The Kepler Track

My dad, his girlfriend Donna and my uncle came to visit for the last two weeks. It's been amazing to see my dad again. A year and half is too long! 

Donna found a super cute little cabin on Airbnb for them to stay in that was a 10 minute drive from my house. It was right next to Lake Wakatipu.

View from the cabin

Before my dad came he talked to some friends that had travelled in New Zealand and they recommended we tramp the Kepler Track. Tramping is just what they call hiking or backpacking in NZ...dont idea why.

The Kepler Track

We took four days and three nights to tramp the Kepler Track. We slept in "huts" which are just basic houses. The kitchens have a bunch of tables, gas stoves and sinks with cold running water. They are all different but usually there are atleast two different bunk rooms. The bunk rooms sleep around 20 people in bunk bed with plastic mattresses. There are solar lights for a couple hours in the evening.

Luxmore Hut

I slept pretty well in the huts because I was tired. However I slept even better after uncle moved into the kitchen because he was snoring so badly and Donna kept waking him up. 

The first day was around 5 and half hours of hiking. The first hour was mostly flat but after that it was steady climb to the Luxmore Hut.

The beginning! Control Gates

The Stampfles just before the incline 

Luxmore Hut

Stampfle brothers during cocktail hour

Just before we went into a cave near the Luxmore Hut

Sunset at the Luxmore Hut (we did some yoga on the deck during while the sun was setting) 

The second day of the hike was definitely the hardest. The day started from the Luxmore Hut and went up to the top of Mount Luxmore then we hiked above the clouds, along ridge lines for a couple hours. The last half of the day was spent walking down about a billion switch backs. We were all very thankful and tried by the time we got to the second hut.

Foggy Morning

Got to love the moon and those clouds

Top of Mount Luxmore... I mean the TOP OF THE WORLD!

Uncle Mike on top of Mount Luxmore

Beautiful day

Can you see the trail?

The trail follows the ridge line

Donna

Lunch at the Hanging Valley Shelter

My dad and the trail behind him

Not a bad view

Taking a break

The third day was long but mostly flat. In the morning it was raining just a little bit but it stopped pretty quickly. We walked through a beautiful valley and then spent most of the rest of the day walking through a rainforest, with tall moss covered trees. 

Getting ready for the third day

Foggy and a bit rainy on the third morning 

Do they look tired?

Donna with a moss seal 

Purple mushrooms! 

The forest

Donna and I drank from the stream just because we could

The last day of the hike wasn't too bad, but we were all pretty tired from the three days of hiking before. My dad and uncle hiked the first two hours to Rainbow Reach and then took a shuttle bus back into the town of Te Anau. Donna and I kept walking and the last 2 hours back to where we parked the car. 

Bridge at Rainbow Reach

For the record Donna and I got to the Control Gates in two hours

Finished!

We were back in Te Anau in time for lunch. A savory meat pie from Miles Better Pies was just what we wanted. We had been eating mostly freeze dried food and sandwiches so a warm pie really hit the spot. They were so good that we had pies for breakfast the next morning. 

We had amazing weather which was lucky because it snowed the day after we finished the hike. It was so cold in Te Anau the next day, I can't imagine how cold I would have been if it snowed while we were up high.