THE KEPLER TRACK
FIORDLAND, NEW ZEALAND
The Kepler Track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks in Fiordland, carving a 3/4 day loop through the peaks next to Lake Te Anau. Less famous than it’s cousins nearby (the Milford and Rutherford Track), it’s easier to book onto, but no less epic!
Contents:
- Day 1 – Te Anau to Manapouri Hut
- Sidenote – staying at huts
- Day 2 – Manapouri Hut to Iris Burns
- Day 3 – Iris Burns to Luxmore Hut
- Climbing Mt Luxmore
- Day 4 – Luxmore Hut to Te Anau
Day 1 – Te Anau to Manapouri Hut
After a breakneck visit to the local Countdown the night before to get supplies, we were packed and ready for the Kepler Track.
There was an option to pay for a bus to drop us at the trailhead, but we decided to walk directly from Te Anu. It was a flat gravelled track following the shoreline of the lake up to the damn that marked the actual start of the Kepler Track. It passed through the Te Anu bird sanctuary, giving us the opportunity to see the Takahe. Once thought to be extinct, their numbers have slowly increased thanks to the efforts of sanctuaries like this.
After a couple of km, Jas felt like she “wasn’t going to make it” with her new rucksack; worrying words before we’d even managed to reach the official start-line of the 3 day tramp! Fortunately a couple of quick strap adjustments sorted everything out.
The Kepler trailhead is at a dam on the edge of Lake Te Anau, which made it pretty easy to find! We turned left at the sign, taking the clockwise route round. Traditionally, most people go anti clockwise. However, we hadn’t been able to book huts/campsites that worked anti clockwise for those dates and also felt that a flat 1st day would make things easier overall.
Note: When booking Great Walks, make sure you book early, and keep your options open where possible. This might be anything from going another direction, combining or splitting days (make sure you look at a map when doing this), or taking a tent so you can camp. You have to have booked all the huts in order to set-off on the route, or you run the risk of fines/not having anywhere to stay.
The route generally followed the river round, taking us through the first piece of new Zealand “bush” we’d seen. At points, we were greeted by peeks of the blue river through the trees, but generally had ever-changing bush either side of the path.
A couple of hours in, we found ourselves at the rainbow reach bridge, with very easy to understand sign! We nipped across the bridge for a few photos, and a toilet stop, before returning to the track. It’s possible to start/finish your walk at rainbow reach (shuttles do run there), but it does mean you miss out on some beautiful forest, which we particularly appreciated given it was our first great walk!
A glassy pool a couple of mins to the right breaks up the tramp to Manapouri lodge, and is a good snack spot before the end of the first day. The lodge itself was a very welcome sight. Standing above the beach, it looks out across the expanse of Manapouri lake, with mountains curling around the north side.
After finding the remaining 2 beds, and giving thanks for a flushing toilet, we made a beeline for the lake! However, our excitement was dimmed slightly by an ever-present swarm of sand flies who had been assumably been waiting for the daily feast of tired tramper. We hadn’t heard of these little nightmares before (we’d assumed that all the dangerous/pesky animals would be in Australia), but they were relentless, and we only managed to escape by diving into the icy cold waters of the lake (to be fair, we probably needed the encouragement).
Once in the lake, and temporarily free from the sandflies, we were able to take in where we actually were. It’s hard to describe in photos or words; a bowl of mountains ringed our side of the lake, geese serenely floated past on the calm waters, whilst the lush green bush rustled gently. It is absolutely stunning.
After a quick swim, and having spent several minutes hyping each other up, we ran the gauntlet of sandflies, threw whatever clothes we could over our heads, and dashed to the hut.
Back at the hut, we made friends with some Aussie bunkmates, but unfortunately this meant that we didn’t manage to start cooking before the hut talk (didn’t know this was a thing), and we ended up washing up in the dark. We made up for it by being the last to leave the next morning!
Sidenote – Staying at Huts
Staying at huts. Huts vary greatly in New Zealand, ranging from fully-staffed huts with cookers, water, mattresses, and emergency supplies, to small shacks that will offer a roof over your head (and maybe some collected rainwater). In general, huts on the Great Walks in peak season will offer a lot, but will be busy, whereas the smaller huts will be a quieter, but more self-reliant experience. See the DOC website for individual hut detail here:
Key bits of hut etiquette:
- Be quiet in evenings (normally after 9pm), as people try to rise early in the morning.
- Take your rubbish with you
- Keep tidy, and use communal equipment/space sparingly (e.g. don’t hog a gas cooker for 2hrs)
- Don’t do your teeth in the kitchen sinks
- Register yourself in the books/with the staff when you leave and arrive – this is what emergency services will use to trace your last movements if needed.
Day 2 – Manapouri Hut to Iris Burns
In general, day 2 was a pretty straightforward, and medium length, walk through the bush, which is why (especially if they’re getting picked up at rainbow reach), people tend to combine it with day 1.
After getting some tips from the hut ranger on places to visit in New Zealand, and suggestions on how to deal with those pesky sandflies (apparently they don’t like the taste of vitamin B in the blood, so supplements/vegimite help), we were off!
The track wove it’s way along the side of the lake, and then followed one of the feeder rivers up into a valley. It’s dense bush on either side, but the path was clear and easy to follow, with boards over boggy areas. Along our way, we encountered “heartbreak hill”, which is named due to its steepness; given the climb we faced the next day, it seemed a little dramatic…
We stopped for lunch to see a blue duck and its chicks swim in the river – it’s quite rare to see one so we made the most of it, watching it dart back and forth across the river to various rocks, with a line of chicks frantically trying to keep pace with its parent.
