The Routeburn track is a three day alpine hike which has become the surrogate for those (us) who were not smart enough to book the Milford track (NZ's iconic walk) months in advance. That being said, 9/10 Kiwis agree that the Routeburn track is a much better hike than Milford. Milford is sort of like wanting to meet Michael Jackson. You're super excited to meet the "King of Pop" and shake is jewel encrusted white glove. But when you get up close, you see that his face has more plastic on it than a Tonka truck. Not so cool.The views from this hike were spectacular, even by my(Chris) standards. The first day was flat and nothing to write home about. The second day, however, was great, despite Christina's persistent pee pee face. Christina thinks that hiking should be like walking through an English tea garden in a temperature-controlled environment where the sporadic flying insect or drop of moisture is taken care of by a team of penguin-suited yes-men. --Ahem...Christina here and I have to interject. I had a "pee pee" face on for the first half of the day because of the 2000 ft climb up a river, in the sleet! I was cold and wet and my pants got soaked. I swear I was going to get hypothermia! There, now you know the REAL story. ---
(the sun just happened to come out right when this picture was being taken, then it went away)
(the sun just happened to come out right when this picture was being taken, then it went away)We had steady and gradual climb through areas that were reminiscent of Scotland - not only because of the landscape but because of the weather. We had a continual smattering of rain and wind through fields of tussock and greenstone up to a saddle joining two peaks.
After a quick respite in the hiker's hut, we headed down the Hollyford face to our next night's rest.
The last day was the most rewarding, not only because the sun had cleared away the clouds, but because it had cleared away the cold memories of the prior day's adventures. At times it was difficult to discern the sun's golden rays from Christina's beautiful face. We had a fantastic early morning hike, walking under waterfalls, stealing views of the mountain tops, and discussing my movie ideas until we reached the trailhead where we caught a bus to the Milford sound.
3 comments:
My Goodness! Such wonderful writing and fabulous photos! You make quite the team, you do! You have found Paradise.......Just fantastic!! Amazing to be walking your walk without getting out of breath......as I look out our window of overcast skies, temps in the 30's....winter has settled into Upstate NY.
Movie ideas? I think you're writing the screenplay now....too bad you didn't pack the 8mm. Needless to say, amazing to hear all of your adventures. Thank goodness for the internet. We love your updates. Keep hikin' and keep truckin' (and peein' too).
great words, great pictures..............but i thought Christina's pee pee face was all about having to go...........not being sopping wet, freezing and miserable...........My heart goes out to you altho you guys are wonderful and we miss you.
By the way, I have already lined up George Lucas for the screenplay!
Post a Comment