Te Anau is an amazing place to land after a trying period of adventure. I felt that way hitching in the first time, and I felt it again after coming back from walking the 60km Kepler Great Walk.
This place is a frontier town, about as far away from anything as you can get. They call it the “Gateway to the Fiordlands” because it is the last great bastion of civilization before a whole lot of wilderness in any given direction–Especially the massive Fiordlands National Park to the west.
It has charm, and everything else a hiker needs to be happy. A large, cheap grocery store, plenty of mountains in all directions, a humble hostel with the most amazing view, a national park on your doorstep, outdoor supply stores, and loads of young backpackers who flock here to take on the Kepler, Routeburn, and Milford Great Walks, and to experience the pristine wilderness of the New Zealand Fiordlands.
After four days in town, being the restless nomadic human that I am, I took off on the 60km Kepler Track. A couple of TA hikers had arranged to meet me and do this great walk togerher. They would start the TA NOBO in just a few days, and were taking this opportunity to stretch their legs after their long flights.
The first day involved a 6km lakeside trail to the trailhead, and then a 6km walk through the forests alongside Lake Te Anau to the Brod Bay Campsite. It was pretty wet all day, but my friend and I still managed to get a roaring fire going that evening by collecting some dry tinder off of a dead tree, and using my camp stove to give it a little nudge.
The next day was a spectacular hike along the ridgeline 1,000m above our camp with unreal views of the surrounding fiords. I’ll let the photos do the talking:
As Carl Sagan said, “We are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.”
Finally, we arrive at the second campsite down in the valley at Iris Burn (a “burn” is a waterway with constantly changing widths and depths). The sandflies were pretty brutal so we took refuge in our tents for most of the evening.
The next and last day involved a gentle 36km of hiking down the Iris Burn, through gorgeously lush forests, and finally arriving back at the hostel in Te Anau for one last night in civilization before returning to the trail.
I stocked up on 6 days of food at the grocery (even though my feet really didn’t want to do any more work) and my friend and I share a sunset beer on the lakeside, celebrating our completion of the Kepler track and our newfound friendship.
She goes tomorrow morning to Invercargill, the start of the trail. I’ll look forward to following her journey (and reliving the brutal Longwood Forest)!
In any case, I get back to the hostel, pack up all the food for the next wild week, and hit the hay.
Goodnight!
It is great to relive the memories. Let us move onwards! Or stay another day in queenstown while it’s bucketing snow!