Dusky Track (Part 1)

Well it is about time I tell about our adventures on the Dusky Track, in the Fiordlands, New Zealand. Be prepared for a tale of mud, cold, wet, and well ... mud, and cold and wet. And sandflies. That would even bite me, after there were not enough room on the two boys, I think. The track has several huts, by name and in the order that we did them: 1. To Halfway Hut, 2. From Halfway Hut to Lake Roe Hut, 3. From Lake Roe Hut to Loch Maree Hut (over the Pleasant Range) 4. From Loch Maree to Supper Cove, 5. From Supper Cove to Loch Maree, 6. From Loch Maree to Kintail Hut, 7. From Kintail Hut to Upper Sprey Hut, 8. From Upper Sprey Hut to civilisation.
Why didn't we just choose a flight in one of these?


Eight days, carrying food, sleeping bag and one (ONE) change of dry clothes - thank god we didn't have to carry a tent because i would have died. The weight of my backpack remained pretty much constant because I was carrying the stove, and the pots and pretty much every heavy can I could find. I kept telling myself that this was training, but I still have to establish the purpose of the training. Halfway through I gave the first spot of the heaviest backpack to marian, ascertaining once and for all that Pasha was a wuss :))

The most horrible thing was the fact that, because it rained 7.5 days out of 8, our boots were never dry. Actually, they were always wet. And putting on your wet boots in the morning when everything around you is damn cold (and wet - such as your socks, your thermal, etc) is not a very nice thing to do. At first we tried to avoid all the pools (the water pools that is), but by the end of the trip we just walked through them, provided they were not higher than our waist. We could not do the same for the mud pools because you really got stuck in them. And you couldn't really take your eyes of the path because the second you did you either fell flat on you face (happened to me twice), you fell flat on you ass, preferably in a mud pool (three times, that one), or you just slipped. We even had a radio beacon to press in case anything happened (such as broken arms etc - happened, according to the hut registers).

The forest was AMAZING. I have never seen anything like this, and I will let the photos do the talking.

Day 1. To Halfway Hut - 6hrs
Got treated to a jet boat ride because the water on Lake Hauroko was damn tormented. After the customary before picture, the nightmare begins.
Rainbow at Lake Hauroko




The forest


The mud pools (Those are MY tracks he's stepping in)




The first water (and to think I was impressed by that). This was the first time our boots started to go SLUSH, SLUSH!


The path is through here (see orange triangle)


Our stuff to dry in the hut - we had it all for ouselves!


Boot soup!!


2. Halfway Hut to Lake Roe Hut. 6 hrs.
The second day it rained all day, so I only took Bobby out for a couple of pictures. Towards the end of the day it gets a bit steep while we get out of the forest into alpine land woohoo!! Bye-bye rain, hello snow!! Marian and I are still in shorts + gaiters and will be for the rest of the trip.




Amazing forest and peaks!



Happy but cold couple


It looks cold and dark because it was cold and dark. Those people had been there for the entire day and had not made the fire. Pfft.


3. Lake Roe to Loch Maree. 6.5 hrs. Here you are going over Pleasant Range, a mellow climb followed by a very steep descent into Loch Maree. It's called Pleasant Range because supposedly it has the best views, with Dusky Sound and the ocean in the distance. No such luck for us!


Still in good spirits


Despite the snow


Lake Horizon


Basically, I was freezing like a piece of shit.


The clouds did part for a second, but we didn't see much. After all the cold and the wind and the snow and the fog and "the shit fuck crap we shoulda stayed in the hut" (from me) we finally reached the bush line and descended into the forest. It was comparatively warmer, yay! We even managed to help a family (him, her, and their 13-year old boy) descend. After we got back to the hut, I sent the boys back to take their bags as well.


Loch Maree


Marian crossing the walkwire towards Loch Maree - the longest of the 21 we crossed, 250 meters!



The hut! We spent New Year's here. Not a great thing, just that I wanted to sleep but Pasha kept talking to some other people. Did I tell you how loud he is!? Among his views we have "Blacks are lazy" and "Singapore has no fresh air". I.d.i.o.t.