Left – Footpath a couple of hours into the walk from Manapouri Hut
One of the notable features on the route is the “big slip”, where a huge landslide stripped a chunk of the valley side bare; whilst it’s now recovering, the scar is still there.
The forest shortly opened out into a flat stress of valley floor, with the mountain ranges on either side funneling us forward to a small hill, behind which we knew Iris Burns was hiding.
We camped at iris burns, with a few other brave campers, a hungry swarm of sand flies, some kiwi (only heard them screeching, didn’t see them sadly), and a strong warning from the hut warden that a kea may shred our tent for fun! We survived the night, but cooking without socks on was a terrible mistake – my feet looked like they’d been through some incredibly aggressive acupuncture, and holding back from scratching took all of my willpower. If you can get a space in the Iris Burns hut, it’s probably worth the extra cash!
Day 3 – Iris Burns to Luxmore Hut
Day 3 started with a big climb of about 600m, zigzagging up through the forest; at points it was so steep that I was glad we were going up, rather than going down! As we made it above the treeline, we were treated to both a spectacular view, and the less welcome sight of a steep series of staircases making their way higher. It’s worth taking a short path to your right (about 100m) to get to a view-point looking back down the valley, before then retracing your steps back to the base of the staircases.
We steadily made our way up, found a small hut for lunch in the shade, and watched open-mouthed as a Kea soared in. The Keas are a dark green colour, but the underside of their wings are an incandescent rainbow. Clever but cheeky, they were pretty much immediately after our lunch, and everyone else’s who’d gathered at the same hut. We furtively unpacked our hummus and cheese sandwiches, and caught up with a group of hikers coming from the other direction to share intel.
After an hour of lunch watching the Keas, before reluctantly packing up and re-arranging our bags. We made our way down the ridgeline, following it round to the right, before then ascending back up to another hut (unstaffed) for a quick drink and loo stop.
We then made our way up another ridge, skirted around the top of the mountain, and handrailed across to the left. One of the arms of Te Anau glistened on our left far below, as peaks rose to our right. It took several hours of tramping in total from the first hut (slowed by equally by the stunning scenery, taking a tonne of photos, and some hard inclines), before we reached the Mt Luxmore junction. From there, a 40min loop could take us to the summit of Mt luxmore and back, or we could continue straight to the Mt luxmore hut.
Climbing Mount Luxmore
Warning: Do not leave your packs unattended on the Kepler track. Whilst the guidebook suggests that you could drop your pack at the base of the Mt Luxmore loop to make the climb easier, every DOC ranger told us firmly that that was a fool’s game; the kea were well aware of the route, and would gleefully shred into any unattended backpack if given a chance.
With rucksacks on, we made a quick ascent. The 360′ view is one of the best of the entire route, giving views of the lake, slow topped mountains, and plunging valleys in pretty much every direction. It also gave us a good view of the next hour of walking, with the path winding its way into the distance but sadly the hut was not yet in sight (although it’s not much further past where you can see from the viewpoint).
Pressing on, in about 45mins we found the hut nestled in a fold behind the next ridge, and eagerly made our way down to try and claim 2 beds vaguely close to each other (almost succeeded, but not quite). After staking claim to our bunks, we started cooking in the spacious (and very well equipped) main room. Glancing around the room, it was clear that a number of people in Luxmore were either there on a 1 day hike, or seriously prioritizing comfort over weight; lamb chops in a cast iron griddle pan was the most impressive! However, our dehydrated lamb and potatoes still held up well, and had been a lot easier to carry than the real thing!
An evening nature talk from the DOC ranger was a welcome bonus. Whilst he claimed his uni dissertation on Keas had been a waste of money, it was clear how much he loved them, and how much he hated possums (and people who put wet wipes down the toilet – he’d just spent several hours unblocking the sewage pipes). The talk ended as the sun went down, with the sunset painting the surrounding mountiains in a golden glow.
Day 4 – Luxmore Hut to Te Anau
Day 4 was to be the day of descent, and so we took our time getting out of the hut. The peace was periodically broken by helicopters arriving at the helipad just outside the hut, with various guided groups quickly disembarking (along with a DOC ranger to change some of the gas stoves).
Once they cleared, the Keas returned. They almost managed to snatch the rubbish bag from Jas’ rucksack as we got ready, but after a bit of running with our arms out, they gave up. At least it gave us some good photo opportunities!
About 500m from the hut, there’s a cave to visit. Fortunately it’s well-signed, as its almost completely hidden until you’re on top of it! You can take the wooden stairs down to the entrance, and then make your way down the steep (and wet) rock channel that delves deeper and deeper into the earth. Sadly, I took a bit of a slip on the wet rock and sliced my hand open, so we decided to call it a day about 40m in and make our way back to the surface. However, if you’re braver (and more co-ordinated) than us, you can make your way over 100m into the cave.
Back on the surface, the path continues quickly for about a km or so, before ducking into the forest that will carry you all the way to the side of the lake. The path zig-zags back and forth, losing height at a moderate rate, before directing you under an overhanging cliff.
Once you stop descending, you roughly follow the banks of the lake all the way back to the dam. We decided to try and enjoy a little lakeside picnic about an hour or so away from the official end of the track, but after a few minutes, the sandflies started to nip, so we packed up as quickly as we could and headed on again.
The end of the track is actually quite a nice spot to eat, where you can look out over the lake and congratulate yourself on a hard few days walking. Take a nice rest, you’ve earned it!