New Zealand is an outdoor enthusiast’s mecca. With 14 national parks encompassing mountains, lakes, coastline, gorges, rainforests, and volcanoes, it’s easy to see why. One of the most famous regions is near Fiordland National Park on the South Island. Fiords, alpine passes, lush rainforests, and a huge variety of plants and wildlife can be found in Fiordland. Three of New Zealand’s Great Walks (the most famous hiking trails in NZ) are in Fiordland. I knew this was an area I had to explore, and what better way then to spend a few days trekking through the park?
I chose to do the Kepler Track first. The track starts just outside of the town of Te Anau on the eastern side of the national park. The trail covers 60km (37 miles), making a loop that starts and ends near Te Anau. It can be completed in 3-4 days depending on preference/physical capabilities. I decided to complete it in 4 days/3 nights, travelling in the counterclockwise direction. I started at the Kepler Track Parking near the Control Gates and hiked to the Luxmore hut on the first day. This section began along the lake in lush rainforest. With an average of 7000mm of annual rainfall in the park (according to DOC), it’s almost guaranteed to get rain during a trek. It did rain a bit for the first day of my hike but in the rainforest section I felt like it added to the charm and feeling of being truly immersed in the forest.
After the lake, the trail climbed up steadily for a 500mt elevation change (1,600ft), bringing me above the bush line out of the forest. It was lovely to see the sea of clouds below and the mountains rising out above them. It is not far from the bush line to the Luxmore Hut (a little less than an hour walking), but the scenery here is very different with open grasslands and views over the lake below.
The second day was probably the most beautiful of the trek (although perhaps I am biased to appreciate mountain views the most). This is the alpine section between Luxmore Hut and Iris Burn. From Luxmore, the trail climbs further up in elevation towards the summit of Mount Luxmore. I chose to take the side trail to the summit which afforded gorgeous views over the surrounding mountains. There was still some snow on the nearby peaks when I went which added a nice contrast to the green/brown grass and blue lake. From Mount Luxmore, the trail continued with some up and down in elevation and few sections walking along the ridgelines. This was my favorite part as I could see different views all around me in a 360 degree radius. The wind was intense on this whole section of the trail, making me glad I had a fairly heavy pack on to help keep me from being blown off balance. After passing the second emergency shelter (Hanging Rock), the trail starts to descend towards Iris Burn. It re-enters the tree line and descends 800mt (2,600ft) in elevation to reach Iris Burn. This was the most difficult part of the day as I was quite tired from going through the alpine section and downhill is always the worst for me, but it was pleasant to get out of the wind in the forest.
Iris Burn is in a pretty spot close to the river. It has both a hut and campsites. The only two issues here are the sandflies and the kea. The sandflies have this area on lockdown – literally swarms of them anytime you stop moving. Still, long pants, long sleeves, bug repellent, and a Tupperware for eating out of (so I could put the lid on between bites to keep the sandflies out), made the experience much better. There are plenty of kea in the camp. They are pretty mountain parrots with a strong intelligence and a penchant for getting into camper’s gear to look for food. Anything left outside of a tent will be taken/tasted by the kea (as I unfortunately found out for my flip flops, which now have a few chunks out of the soles). One group even had a kea peck a hole through the side of their tent to try to reach something inside (something to keep in mind if you’re packing an expensive tent on the trip…).
Having survived the sandflies and kea, I headed out from Iris Burn the next morning. I took a detour to the Iris Burn Falls which was quite pretty, then headed down the track which wound through the forest, following the river to reach Lake Manapouri. The recommended hut on the track for the third night is the Moturau Hut, but with a cost of 130NZD per night, I preferred to find a more economical option. I found that there was another DOC hut a few kilometers past Motarau and off on a side trail. It is an unmanned backcountry hut called Shallow Bay Hut. It seemed like a good option and easy to get to from the trail. In theory this is correct, but perhaps not in November after a particularly rainy/snowy season. The lake levels were much higher than usual, flooding the track. In a couple of sections I had to take off my boots and wade through the water, making the 1km trail take over an hour. Still, I finally arrived to Shallow Bay Hut which had the basic amenities and gave a great view over the lake.
In the morning, I waded back out from Shallow Bay to get back to the Kepler Track and continued the loop. This part of the trail was quite pretty, passing through marshes and following the side of the river between Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri. In the afternoon, I finally arrived back at the Kepler Track Parking, completing the full loop. It was absolutely an incredible experience and well worth the hours trekking.
There are two carparks for the Kepler Track. One is Kepler Track Parking which is near the Control Gates. You’ll likely start here if you go to Luxmore the first night. The other is Rainbow Reach Parking. You’ll likely start here if you are headed to either Iris Burn or Broad Bay on the first night.
You can arrange a shuttle to either parking from the village of Te Anu. There is also a water taxi that can drop you at Broad Bay leaving from Te Anu.
- The Kepler Track can be completed with camping only, huts only, or a combination of the two. With huts or a combination of huts/camping the recommended route is Kepler Parking-> Luxmore->Iris Burn-> Motarau->Kepler Parking.
- There are only two campgrounds on the Kepler Track, meaning that if you want to camp the whole way, the track is meant to be completed in 3 days/2 nights. The stretch between Broad Bay campsite and Iris Burn is very long and difficult as this is the section with nearly all of the elevation change and the alpine passes. If I had attempted to do this section all in one go rather than staying at Luxmore, I would probably have preferred to go in the opposite direction, climbing up from Iris Burn then going through the alpine section before descending to Broad Bay. This would mean the route for camping only would be Rainbow Parking->Iris Burn->Broad Bay->Rainbow Parking.
- It is tempting to try to freedom camp given the high price of the huts and the logistical challenge to make it from Iris Burn to Broad Bay in one day. However, this is highly impractical due to the near impossibility of getting 500mt off the trail as per regulations and it is actively discouraged by the DOC as it is damaging to the fragile ecosystems in the area and potentially dangerous to freedom campers (there are extremely strong winds especially in the Luxmore area which is very exposed).
- Be prepared for sandflies! They are particularly bad at Iris Burn. Bring bug repellent and long sleeves. Having a closed-lid container for eating out of is extremely useful.
- Use the camper storage sheds to put your bags in overnight. This will protect your stuff from the kea, and protect the kea too!
