10.04.10 Routeburn Tramp

The Routeburn track is one of New Zealands great walks, and we were lucky enough to do it without any rain. What we didn’t realise was quite how popular it is, and so when we couldn’t book the huts we wanted, to undertake this three day walk we just figured we’d do it in two, in true kiwi fashion ‘she’ll be aright’. With the first days walking estimated by DOC as between 8.5 and 11.5 hours and the bus dropping us off at 11am we really were going to have to do the first day at speed with sunset at 6pm and darkness soon after.


We passed the first hut ahead of schedule and so stopped for a quick lunchbreak (40 minutes as it turned out) at the 174m Earland falls near the beginning of the walk. The bottom section had this beautiful rainbow. After we passed the Mackenzie hut we started to worry as everyone going the other way asked where we were going... and looked slightly concerned as we said the Falls hut as we skipped gaily past. We picked up the pace but remembered to enjoy the stunning setting as we tramped along the side of the Hollyford valley, and reached the saddle (1255m) at 5.30pm, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. A perfect spot for a cup of tea I thought but Gioia’s sense denied this break request.


We carried on down the other side past the beautiful Harris lake and snow patches, down the rocky path towards our hut for the night. After a while it started to get dark and cold so I suggested we stop to get our torches out... around the next corner and much to our delight around the next corner we could just make our hut for the night.. it was dark 5 minutes after we arrived.. And we were the last of 48 to check in!!!! Perfect timing. Following dinner and a suitably named bottle of wine from Mission Estate I passed out at about 9pm and Gioia struggled to sleep in the shared dorm – too many people breathing! Not a great sign for our coming month in Samoa....


The next day we cruised down the hill at a very leisurely pace to reach the final destination and meet our bus at 2pm, rain was predicted for 4pm so we were rather happy with ourselves and our good timing!