Journal #8: Party Like It’s Your Birthday
3/9/16
Cover Photo: “Wave After Wave”
Sheep Spotted: 0

***Routeburn Track Part 2 of 3***

*Note: Today’s post is a little more picture focused, as I have to write 2 more blogs before I leave for Christchurch tomorrow in order to keep on target ☺*

“My favorite moments? Where it’s all going swimmingly, the sun’s out and I’ve got a fire going and a nice snake on the barbecue.”- Bear Grylls

27 years old! I finally made it to the year of…?

From what I understand from reading the internet, I should either be dead by now (if I’m a musician), saving every penny for retirement, married (potentially with a kid already!), going to grad school, thinking about owning a house, and last but certainly not least: be laser focused on my career.

Since clearly I am presently doing none of those things (in fact I’m arguably doing the opposite)- I thought I’d describe my 27th Birthday:

This morning I woke up on the beautiful Lake Mackenzie, probably at least 50km from anything resembling civilization. Surrounded by travellers of all ages, I headed out into a beautifully clear day on the Routeburn track. Today’s journey will take us high into the Darran Mountains, ending on the opposite side at Routeburn Falls.

The path starts by winding up and out of the woods that surround Lake Mackenzie. Once you get clear of the woods, you cross the epic Hollyford Face. Here are a few images of the path we went on:

We then stopped for lunch at the Harris Saddle, which is a small building right in the middle of the mountain range:

From there you had the option of climbing to the top of nearby Conical Hill- the highest point on the track. The road up to Conical is brutally rocky, but I did manage to make it the entire way with my tripod and get a photo of a lake below:

Finally, we made our way of the valley towards Routeburn Falls- here a few more pictures from that part:

Rest tonight and onto the final part of the Routeburn Track tomorrow!