The Routeburn Track

Sunday 1st March - Monday 2nd March
I’m back in Queenstown and eagle-eyed readers may notice that I’m back a day early. I have had so many adventures that I hardly know where to start. So yesterday morning James, Jamie and I set off on foot to the Ultimate Hikes office with our rucksacks at the ready (our cases were safely locked into the boot of Jamie’s car). There were twenty-six happy hikers - the maximum is forty so we were lucky to be in a relatively small group. After a picturesque hour’s drive by bus along the side of Lake Wakatipu we arrived at the tiny village of Glenorchy. Normally the group walks in from the Routeburn flats but part of the trail has been washed away by bad storms at the start of February, so rather excitingly we were taken up to the Mackenzie hut by helicopter! Neither James nor I have ever been in a helicopter before and it was brilliant. The weather was beautiful and the views were amazing as we rose up to the mountains and through a narrow pass to a lush green valley. We landed on a little platform behind the hut and set off on our day walk to the waterfall, about 10 km return trip. It was very warm and steep; the path was very uneven due to the recent rains (in fact we were the first group back on the Routeburn track for three weeks) and at one point we had to climb up a vertiginous and muddy patch of hill to bypass a small landslide. This finished me off. I was extremely hot and bothered and chose to turn back to the hut. I was now in a dilemma. I knew that the Tuesday walk over the hill to the Falls Hut would be more strenuous than Monday and I was quite shocked at how steep and difficult I had found the path. Also I’m not as fit as I should be and history has shown that I just can’t cope with heat.
Anyway, the Mackenzie Hut (which is a private hut owned by Ultimate Hikes) is fantastic. It’s simply but beautifully decorated and food and drink was plentifully provided by the young and keen leaders. Some of us went down to paddle in the lake which was a stunning green colour. After dinner we all relaxed in the lounge as Jason ran through the details of the next day’s hike. My blood ran cold. I could tell that it would be too much for me at my current level of fitness or lack thereof! Any pleasure that I would derive from the beautiful surroundings would be ruined by despair and stress. So I persuaded the leaders to let me hitch a ride on the helicopter back down the valley on Tuesday morning. I knew that it would be possible because another hiking group would be arriving and the helicopter would be bringing them up in groups of six. James and Jamie were both disappointed but I know that they will be having a great time together and I will see them tomorrow afternoon. The decision having been made, I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the evening with the very friendly and interesting group. They came from all over the world and there was a great atmosphere. One American guy spent the whole evening strumming on a guitar and James commented that it would have to be surgically removed before the next days hike! However I was aware that at least half of the group were noticeably older than me and all of the group except me were very fit. None of them were carrying a spare ounce of fat. I will have to make some hard decisions about my fitness if I want to be anywhere near their league going forward.
My plans went smoothly and it was very nice to get a second helicopter ride! And here I am on a gorgeously warm and sunny afternoon in Queenstown. I have just had an ice lolly from Patagonia and am sitting outside at a café drinking coffee, blogging and looking at the lake and the mountains.