We had 1 day to rest and dry our shoes.
We did the usual arrangement - left the car at the end point of the trek, hitchhiked to Te Anau (the beginning of the trek) and started walking. After 15 minutes we looked back and suddenly saw Anna and Shmaya, 2 Israelis we met at the 3rd day of the Rees Dart trek. We were happy to meet them again and from that point on we walked together the entire trek.
We completed the climbing part of the first day quite fast (maybe because we were so busy talking, or maybe because we got used to uphills from all the other treks we did...). The climb wasn't as hard as people talk us.
From the moment we climb above the bush line we started to like this trek. On the way we met Keith, a 60+ Australian we met the first time on the Milford Trek. All the way to the hut was open with nice views of Te Anau lake, the town, and the surrounding mountains.
By the time we arrived to the hut we already had good feeling about this trek. The hut is located in a beautiful spot with amazing views - the best hut location we saw.
It was quite nice watching the sunset from the hut, therefore, Shmaya came with the idea to wake up early and see the sunrise, and so it was. The next morning all 4 of us were standing on one of the hills near the hut, at 6am, waiting and waiting to see the beautiful sunrise, but a stubborn cloud refused to move from where the sun was rising. Just minute before we almost gave up the sun rose above that cloud, coloring the sky with red-orange colours.
An hour later we were eating breakfast, looking at the clear sky and praying no clouds, rain or wind will show up today.
We started the walk, and noticed all the plants around us were frozen (apparently it was quite cold that night), and many icicles were hanging on them.
They looked good enough to eat and imagine they were Popsicles...
We kept walking enjoying the perfect weather, and falling in love with this amazing landscape. Except for the last hour, we walked all day on exposed mountains ridges, everywhere we looked we saw beautiful mountains and lakes... perfect day.
We were definitely lucky with the weather, the same track on bad weather can be a disaster.
Let the pictures speak for themselves:
We stopped on almost every possible spot, just to enjoy the sun and the views.
Here is one coffee break:
And one uninvited friend:
That Kea circled round us until it noticed some guys left their backpacks on the track and climbed towards one of the viewpoints. 10 seconds later the Kea was standing on one of the backpacks, opened the zipper with it's beak, stole a pack of candies, opened it with it's beak and started eating the candies. By the time these poor guys arrived back to their packs there were only few candies left.
After the exposed section of the track came an hour of bushy descend to the second hut.
The 3rd day was mostly flat boring walk to the car park. we had lunch stop at the 3rd hut, located on the shore of Manapouri lake.
An hour after the lunch stop we arrived to the car (it was still there, thank god), this time, dry and happy :)
The Kepler trek was one of the best treks we had in NZ (but Sarit still thinks the Rees Dart trek is No. 1 in NZ).
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