{"id":518,"date":"2009-05-15T18:41:46","date_gmt":"2009-05-15T22:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deridder.ca\/blog\/?p=518"},"modified":"2012-10-10T20:16:56","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T00:16:56","slug":"restoring-our-honeymoon-blog-day-6-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deridder.ca\/blog\/?p=518","title":{"rendered":"Our Honeymoon blog: Day 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Island Day 6 – Routeburn Hike Day 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We woke up in time to have a little breakfast, make some final adjustments to our backpacks, and double check our route and timing..\u00a0 We then put our gear on (waterproof head to toe, since it was gonna be wet for the first day at least), and headed to the parks and rec building just a block away from the campsite in Te Anau to catch our bus to\u00a0the Divide – the western side of the Routeburn track. We had decided to go west to east, as opposed to the more common east to west direction, which i think turned out great… We did it not only due to the steepness of some of the sections, but also, I had a plan to spend some time in Queenstown after the trek, but as you read on, you’ll see that didn’t work out.<\/span>
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Here is the route we were taking.. the red section is the hike, the rest are bus rides. So Te Anau to Divide was our start, then we walk for 3 days (2 nights) to get to the Routeburn Shelter, then buses eventually all the way back to Te Anau.\u00a0 The walk can be shorter, but we planned on a relaxing stroll, with lots of stops for picture taking, etc.<\/span>
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The actual walk elevations are shown below.. We stayed the first night at Lake Mackenzie Hut, then the second night at the Routeburn Falls Hut… <\/span>
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So we started off with a slightly steep climb from the divide.. Which was kinda tough… After the driving ‘injury’ and now lugging around a backpack with 3 days supplies, the shoulder(s) are killing and the feet are getting sore as hell.\u00a0 But it could have been much worse. We were very prepared, with great breathable waterproof gear that we spent good coin on, as well as great hiking boots and great backpacks.<\/span>
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So the first day was a lot of climbing.. though well worth it, with countless amazing waterfalls we would walk right up to, as well as a side trip to the Key Summit. While the\u00a0rain was making the water falls come alive, we lost out on some landscape visibility… This plaque at the Key Summit shows the 360 degree view of mountains which would be visible on clear days…<\/span>
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But here is an example what we saw when it came to distant views:<\/span>
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On top of this mountain, at the Key Summit, there was a Alpine Nature walk, with water bogs and other alpine plants.. Here I am walking along a boardwalk above some of the water bogs…<\/span>
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The trails were pretty well groomed, with sturdy bridges in some places – other areas you had to walk into the water across small streams.<\/span>
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You could see waterfalls in the distance at all times.. Peaking through the forest.. In some cases, the waterfalls you first saw in the distance, were eventually right above you!<\/span>
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The big falls on the above photo were called Earland Falls.. They were spectacular.. and amazingly enough, the trail basically brings you right under them.. Boy that was windy! And a little too wet to take photos.. But\u00a0I took one just after passing by it:<\/span>
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And in this pic below, you can see part of the trail (a small bridge) in the bottom right corner:<\/span>
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