“On a Mish” #353 Circling the Serenity. Lake Mackenzie. Fiordland National Park. 2.5.2012. I always remember as a kid we did a test to see what type of learners we were. The test also revealed who has trouble sitting still in class. The results – I learn better while doing and I have trouble sitting still! Now a couple of years later the need to be on the move hasn’t changed and when I began a sweet gig as the Lake MacKenzie (building site) Lodge Manager I knew I had an awesome backyard to go explore in my down times…
After the guided walk season had finished the building / upgrade of Lake MacKenzie Lodge began. I was incredibly lucky to land a role making sure the builders were fed and that the lodge was taken care of and didn’t burn down. This meant my work was usually a busy morning making breakfast for the team, cleaning up, and then making sure the generators were running right, as well as some other duties. Once this was taken care of I would a break. If the weather was looking good for adventure, I would normally make a lunch that the boys could come in and smash without me needing to be there. This would create the opportunity for some epic spare-time missions.
One day I decided to see if I could circumnavigate the lake without getting my feet wet. I would see if I could circle the serenity of Lake MacKenzie and get some interesting pictures from a unique angle. After having a brilliant breakfast with the crew, I quickly packed up and then I set off.
The air was still and cool, the sky was clear, and adventure was hanging in the air like an invisible mist of mountain motivation. I followed the short track from the lodge to where it joins the Routeburn Track, and from there I wandered down to it until I got to the rocky rubble at the southern end of the lake. It was a bit of a scramble to clamber over the jumble of massive granite stones, and some were covered in a mass of slippery moss.
Eventually I navigated the boulder field and got onto the seldom stepped on western side of the lake, which was awesome as this side sees very few people and offered unique views. Due to the lake being low I could easily hike the gravel beaches all the way to the northern end of the lake. This end of the lake is the way to the rugged alpine adventure of Emily Pass(1607m). The famous Routeburn shortcut / mountain pass will be a mission for another day, but for now I had to complete my current mish, getting around the visually stunning Lake Mackenzie.
Now on the tracked side of the lake I could fly though the forest back to the lodge, however as I still had a little bit of time left, I decided to scramble up an old rockslide near the top of the lake to get an elevated view of the area. After my side trip I realised it was nearly lunchtime and I needed to be back at the lodge. As I made my way along the last stretch of track past the DoC campground and hut, I took in the wild environment. The fresh air and glorious scenes reinforced how lucky I was to call the place my home / workplace / backyard playground while I lived at the lodge. The mish was over and super epic, now my challenge now was to make a feed just as epic. A tough task to match my successful lap studying the stunning serenity found around Lake MacKenzie!
