Routeburn Track 1

There must be a special level of hell for people who arrive late for a coach that is supposed to leave at 6:15am – and any hot pokers in that special level are probably being wielded by those for whom 6:15; is still 4:15 Australian time.

We did eventually leave Queenstown and made the drive to The Anau for scones and then on to The Divide where the Routeburn Track starts.

The first couple of kilometres go quite steeply uphill and if you do as I did and detour to Lake Marian there’s yet more hill involved. Spectacular view though, especially on a beautiful day.

From there the track involved a great many trees dripping with moss and lichen, lots of little waterfalls, and views of the snow-streaked mountain-tops – which presumably are creating the aforementioned waterfalls.

Lunch was a brilliant sandwich from the famous Fergburgers, which we’d carried in. The Sun was shining and all was pretty good in the world with the addition of a cup of coffee. The next section involved more uphill then a pretty spectacular waterfall. The waterfall’s spray provided a welcome cooling shower.

Then there was a long stretch followed by a treacherous, technical downhill that was surprisingly difficult. Finally the lodge came into sight. I’d like to say the beautiful Lake Mackenzie provided a refreshing swim but in reality it was so cold it hurt and I lasted about a minute.