. Made it into Queenstown alright and found a hostel called the Deco Backpackers Hostel.

We had a quick start and it’s not a long drive from Te Anau to Queenstown so we decided there was time to have an afternoon hike on the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn is one of the most famous treks in New Zealand and normally takes about 3 days to complete. It is in fact so popular that if you are going to stay on the trail overnight, you have to book a spot months in advance. The Routeburn starts about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown so we drove up into the mountains past Glenorchy to the trailhead. We found it alright and set off about 1 in the afternoon.

The trail starts by crossing a swinging suspension bridge which was quite a fun experience since I'd never been on a suspension bridge before. It then quickly enters what looks like a type of pine rain forest. This start area is dominated by large evergreen trees with lots of moss everywhere. The walk also travels along and across several mountain streams for the first part (as well as later parts of our walk). After several more suspension and wooden bridges we started to see glimpses out of the forest of the mountains above.

One interesting thing I saw was a new sport that I hadn’t known about before. On one of the wooden bridges that crossed a pretty impressive set of rapids and waterfalls we saw a guide taking a group of 4 people down the river -- through the waterfalls and all. They were using a combination of techniques – rappelling, sliding, or downclimbing – to descend the raging water. It looked like a whole lot of fun.

After a long, slow ascent, the trail breaks into its first breathtaking clearing. The trees cut away for awhile in an area known as The Flats and unobstructed views of the peaks above come into view above. Soon after this (a little over 2 hours from the start) we reached the first hut on the trek – known as the “Flats Hut”.

After the first hut, the trail turns sharply uphill -- the next hour proved to be much harder than the entire hike so far and really let us know how out of shape we were. Finally after completing this section and several more bridges we reached the second hut. Along the way, we passed perhaps the prettiest spot I’ve ever seen. On the side of the hill, just below treeline (or “bushline” as a local called it) the trees clear away and great view appears of the flats, now far below, and the peaks towering all around in every direction. Truly awe inspiring and impossible to describe. The pictures really don't do it justice.. Soon after this we reached the second hut – the “Falls Hut”. We hung out for about 30-45 minutes and after eating some food and checking out the falls we started back down.

A couple hours later and the hike was over. In all we were on the trail for 6 hours. We checked a map at the trailhead afterwards and we hiked 7 km as the crow flies one way, which probably means 9 – 10 km with all the curves each way, or 18 – 20 km total. Not bad for a quick afternoon hike. The one blister I got is one perfectly fine price to pay for this truly memorable hike. I would love to go back and do the rest of it someday.