Routeburn FallsHut,
New Zealand
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Today was our first day on one of New Zealand's Great Walks. We begain our 5 day 35 mile trekking trip of the Routeburn and Caples Tracks by catching a transport from Kinloch Lodge which was secludely located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu roughly an hour Northwest of Queenstown. An interesting vocabulary difference for New Zealand is instead of calling it hiking they refer to hiking as tramping. We started out tramping the Routeburn Track by crossing one of the many swing bridges located along the track. Throughout our tramp the forest that surrounded us looked very close to that of a rainforest, a deep green moss covered nearly everything. Stopping for lunch along a very beautiful turquoise river we were able to relax while listening to the sounds of the forest and river rushing by. Further down the track there were heaps of outlooks over numerous mountain valleys, along with some waterfalls. At one point the track crossed an enourmous rock slide where the trees had been broken leaving a gorgeous view of the mountains and river valleys below. When we finally arrived at the Routeburn Falls hut, which is only accessible by foot or helicopter, it was an absolutely amazing creation up near the mountain tops. Running water with seperate buildings for lodging and cooking that had been wrapped around by a porch with a view that rivaled any we had seen yet. Finally it was time to rip off our stinky boots and kick back and relax for the rest of the evening.
James Jaderborg
