Distinction Luxmore Hotel Te Anau

I began the three day Kepler Track hike today. Arriving too late last night, I had to wait until the Department of Conservation office opened at 8:30am in order to pick up my hut permits. The office was stuffed with a large, older crowd of hikers milling around awaiting transport to the trailhead; my hiking companions I assumed. I, on the other hand, had decided to walk to the start, a quick 45 minute warm-up march from Te Anau. At the control gates (basically a dam) that hold back the waters...

Luckily we got fabulous weather while we were down in the Fiordland - which is surprising as it rains pretty much constant there. The Milford Sounds is fab & the drive to it, almost better. The coolest photo's are the one from mirror lake - check out the upside down one - frecky! We headed off on another walk here, the Kepler Track. We spend the night at Luxmore Hut.

Hanging out with Mel and Jenn, you learn that adventure is never far away. After our two-day kayaking trip, we talked about hiking the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", a 72k, three-day circuit traversing mountain ridges through some of New Zealand's most spectacular scenery in the Fiordland National Park.. Originally, I hadn't committed to the hike since I had already paid for a 10k run in Queenstown (about a 2 hour bus ride) the following day, and it would have called for so...

Raq ani ve teva.... (just me and nature). The following is an account of baby's first track, and i should mention it's also supposed to be the most difficult of the 3 great walks in New Zealand's south island according to the DOC office..... The afternoon before the track i was totally nervous, and with good reason. I haven't been hitting the gym for a good year, except for the occasional yoga sessions, i've been a lazy bum. I was about to start a 3 day journey with 3 men trained by the israe...

This morning saw a late start - about 7.30am....we did a few exercises before indulging in a country breakfast provided by Lanarch Stables. Yummmm.......We then proceeded to mosey around the Castle and the gardens and admire the amazing restoration efforts. We left the Ontago Peninsula and made our way to Dunedin, before headinh south on the main motorway. We reached the small town of Clinton before, you would not believe it, we took the "Clinton-Gore Expressway" to Gore (what the?!). Anyway,...

What a day and a half it has been! Natalie spent last night experiencing the glowworms in the caves near Te Anau. After a 30min evening boat cruise, we landed on Murchison Island and then the adventure began. The waterfalls in the cave are so strong and exhilarating. Contrast this with the eerie silence of the cave where the glowworms are (no cameras, no talking).....your senses start to pick up smells and noises that you would otherwise never hear! After a g&t in the hotel bar, watching ...

I'm still in Christchurch, but tomorrow (if I wake up) I'll be heading out to Queenstown in hopes that I get the job in Te Anau. I interviewed yesterday for the The Luxmore Hotel. I interview with Anne, a man from Holland. He was really laid back and I got feel confident that I'll be offered a job. Otherwise I had interviewed for a Scenic Circles Hotel in Franz Josef. Don't think I really want that isolation. Now, I wasn't planning on updating in Christchurch again, but I was walking around t...

Hello! I'm in Te Anau. I just arrived yesterday via bus. Last night I laughed as I walked into the room which they booked for me at the Luxmore Hotel where I will be working. This thing had two queen size (I'm guessing) beds. It was just ridiculously huge for me with my two bags and tent. So I threw my stuff down and headed out to the Town Center...which I realized I was already in. Te Anau has a population of roughly 1,700 people compared to Queenstown (7,500). Queenstown is also a large tou...

One of the better known walks in New Zealand, the Kepler Track is a 65 km circuit from Te Anau. It is a so called Great Walk, which means that the huts are a bit better than normal and the Department of Conservation can charge lots more for walkers to stay in them. It also means that during the Summer season they are always full. With some fine weather forecast, we decided to give it a go. We walked the track in the opposite direction from most hikers which meant that it was slightly steeper....

South and west the temperature is really dropping, it's here that the tallest mountains are found and the glaciers. The ice melt that causes rivers to be created is apparently called a sound or a fiord which is why they have some beautiful places like Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. The only difference is that a fiord is open to the sea and a sound is not which in fact means that NZ had misnamed their sounds which are open to the sea! Walked around Te Anau on a part of the Keppler trek whic...