well i’m on my way…

The clouds were present but not overbearing when we left to begin the Kepler Track.  The four and a half hour walk was entirely uphill through trees in a zig-zag fashion.  We walked all the way up through the forest past the tree line from where we could see the tops of mountains, valleys, and the tiny speck of Te Anau.  We encountered more creaky trees and fantails in the forest.  I was particularly amazed by the native pigeons-they look just like regular pigeons I’m used to from Chicago but these ones were the size of chickens!  They somehow balanced themselves on the twiggy branches in the tops of trees and when they flew, I could hear the flapping of their wings and it sounded so painful.  These birds seriously looked too heavy to be flying the way they were.  Right before the top of the tree line the trees were covered in something kind of grassy hanging off the tips of the branches.  The best way to describe this stuff was that it looked like the fake snow stores use for their Chistmas displays-or the cobwebby stuff people put on their bushes for Halloween.  Except it was green and felt like dried grass.  Wierd.  We forgot to ask DOC (Department of Conservation) about it.  Next time.

The Luxmore Hut was luxurious compared to the huts we stayed in on the Rakiura Track.  The views of Lake Te Anau and some mountains were spectacular!  This one had running water toilets in the hut, multiple gas burners for our use, and loads of books on the flora and fauna in the area.  Still no heat though, and it was really cold at night.  The wind was howling before we got to the hut, and continued to get even worse as the night wore on.  While trying to fall asleep I listened to the wind whipping around the corner of the hut.  A few times I could even feel the hut shake. 

The wind didn’t die down at all for our walk the next day.  The wind was crazy ridiculous while we were walking along the tops of mountians–I’m not exaggerating!  We made it to the actual peak of Mt Luxmore before the fog started coming in.  The wind was strong-up to 70 kilometers an hour (and I have no idea what that means in miles, but I know it was scary).  I wondered a few times exactly how crazy a person I was for doing this, but I wasn’t afraid.  I knew that out in nature exposed to the elements was not the place for fear.  There was no time for fear; I could only react.  Besides, I knew that if I became afraid I would make a mistake and could fall and break something.  I do think Naomi was a bit nervous after she admitted to me that she “didn’t want to be known as the Canadian that died on the Kepler Track”. 

Reminded by my Aunt Pat quoting my Grandfather “not to take a chance with nature, as nature always wins”, I knew that we had to continue moving and get below the fog before it  reached us and whitewashed us out of moving forward.  We moved as quickly and as carefully along the track that ran along the tops and sides of the mountain range.  The views were spectacular and one mountain that was shrouded in fog just seemed so majestic to me.  As much as I wanted to stop and look in wonder, I knew I had to keep on moving ahead before the weather caught us. 

We met up with Mark, a Dutch guy we hung out with in the hut the night before, who wanted to walk with us as it was safer for him to not walk alone.  At one point the wind was so strong we had to stop and get on all fours.  We heard a rip-like sound and watched as a pack rain cover floated away in the wind.  The wind had ripped his cover right off his pack!  We laughed and watched in amazement as the cover acted like a parachute and floated over the scenery.  After the wind died down a bit we continued walking.  

After an hour or so more of walking, we reached the tree line where we were safe from the wind.  We walked downward in a zig-zag fashion again and I realized then how old my knees were.  I know that a good way to walk downhill is to walk backwards, but I wasn’t about to do that on uneven ground!  We found the hut in a valley and once we defrosted and laughed with the rest of the trampers about the crazy wind, we had dinner and went to bed early, exhausted from fighting the wind all day.

The next day the weather forecast had promised rain, but we were in luck once again.  The rain stopped as we started walking and the skies cleared to blue and it turned into a beautiful day.  After walking through the bush we entered a clearing-another valley surrounded by mountains and waterfalls-waterfalls that we could hear before we could see them.  Since the rain was intermittent, we paused to look as the rainbows that would appear and disappear.  They were probably the most vivid rainbows I’ve seen in my life.  Well, up to that point of my life at least.  

We entered the bush after a while and stayed there for the rest of the day.  Parts of it were carpeted in a moss that covered the entire ground and went all the way up the trees!  Other parts of the bush consisted of tall skinny trees (beech trees?) and ginormous weed looking plants that only went a few feet high.  I felt like I was in a scene from Jurassic Park and that a dinosaur would come stomping though at any moment.  Despite that, it was a peaceful walk.  We crossed lots of rivers and streams, and some parts we walked alongside a bigger watersource that was running pretty rapidly, thanks to the crazy rain the night before.  Through breaks in the bush we could see mountains in the distance and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were the same ones we hardly made it across the day before.

It was becoming late afternoon and we were getting tired.  We came across a sign that told us our car was parked another three hours away!!  Neither one of us wanted to walk in the dark, so we headed to the carpark for the daytrippers and made friends with a local couple who gladly gave us a ride to our car.  Kiwis are so friendly!      

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