One of the best things about being a teacher is
the long summer break that enables sufficient time for mental recuperation and preparation for the year ahead.
This summer, rather than heading away overseas to Vermont, as is my preferred way to spend the school break, I opted to stay put. Not being one who looks forward to the hot, humid days, I vacillated frequently before submitting to the idea of a New Zealand summer. It turned out to be the perfect choice; for many reason, but mostly for the opportunity it afforded me, to explore.
I spent much of my six week break, away on various tramping missions in the lower South Island, mostly focused around Otago and Southland, but venturing north to Banks Peninsula near Christchurch.
My last sojourn, was to walk over half of the the Routeburn Track from the Glenorchy end (Routeburn Shelter). This New Zealand "Great Walks" track is 32 km long and straddles the Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks. If walking from the Routeburn Shelter direction, the destination is to The Divide, some 85 km's from Te Anau.
The track houses several very well-kept large huts, as well as up-market lodges for guided walkers. I found the terrain that I covered (one hour below Harris Saddle), to be visually stunning and geologically diverse. I would not call it a technical track and it could easily be walked end to end in a day with an early enough start. Interestingly, when I left Glenorchy, the temperature that day was predicted to be 30 degrees and it easily would have been mid-20's when I set out at ten that morning. At Harris Saddle (1250m), a warm jacket was required and a beanie would not have gone amiss!
This image "Black Water" was taken below the Harris Saddle on the Mt Aspiring NP side, at Lake Harris. The temperature was dropping and the threat of rain loomed.