“On a Mish” #169 Another Great Walk (Part One). The Kepler Track. Fiordland National Park. 4.5.2010. In Aotearoa there are many walks to choose from, and of those walks a select few have been classified as ‘Great Walks’. The classification means more resources are used in order for the tracks to be wide and in excellent condition, and also have huts that are not only of a very high quality, but also have a Department of Conservation Ranger living on-sight. I was very familiar with the difference between a ‘Great Walk’ and standard track or marked route, and it would be the latter that I would stick with for my first couple of years working on the Routeburn Track as a guide. It took some time, but I finally decided to check out another Great Walk, and it would be the one that climbs a mountain directly across a lake I would see every time I started a Routeburn Track mish…
Directly across from the township of Te Anau is Mt Luxmore, named by the legendary explorer James McKerrow after Philip Bouverie Luxmoore of Timaru. McKerrow rowed the shoreline of Lake Te Anau naming valleys, rivers, and mountains in the 1800’s. His ‘little’ mish around the lake was a voyage of epic proportions where he rowed the distance between Christchurch and Queenstown (around 500km). This alone was a monumental achievement, however McKerrow would go on to do so much more and will go down as one of this country’s greatest explorers.
Following in McKerrow’s footsteps was my father Jeremy and I, but we would be in the comforts of a vehicle and no rowing was going to be involved. We drove to Te Anau from Queenstown and with its many ups and downs it is amazing to think people used to tackle this area on foot or horse back. Nowadays the drive is comfortable and has some excellent views to get you excited about your Fiordland adventure.
After getting to Te Anau we checked out the Lake and to our surprise the lake had come up to meet us. The 2009-2010 season on the Routeburn Track was one where my rain jacket was frequently put to the test. The rain in Fiordland ends up in one of the massive lakes that are dotted around, and the biggest of them all (Lake Te Anau) was a lot bigger than usual. We spent the night in the town that would become my permanent home many years later and in the morning we would both be checking out another Great Walk together.
Early-ish the next day we drove the short distance from the township to the Control Gates. From here it was boots on and feet stepping into one of the best national parks on the planet. We were warned when we brought our hut tickets that the lake was high, and the track was flooded in several places, and would be rather fresh when combined with the early winter air. After about ten minutes of walking, we looked ahead to see the track markers disappearing into a very swollen Lake Te Anau. It was the start of winter, we were going to get very wet and there was wild weather on the way, I pretty sure this mish is going to be more than just another ‘great walk’…
