Te Anau - The Kepler Walk

You can breath in the chlorophyll

We were not at Te Anau for long, but long enough to do the Kepler walk. Well, I say this tongue in cheek, cause the actual walk we did only really takes the average walker 30 mins, we did it in 2 hours! So, can you imagine if we did the whole of the walk around Kepler which is a three day walk, I reckon it would take us 3 months. 

The track apparently was opened up in 1988, when the Department of Conservation joined several other tracks to try and make one to try ease the number of walkers crowding into Milford. It didn’t achieve this, but it did achieve one huge walking track.

Tony looking for fungi.

Now, its not that we are slow walkers, far from it, we have been known to walk 6 miles in 3 hours, 2 miles in an hour so its not that we are slow, it is all to do with taking in the scenery, breathing in the atmosphere and breathing in all the chlorophyll (Plants get the colour green from using the sun by converting the suns energy through the process of photosynthesis. This transforms carbon dioxide and water into oxygen, so technically you could say you are breathing in the chlorophyll). Plus we take photos, lots and lots of different things, bugs, flowers, fungi, trees and birds, oh yes lots of birds, especially the fantail (I have yet to get a photo of one with their tail fanned out).

Fan tailed bird.

The Kepler walk is a long walk and you really do have to be fit to make sure you can make it to each camp before nightfall, I mean there is no taxi rank for you to hail a taxi or even a bus. Just a long long path, then a hut, followed by another path, and so on until you reach the end. I did see a couple walking towards me clearly on the last stretch of the Kepler walk, the hubby looked as happy as Larry, he was at one with nature, he had a smile on his face as wide as a bolero hat. I would say he was a happy chappie. The wife on the other hand looked fed up, cheesed off and not in the mood to say hello. So, I just nodded to the hubby  with that look of I’m not sure you really realise wifey is not full of the joys of spring. I so felt her pain, I mean, there she was with a huge rucksack on her back, with her bed attached, and a cup just dangling pathetically on a bit of string, rocking back and forth with each step. I felt her pain, I so did.  This walk is not for the feint-hearted and there is no way I was going to do the full walk. Let alone sleep in a hut with no bed, no shower and no wi-fi, shudder the thought. Lets put it this way, I will not even consider camping or even glamping.

Don’t think he is doing the three day hike.

There are a few options on the Kepler walk, you can do the three-day one, the 8-hour one, the 3-hour one, the 1.5-hour one or the 30-minute one. We decided to do the 1.5-hour walk to Brod bay, cause we knew it would be longer since we tend to stop and take photos, then walk a few paces stop again, then make Oooo noises about the scenery, then look through the binocs thinking we had spotted a new rare bird, only to say ah, its the Robin again. (Actually we were told these lovely birds were almost extinct! so far I have seen so many robins I have lost count.)

We eventually made our goal, yay we had made Brod Bay, or so we thought. It was only later that we realised we had only walked the 30-minute walk, which took us a total of 3 hours, i.e 1.5 miles there and back. Yep we is slow, real slow.

The track is easy to follow and does take you through some beautiful areas of foliage, trees, birds and fungi, it really is stunning and I would spend time just taking it all in. I was always amused how people would rush past us, with their heads down walking purposely not taking in their surroundings. I thought that they were missing so much. But, hey, everyone to their own.

At our reached destination, we thought we would take in the view but first I was busting for a pee, and so Tony went in pursuit of the toilets, since he saw a very welcoming sign that said  - Toilets - he came back and gave me directions.  I found them and pulled on the door handle, it was locked!  Nooo, what I could not believe it. I had to queue for the loo in the woods. You really couldn't make it up, here I am in the middle of nowhere (well it felt like it) and I had to blooming queue for the loo. 

The view from what we thought was Brod bay

All in all, the Kepler walk is stunning, it may be long, but really it’s as long as you want to make it….

Click here to see photos on Flickr