Routeburn Track

Photos

Mountain near start of track

River stop before first campsite

Rocks and cold water at river stop

Stream and mountains at Routeburn Flats campsite

Mountain view from Routeburn Flats campsite

Fog on mountains seen in morning at Routeburn Flats

Looking down at Routeburn Flats campsite

Lake Harris

Mountain seen from Conical Hill

Mountain seen from Conical Hill

Mountain seen from Conical Hill

Ocean and beach seen from Conical Hill

Glaciers on mountain seen from Conical Hill

Small waterfall seen on Routeburn Track

Landscape seen near Lake Mackenzie

Lake Mackenzie and shore

Close up of Lake Mackenzie and shore

Mountain landscape seen on Routeburn Track

Fog on mountain seen on Routeburn Track

Earland Falls

Lake Howden

Background

Between Tuesday, February 14th and Thursday, February 16th, I hiked the Routeburn Track on New Zealand's South Island. It's located in Fiordland National Park. The hike, with added side trips to the top of a hill, river and rock was about 33 miles.

I parked my van in the Man Street Car Park. It's expensive and can only allow vechicles up to a certain height. This was the only practical option because it is very difficult to find free street parking at the last minute.

Originally, I was going to take a bus at 8:15AM but due to lack of clarity on parking I had to reschedule to the 11:15AM bus. The bus I took was through Info & Track. They dropped me off at the Routeburn Car Park. At the end, I was picked up at 3:15PM from The Divide Car Park. They brought me back to Queenstown around 7:30PM. From there I stayed at the Jucy Hostel to shower and explore the town at night.

The weather was sunny and as a result, I swam in rivers, lakes and waterfalls. Quickly afterwards, I was able to dry off in the sun.

On the first night I stayed at the Routeburn Flats Campsite in my own tent. On the second night, I stayed at the Lake Mackenzie Campsite again in my own tent. At Lake Mackenzie, the area was booked to capacity and I was asked to share some of my tent area with someone else.

Overall, this was a scenic Great Walk with mountain views and waterfalls. Ice cold rivers which were excellent to cool off in during the sun made this unique.