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...two travellers in search of the world's wildlife
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18 March 2011

Routeburn track

New Zealand, Photos

New Zealanders are very lucky to have such a concentration of epic landscape all in a couple of islands no bigger than Great Britain. Of course, they do have to put up with noisy neighbours.

Warning: this gallery contains lots of landscape photography. Do not view while driving as it may induce drowsiness.

This was our goal, the Routeburn Valley. I didn\'t cut this photo out of a brochure
Day One, and any vistas seemed unlikely in the dense cloud and rain. Standing by a waterfall didn\'t make us any drier
The camera got wet and I had nothing dry to wipe it. Think of the blur as an artistic experiment on the theme of \'wet\'
Even sodden the beauty of the forest was there to appreciate. Appreciation was waning after three hours though...
So it was particularly splendid to find a comfy lodge and a bottle of wine in the wilderness
Day Two, and the sun shines bright on Lake Mackenzie and hikers alike
Dad looks back on the valley we climbed through day one
Above the treeline the plant life was eye-catching
Big spikey plants, not what you expect on high alpine slopes
And we head off along Hollyroad Valley with the Tasman Sea in the far distance
Close-up the seeds glisten from yesterday\'s rain
Bright red berries. Danger - do not eat! The white ones are cloudberries, and edible (but not so photogenic)
We climbed Conical Hill for a better(?) view of the distant Tasman Sea
The plants up here got smaller and weirder - some looking like tiny pebbles, the size of a match head
The landscape reached its craggiest on the bluffs around Harris Saddle
Dawn over the mountains, Day Three begins - the end of our trek
We were descending into the Routeburn Valley through fine beech woods
And so of course there were plenty of bridges to cross
We found birds in the trees. Bright green parakeets with yellow faces
Until finally the Routeburn Valley came into view, complete with the majestic stripey New Zealand reindeer
Our second lodge was just as splendid as the first. Japanese hikers apparently have a tradition of leaving origami gifts behind
There was plenty of water descending too, gushing and gurgling its way down the valley flanks
And of course the friendly little robins
On the valley floor the trail flattened out and our way was clear to march to the finish
To round off the experience, a jet boat ride took us up the even more majestic scenery of the Dart River
Before turning back and bringing us to Lake Wakatipu on the way to Queenstown
All in all, just about the most pleasant three day trek you could think of

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