Days 15 and 16, vanlife, February 3rd and 4th, Nelson to Routeburn Falls Hut
We woke to birdsong at the top of Lewis Pass, had a quick breakfast, then hit the road again. This time for a 600km+ drive to Alexandra with a quick diversion to Wanaka to pick up Gordon's pack from Ben.
In Alex, we were joined by Sally who drove up from her farm in Southland and enjoyed the hospitality for the night of Dan, Tom and Eddy (mum Penny being on her way to the Antarctic). These 4 were planning to do the Routeburn Track but Tom broke his arm and Penny got sent to the Antarctic for work so now Gordon, Sally and I have taken their place. I am currently lying on my bunk at the stunning Routeburn Falls Hut, 1000m above sea level writing this!
Today we left Alex and drove to the start of the track via check in at the Department of Conservation Visitors Center in Queenstown. Here we got a weather briefing and our paperwork to check in at the huts. From there it was another hour's drive to the start of the track. The Routeburn is one of New Zealand's great walks and crosses the Southern Alps in Fiordland. It is 33km long and will take us 3 days to complete at a relatively cruisy pace.
Today was about 10km of predominantly uphill track winding through South Island beech forest right to the treeline. The views were spectacular and the weather was fine which made for a great day out. Just above this almost new Hut lies the spectacular Routeburn Falls which are frozen solid in winter. Tomorrow is forecast to be torrential rain and gale force winds at least until mid morning so there is no rush to get going. The route tomorrow takes us up and over the Divide and is fully exposed to the elements for the whole way through to the next hut so it could be an interesting day. The Falls will be spectacular to see with all the rain anyway!
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