The Kepler Track
The forecast was bad… but we were booked on to the track on the 2nd January and it was our only chance to go so there was nothing for it but to don our oh-so-uselss waterproofs and get on with it. Those who know Giles well will understand how tempted he was to go and splash out on a shiny new waterproof jacket for the occassion, but he finally made do with a new base layer instead - bought on the premise that it was ‘warm when wet’
The sun was shining when we were dropped off at Brod Bay by the water taxi so we were hoping the forecast was mistaken. For most of the day we were sheltered from any rain by the dense bush that we were walking through. The track was proving to be quite pretty and we were enjoying being out in the wilderness until… we had just about reached the bushline and were looking forward to seeing the views over the lakes and mountains when we heard thunder. And then the hail started. We arrived at the first night’s hut 40 minutes later looking and feeling like drowned rats. However, the Luxmore Hut did have a nice glowing fire, and we were soon nicely warmed up. Plus, this time we had remembered the chocolate!
The next day the weather was worse and we awoke to a covering of snow. The track lead us up and over the ridge, which should have been the highlight of the tramp with some fantastic views, but we couldn’t see much through the driving snow, hail and gales. However, we did see some Kea, New Zealand’s mountain parrot, which was a spectacular sight. Once again the next hut was warm and welcoming and we enjoyed an evening of card games and swapping stories with the other groups in the hut.
For the third day of the tramp the rain held off and we followed the track down through the bush and finished up walking alongside the lake to the last hut. We saw some fantastic waterfalls and the bush was really lush so at last a chance to get the camera out. The last night’s hut was in a really peaceful setting right beside Lake Motueka - although we were not warm enough or mad enough to think about going for a swim.
Day four was very short - only a couple of hours walk to the road where we had arranged a pick up - and we got into the bus only seconds before it started to rain again, so the perfect ending to our tramp
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