Routeburn Track completed!

They said it was one of the best walks in the world and we are certainly not going to disagree. Despite a series of gloomy weather forecasts and tales of how wet these mountains are we had three days of glorious weather, especially the middle day when we were mostly above 1000 metres crossing the Harris Saddle. The views over the Hollyford Valley were absolutely spectacular and the path itself seemed to be going through the most beautiful alpine rock garden. Here's a shot of the view from Harris Saddle with the shelter in the middle and the Darren Range mountains behind.


Although we were reasonably fit for the walk itself it was the first time in years either of us had walked any distance with a heavy pack, so it was great to relax in the DOC huts at night. The path was beautifully maintained and the huts were excellent with onsite wardens. The Mackenzie Hut warden in particular has an alternative career waiting for him as a stand-up comedian. Dehydrated food was fine on the Track but it was great to get back to Queenstown and a really good Indian last night. Which reminds me - we nearly didn't get back to Queenstown at all when the bus we had booked seats on drove straight past us without stopping, leaving us over 150 miles from our camper van. Needless to say there was no mobile phone coverage, but we are eternally grateful to Linda and Harold from California who cheerfully volunteered the back seat of their hire car to our muddy feet. They took us as far as Te Anau where we cadged a lift on a Real Journeys tour bus. Never mind Kiwi Discovery - at least you came clean on the mistake and gave us a full refund - which paid for the Indian!