Amazing Fiordland!! But where's the rain?!!

From Dunedin, we drove straight to Te Anau, a quaint little lakeside town and the starting point for all activities in Fjordland National Park (the deep south of New Zealand). The drive deep into Milford Sound was breathtaking and we stayed for a beautiful day of kayaking... no dolphins, unfotuantely, but the cliffs and clear water was spectacular. We camped that night (with a couple million sandflies - all of whom got a piece of us) aside a mountain stream and then did a great climb up Keyes Summit, near the start of the Routeburn Track.

Then back to Te Anau to prepare for our 4-day tramp on Kepler Track. Picture us with the van parked in a restaurant parking lot adjacent to a picnic area, our packs, gear and food in heaps on the grass as we negotiated what did / did not need to be carried up the mountain. Fjordland generally gets 800 cm of rain per year (December is the rainiest month), and we'd been warned of foul weather rolling in quickly on the hilltops, so we wanted to be prepared. After a couple hours, we were ready to go, having agreed to drain 500ml from our 2L bag of red wine, leaving a sensible ration of 1 cup each per night. Then we succombed to the sounds of karaoke in the restaurant and headed in for one last cold beer before the rough life began.

Well, Kepler Track was gorgeous (must mention that this was where a lot of "Lord of the Rings" was filmed) and we met lots of friendly international hikers in the overnight huts. Amazingly, we never felt a drop of rain and actually felt a bit ripped off in the end, having carried so much warm and wet gear that was never used. The terrain was simply incredible! We went from low beech forests near lake Te Anau up above the bushline onto the mountain ridges of the Te Anau range, crossing swingbridges over cold blue glacial rivers. Our last night was spent on a beautiful mountain lake with golden sand beaches. Once again, I (Cheryl) seemed to suffer a lot more than Mike with sore legs in the last couple days going downhill... of course, I don't have to say which of us carried the wine!