Days 139-142: Mavora and Mararoa

We've made it through to Te Anau, and it's time for our sidetrip with Karen, who is here on vacation from Boston! We're about to head back to Queenstown to start the Routeburn Track, then spend a day in Milford Sound, before getting back on the trail for our last week and a half to Bluff.


We had a really early morning in Queenstown to catch our 8am shuttle over to the start of the trail on the other side of the lake. It took almost 3 hours to make it all the way over - the shuttle ended up dropping people off all over the place on the way, and we were the last stop. We did meet a few interesting people on the ride though, and got some great early morning views of the surrounding mountains.

Great view across Lake Wakatipu on the ride to the trailhead, but it felt like cheating because we didn't walk there!

The track from the trailhead to the first hut, Greenstone, was like a superhighway. The Greenstone-Caples loop is apparently a very popular and easy trip, so it sees a lot of traffic. We arrived at Greenstone Hut in about 3 hours, and were planning on heading on, until we checked out the hut. We quickly decided to take another half day and stay the night - flush toilets, water tap inside, 2 bunk rooms, great views, full time hut warden... this was the nicest hut we've seen so far! We called it an early day and, psyched ourselves up for a bit of a longer day tomorrow.

The sunlight cooperates with the waterfall

The next morning, we got an early start, and headed off the well-beaten track to the Mavora Walkway. We crossed a (hardly noticeable) saddle, then spent most of the day walking up a very nice river valley. We passed a few huts along the way, and, while they weren't bad at all, we were happy we decided to hang out at Greenstone.

Near the confluence of the Greenstone & Caples rivers

Tussocks n' mountains, a classic combo

A turnstile? What is this, a subway station?

Luckily our water bladders were full when we went by this very green trickle

Strange imprints of moss(?) on river rocks

Liz was almost lost forever in the tallest tussocks we've seen yet

Looking back on the Mararoa River

Overall it was a pretty nice day of walking. That night, we stayed at Carey's Hut, right on North Mavora Lake. It wasn't as new and fancy as the Greenstone Hut, but it definitely had some flair. There was a water tank connected to the wood-burning cooking stove, and a shower wired up to it! We didn't bother lighting a fire, because it was pretty warm, but this was the first hut where a hot (possibly scalding, if you stoke the fire too much?) shower was a possibility.

My poor Icebreaker shirt has seen better days. I wear it during laundry time in towns, and the combo of the shirt and my beard has gotten me some pretty strange looks

We also met a pair of women there, heading back the way we came. They had all sorts of fancy food with them, and were nice enough to share dessert with us. While we enjoy our normal dessert of mint slices and Whittaker's chocolates, their mini pavlovas, topped with fresh! whipped cream and (dried, reconstituted) kiwi slices were quite the treat. Trail magic!

Gourmet dessert, thanks to two lovely ladies we met in a hut!

The next morning, we set off from Carey's Hut, and walked along the lake for a while. Along the way, we ran into a school group on mountain bikes. Turns out there were about 50 of them in the area, staying at a nearby campground. They had all sorts of activities going - mountain biking, hiking, tubing on the river, compass navigation lessons... and it was all part of NZ mandatory outdoor education. They invited us to stop by their camp for a cuppa (American translation: cup of tea), and we spent a while talking with them about how we wish there was compulsory outdoor education in the US.

Early morning at Carey's Hut

The remains of a cow. It was well preserved - we could have had our very own sheet of authentic NZ cow leather if we had the stomach for removing it.

Looking back over North Mavora Lake

In other words, "No Vehicles - don't be an a$$hole"

After our tea break, we continued on to Kiwi Burn Hut. We had heard terrible things about the next 50km of trail after the campground - head high tussocks, no trail, boggy conditions. Something must have been lost in translation though, because it was a delightful, easy walk to Kiwi Burn.

Nice setup in Kiwi Burn Hut - worth the 1.5 km detour off the main trail

The next day, we encountered the tussock/bog/trailless portion, and guiltily snuck out to the gravel road that parallels the trail through this section. It sounds like a detour that many take, but it still felt a bit like cheating. The road was pretty uneventful, but we were able to crank out the kms and get out to the highway by mid-afternoon.

From there, we easily caught a ride into Te Anau with a pair of nice Aussie women here on holiday, and got a room at the YHA. We started staying almost exclusively at YHA hostels after we discovered that they offer a 25% "Low Carbon Traveler" discount. All we had to do was get a letter from YHA stating that we were on the TA, and our hostel stays all of the sudden became much cheaper. We stayed in real beds in Te Anau for $40/night - less than you pay for a tent site at some holiday parks!

Sheeeeeep

Te Anau is a serious tourist town. It bills itself as the "Gateway to Fjordland," and tons of tours, walks, and other trips start from here. It's a pretty town, but it is filled with overpriced tourist trap stores. Meat pies here go for an outrageous $6.50! While they were tasty, they weren't much better than your average $4 pie. Trust me, I am a NZ meat pie connoisseur at this point.

A seaplane waiting for a load of tourists. Flying is even more cheating than driving!

A scared fish from an info sign along Lake Te Anau

We catch a bus back to Queenstown in a couple of hours, then we're off to the Routeburn. We'll be back in Te Anau in 5 days, ready to finish this sucker off. But not really ready for it be over...

... which is why we're starting to plan a week of tramping on Stewart Island (a small island south of the South Island) before we head back up north to meet up with Liz's dad, tackle the Tongariro Crossing, and catch our flights home. Stewart Island tramping is famous for its thigh-deep mud. Yes folks, this is apparently now our idea of fun.