I woke up excited about starting the Routeburn great walk. It was the activity I had been most anticipating for my trip. So, it was to my dismay when I stepped out into the pouring rain. We had not had time the previous day to pick up permits, so we had to do it that morning. After we got them, we drove through the downpour to the trailhead.

As we got our gear packed up, the rain had let up a bit. By the time we were walking, it had stopped altogether. We walked through the tree cover for about 3 or 4 hours before getting to the Routeburn falls hut where we stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful hut sitting on a cliff with expansive views of the Mount Aspiring National Park.

After lunch, we continued our trek over the saddle. This is where the trek became even more impressive! The views were expansive and breathtaking. I basically dragged my jaw up the mountain. When we got to the top, we made a quick attempt to get to the top of Conical Hill. We felt a little rushed for time, so we didn’t make it all the way up.

We continued on the ridge line and then down to Lake Mackenzie where our hut was. We were possibly the last people to stroll into camp. Despite arriving so late, we snagged some pretty good bunks. We made dinner and then listened to the Rangers story about some of the mountains in fiordland. Overall, it had been a pretty special day. After the ranger finished his story, it was not long until we were out cold.

We woke up a little bit late; the Airbnb was so comfortable it was hard to drag ourselves out of bed. We had a date to meet my parents in Wanaka for lunch, which was approximately 2 hours by driving, but there were a couple of things we wanted to stop and see on the road way.

Our first stop of the morning was Jackson’s Bay. It was a bit out of our way, but Warrick, the Airbnb host had said it was not to be missed to we went. The whole shoreline for the last couple of kilometers was Reserved for Penguins, but we didn’t see any. We stopped to have a look, it was a very moody and gorgeous little spot. Then we hit the road.

The next stop on the way was the blue pools. This was another super blue section of river with a swing bridge over it. It was very lovely, but by this point in the trip, we had had some blue overload and we were not super impressed.

We continued on to Wanaka. After a little bit of miscommunication, we managed to meet up with my parents and all stroll along the lake together towards the Wanaka tree. It was a pleasant day, so the walk was nice. After getting our photos, we sat down for lunch at a restaurant across the lake. It was a nice little lunch, and it was nice to see my parents.

After lunch, we drove onto Queenstown. We drove over the Cadrona road, which was lovely and offered sweeping vistas. Then we arrived in Queenstown in time for Chinese New Year. To celebrate, we took a walk around the town and then ate dumplings for dinner. We were surprisingly pooped, so we fell asleep quite early.