I was in Queenstown getting ready to head back to Christchurch for the weekend to hang out with Tasha and maybe do some climbing when John suggested that they come to me and do some tramping. Well, Queenstown is not too bad a place to hang out; if you overlook the tourism it is exceptionally beautiful. It's not like the tourist traps in the US; it is smaller and there are less people. The decision was really not that hard to make; Caples and Greenstone here we come. To get to the start you drive north through Glenorchy, the site of our future home and salami farm, and then down through Kinloch on the opposite side of Lake Wakatipu. Can you tell there is a wee bit of Scottish influence in this country? The tramp goes up the Caples river valley toward Divide and the Milford Sound area and gets very close to the Routeburn Track which is one of the Great Walks. It then crosses McKellar saddle over into the Greenstone river valley and then back to Lake Wakatipu. It is a 60 Km (37.5 mile) tramp through beautiful country which is an easy 4-5 day tramp. I was thinking, silly me, that we would head in on Thursday and come out Sunday. Tasha and John had different plans; some friends were coming from Christchurch so we needed to hook up and "do" Queenstown plus there was steak and chips waiting for our consumption; we had to be back by Saturday evening. We met in a cafe in Queenstown on Thursday around two. We headed over to the Department of Conservation (DOC) office to make plans and get our hut passes. Almost all of the tracks here have huts so you can tramp without tents if you want. We took tents though and were glad to have them, it gives you more options away from other people; there is no getting away from the sand flies. After a little waffling in the DOC office due to bad information, a visit to my van to gather my stuff, driving around the lake, deciding what gourmet provisions to take, and doing the final pack we finally hit the trail at 5:00 PM Thursday evening.
The view back across Lake Wakatipu towards Glenorchy
Finally packed and ready, it's a good thing the days are long. Tasha and I got to the Upper Caples Hut where we stayed the first night at just before 10 PM. John was faster and got there around 9:30.
View from the trail in the Caples valley
Looking up the Caples river valley
Tramping along in a beautiful place
Tramping through the bush as the light starts to wane
Upper Caples hut on the morning of our 2nd day
View from the trail on the way up to McKellar saddle
Another view from Mckellar saddle
John and Paul enjoying an apple just before the saddle
I like this photo so it's worth a closer look.
Nice day!
Ok, the apples alone aren't cutting it; time to break into the salami and cheese.
Words alone cannot express the beauty of this place and this country.
Looking down the Greenstone Valley; as we learned from a couple of American National Park Rangers, this is a premier fly fishing area.
We stopped at this hut for a nice relaxed lunch. We carried lots of good food and were determined to eat our way though it so we had a hot lunch.
Tasha perusing the map at our campsite on the Greenstone. In the interest of getting to our steak on Saturday evening we decided to tramp another hour or so past the hut to shorten the last day. It was worth it as we had a beautiful site with no one else around.
Hanging out at camp and thinking about dinner. One of the beautiful things about tramping is you can eat a lot because you earn it.
Getting ready for dinner.
Misty Mountain Morning; John is trying to not make me look short.
Tasha and Paul, misty morning on our last day.
Morning view down the Greenstone.
Still have a way to go down this beautiful valley.
John on the swinging bridge.
Paul making his way across the bridge.
Another lunch stop in a hut. You can see what nice facilities they have.
This is the Greenstone hut where we stopped for lunch on Saturday. Some mountain bikers came riding up as we were leaving.
This pool on the Greenstone looked too good to pass up, we were hot and tired and ready for a swim.
Finally! We made it back to the car for some refreshments. We got to the car about 4:45 on Saturday, just under 48 hours after we left. Steak and Chips is apparently good motivation. It was an excellent birthday week tramp and I thank Tasha and John for making it special. John brought some scotch which was very much appreciated and I heard, after the fact, that some birthday cake made the entire tramp with finding the appropriate moment to make an appearance. Oh well, it was the perfect birthday week; even without the cake.
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