14.-15.04.2018
The next day, we woke up early and parked the car at the beginning of Kepler Track, then started walking at around 10:00. At first, the track was mostly forest and easy walking along the lake (sadly, it was quite a bit too cold to go for a swim :P). As we got higher, the first muddy and icy patches greeted us on the path, which developed into proper snow after we got above the tree line. We arrived at the hut around 14:30 and quickly got talking with a group of guys from California: John, Ben & Rohit.
We all watched the sunset from the hut, except Ben, who went a bit further up to get a better view. Then at night, we were stunned by how many stars we could see. We also got to know Allison, a really nice Canadian and I talked quite a bit with a Swede called Robin, who had his camera take a time lapse of the night sky:
The warden told us in the evening that we won’t be able to continue from Luxemore Hut to Iris Burn Hut because the avalanche risk was way too high and the track was covered waist-deep in snow.
In the morning, John woke me up really excited and told me I have to get up, everybody else is already outside – watching the sun rise. I’m more than just a little glad that he did, because it was an absolutely stunning sight (photos taken by Allison, time lapse by Robin – I forgot my phone in the hurry).
Later, me and Louise went to the summit together with Allison and a Swede, on the way there we met the Californians again. On top, we had an amazing view and the guys ate some instant noodles and we shared hot cocoa and coffee. Afterwards, we went back to the hut to get our stuff and as a really nice group consisting out of Louise, John, Ben, Rohit, Allison and Jakobo (an Italian who joined us last minute), we walked down to the carpark again.
It was pouring rain the last bit, but thankfully we all had proper rain covers and rain jackets. At the bottom, the guys got all of us a beer from their trunk. We decided to stay together and drove to Lakeview Backpackers, where we got a whole room to ourselves. We into town for dinner, to an Indian restaurant, it was sooo yummy. The next day, Louise and I made the decision no to travel together anymore, so we had some stuff to figure out. I also had to plan how I wanted to go on, so we hung out in front to the fireplace for the whole day. Allison, Jakobo, Louise and me then stayed at the same backpackers for another night, the guys went to different one. Jakobo made a huge pot of Spaghetti Carbonara for us in the afternoon and after eating a huge portion each, we still had enough for about 10 others. We had some wine, cider and good talks in the evening, then went to bed. Early next day, Jakobo and Allison went to Milford Track and Louise did the same for Routeburn Track. I, on the other hand, made my way into Queenstown and had a great time getting there, meeting lots of different people.