Segwun at Sea: And now for some serious tramping!

February 19, 2014

If four days and roughly 74 kilometers count as serious tramping, then we have done it!!! Woohoo! I believe we can now call ourselves true Kiwi Trampers.

We booked a three-day tramp on the Humpridge Track in Tuatapere but decided we couldn’t wait for the following day to start tramping so we headed straight out to a tramp at Lake Huaroko, the deepest lake in New Zealand. It was a four-hour hike to a look out. Now, pay close attention to the word “look out” because you know what that means. It means you must go up to look out. And up we went. Five hundred and sixty six meters up. And what did we see when we got there? Absolutely nothing. That’s right. Nothing. Not surprising as it was a rather rainy day and at that height we were well into the mist and clouds. Despite the lack of scenery it was a good hike and we figured a good warm up for the days to come.

At the Look Out on the Lake Huaroko track.

Made it to the top!

So feeling like expert trampers already, we set off on day one of the Humpridge Track knowing we had 21 kilometers of forest and hills ahead of us. The map of the track indicated the first day would be the toughest, climbing up to the lodge, which sits at 800 meters. It took us 8 hours to reach Okaka Lodge and we were feeling a wee bit exhausted but quite thrilled that the weather was clear giving us a most amazing 360-degree view of the beaches we left behind, Stewart Island off to the South East and Fjordland to the West and North.

Beautiful beaches on the South Coast.

Getting fresh water from the mountain stream.

The view of Okaka Lodge and the beaches we passed on the way.

We climbed a little higher than the lodge for some great views.

A look to the North at Fjordland.

Our first night at a lodge - great to have a shower and a comfy bed.

Day 2 started well with a gorgeous sunrise. Unfortunately, it was quickly followed by a misty rain that persisted all day. It was a damp day to say the least and even though it was mostly a downhill track (we were told there are 3,500 steps on the part of the track where they have built a boardwalk!) there were some tricky spots and it got extremely muddy walking along the old rail bed. We arrived at Craig Hut rather weary and muddy and ready for a nice glass of red.

The day started with a gorgeous sunrise.

Frog Rock!

Watch your step Jens ... the next one will be a big one!

Crossing one of the viaducts - by this point we were a little wet.

This viaduct was deemed unsafe, so we had to go down and around.

The really pleasant parts of the Humpridge Track are the lodges. You can either rough it; sleeping in a dorm room in a bunk in your sleeping bag, or you can pay for an upgrade and get a proper private room with double bed and towels provided. I’ll let you guess what we did! They also offer hot showers, a fully equipped kitchen so all you have to bring is your own food; and a lounge. They even have a canteen selling snacks, wine, beer and if you forgot to bring you own food, freeze dried meals. The other multi-day tramps in New Zealand don’t offer such accommodations but rather have very basic huts for overnight stays; therefore you must pack in your own stove, food, sleeping bags, etc.

Day 3 was to be the shortest of the days, only 20 kilometers and most of it following the coast. We made it out in 5 ½ hours for a total tramping time of 20.5 hours over the three days. Not too bad I must say even if the old knees were knocking and the dogs were barking.

Back to Lucky and North to Lake Manapouri because eager beavers that we are, we had booked a kayaking trip starting early the next morning. The kayaking turned out to be a good break for the legs and the weather was just super. It was a leisurely kayak of about 13 kilometers in Doubtful Sound whose beauty is mind-boggling. To get to Doubtful Sound you must first cross Lake Manipouri by motorboat, drive 40-minutes by bus up and over the pass, then down to the Sound (which isn’t really a Sound but is actually a Fjord) where we were given a quick lesson on kayaking and off we went. It was worth the trip and a great first time kayaking experience for us.