NZ Day 4 - Kepler Day 2

Thursday, 15 December 2022

Our last 2 big hikes in NZ have been in almost white-out conditions, so to start the day with blue skies and wispy white clouds was quite the treat!

We still had more climb to go, so it was up and up from the get go.  We started at 8.30am and by about 9.30 we'd caught up to most of our hut-mates who were struggling up the rolling hills. The only reason I wasn't left behind was because Jett and Jon carry most of our common gear between them - so my pack was pretty light by hiking standards.

I was just starting to think that I didn't really like hiking above the treeline when we rounded a corner and saw the most spectacular views down to the fjord below

A lot of the alpine vegetation was very familiar - cushion plants and stunted bushes with the odd flower hunched down to the ground. 

We did a short side trip to the top of Mt Luxmore.  The big dopey looking Kea birds have become so smart (and they have such sharp beaks) that you can't even leave your pack for a moment or you'll return to them having unzipped every compartment and having hacked your facebook account, so we have to do all side trips with our packs.  Thankfully Mt Luxmore was only about 20 minutes out and back- 

From there we traversed narrow ridges and went up over hills and down into saddles. All very spectacular.

Eventually we stopped for first lunch at one of the emergency shelters with million dollar toilet views:

and a pair of cheeky Keas who snuck out from under the shelter as soon as we arrived.  Here they are plotting their next distract-and-destroy move:

After a few more ups, we started on the very long down to the Iris Burn hut.

Before we started our big descent we stopped for 2nd lunch and to enjoy the sunshine and mountain views (and mobile coverage) for one last time:

Then it was time to head down and down back into the green forest to the valley floor.  The steep descent had lots and lots of zig zags, but judging by the state of many of the other hikers as they arrived at the hut hours and hours later, it still wasn't kind enough on their knees. In the photo below the far range to the left and behind the pointy one in the middle, is where we descended from.

Arriving at the hut around 3pm we had the choice of bunk beds which was nice as there were definitely some which were better than others.  We had time to walk the k or so to a waterfall, where we all had very quick swims due to the freezing water. It was great to be clean at least for a moment, before we had to reapply about six layers of mosquito repellant and sunscreen:

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon reading the very old hut magazines, and skipping rocks in the river:

The hut was absolutely chock full by 7.30pm when the last of our tribe limped inside.  We lasted until 9pm then tucked ourselves into bed. Amazingly, I slept pretty well both nights as many of the snorers exiled themselves and their mattresses in the kitchen - so by some miracle both bunk rooms we slept in were really quiet. I was prepared with sleep music and podcasts and 2 different types of ear plugs but I didn't need anything in the end - it was the only part of the walk I wasn't looking forward to but it turned out fine.