Queenstown to Kiwiburn

This summer I decided to walk some of the Southland Te Araroa trail. On 27 December Chris kindly took me to the Greenstone carpark on the far side of Lake Whakatipu. It was a hell of a long way past Queenstown. Fortunately we took the Ute.The scenery up past Glenorchy was lovely with snow still in the mountains. The carpark at Greenstone was packed and it also had toilets and a shelter. We picked up a TA walker hitch hiking. A kiwi Nicholas. I started walking about 1 30 and Chris had the long drive home. The track was initially beautiful underfoot and all the river crossings were bridged with several swingbridges. The track opened out into some grassy flats. There was a bit that was quite rocky and uneven. There were lots of people on the track as it is part of the McKellar and Caples track and also a loop walk to lake Rere. The hut was very flash, lots of people and a hut warden. It has flush toilets. I had the only been able to book a tent site. The walk was 12 km and I was pleased to get my tent up and rest my feet. Met up with a kiwi couple Cheryl and Malcolm who were also going south. There was a Christmas tree in the hut. Had an early night

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