Journal #7: Routeburn Track
Date 3/8/16
Cover Photo: “Wave After Wave”
Sheep Spotted: ~400
***Routeburn Track Entry 1 of 3***
Cover Photo: The Powerful and Awesome Earland Falls.
Like Bear Grylls, I pretended to be a real survivalist by going backpacking on the famous Routeburn Track in New Zealand. Unlike Bear Grylls, I did not drink my own piss. Thus begins part 1 (of 3) of my trek:
The Routeburn Track is one of the most famous walks in the world and you can immediately see why: nestled deep into the mountains, you pass through beautiful forests, dramatic waterfalls, and scenic vistas where you can see for miles and miles.
I decided to do the Routeburn as part of a guided group, primarily because I was travelling by myself, don’t own camping equipment, and honestly know nothing about backpacking other than that it involves carrying a pack on your back. I joined up with my group and Queenstown, and we headed by bus to the start of the Track called “The Divide” which is right near the Milford Sound.
Our group was probably as diverse as a group of 18 white people in New Zealand can get: 5 Americans (sadly no Trump supporters), two Irish, a few Aussies, a few Kiwis, and several people from England. Fortunately everyone got along, because unlike Survivor we were not allowed to vote people out of the group on this trip (which is a shame really, because I had been preparing my butt-naked Richard Hatch impression for months).
As mentioned in my last post- we were given multiple dire warnings about “heavy rains,” “arctic winds,” and encountering overall hell on earth, but thankfully today like every day I’ve been in New Zealand, it was 70+ degrees and sunny.
Also, as per usual I spent the entire day wandering around with my camera and tripod doing generally stupid things like: climbing into waterfalls, hanging off the edges of cliffs, and going headlong into a swamp- which for whatever reason earned me the ire of a nearby Chinese tour guide.
I’ve gotten multiple requests to share more photos from daily trips, so here’s a few highlights from today:
The Top of Key Summit (shot from the aforementioned swamp):
Me shooting from Inside of a Waterfall!
The beautiful Lake Mackenzie (where we ended our day):
