Our happy place :)

Well a true kiwi summer is now with us and according to the forecasts we are in for some scorching temps in the next few weeks. The slip and slide coming in very handy, though hard on the water tank 🙂

Luca has been reading the Hobbit after us watching the movie and his imagination is running wild….

He and Ted put an assortment of weaponry together in case of attack ! Luca is desperate to be Kili lookalike (one of the dwarfs from the Hobbit, growing the beard may have a to wait a while 🙂 )

The chicks are getting so big, and love Luca to bits…

A few days before hitting the Kepler we did a warm up, by doing the Saddle hike. It was a great one, diverse in the terrain and awesome views, Pica even got to come with us as feeling so much better thankfully!!!!!

That night something happened I did not think ever would! Pica and Vida totally accepting one another and doing it all by themselves, lovely to see….

Then it was time for the Kepler! Pica not allowed on the Great Walks in NZ so we put her in a kennel, not her favourite place, she misses her home comforts, but she has other dogs to play with there which she enjoys. I had someone come in and feed the chooks and Vida. There is a service here called Pawshake, that offers in home care for animals, someone comes in once a day to check and feed, very handy!

We drove to Te Anau early ,(about a 4 hour drive). It is a good drive, full of great scenery, not one we have done since being in NZ this time, good to see what has, and has not, changed over the years. Rich had cycled all the area back in 2002, he said “who would have thought I would be back this way”! 🙂

We stayed in Manapouri ,(the lake next to Te Anau and way less touristy), in a campground right on the lake, gorgeous!!!!!

It was hot so we walked along the lake and the boys jumped in, lake temps here chilly but refreshing 🙂

The old church in the village had been transformed in a restaurant and we splashed out and ate there. The boys declaring the burgers they had the best ever! Luca would over the next 4 days repeatedly bring it up as we ate re hydrated meals 🙂

Across the road was a flying fox and Luca spent ages on it, pretty nice setting for a flying fox though we did get a taste of the sand flies we would be experiencing while we chatted with the other parents. The sand flies are notorious down there for their bites and itching!

After supper we went for a stroll along the lake, it was a glorious evening and the weather forecast was fabulous so we were feeling very happy. We really did not feel like walking for 4 days in the rain! Being the fiords though it is most peoples experience for at least some of the time.

We woke early the next morning and prepared for the trail, hitting it a little before 9am. We had a big day of uphill climb ahead of us!

The first part of the hike was through the bush, heading up into the mountains….

We stopped regularly to refuel. Rich did so well with the food, we had one cliff bar left at the end of the hike and never went hungry. Luca ate constantly even when walking 🙂

When we came out other bush that first day these were the views that greeted us….

Finally after 6 hours of climbing we hit our first hut for the night, Luxmore!

The setting is spectacular!

Luca favouite part of here was of course the Keas! Luca took both these photos he spent ages outside with them

Despite being completely wild, they are super friendly and very cheeky! You have to keep hold of everything as they will steal it otherwise. So many Kea stories of things they have taken or shoes/bags they have destroyed playing with!

We also took a side trip that evening to the caves. We were having torch issues so unfortunately could not go in as far as we wanted but still Luca got a good taste of it.

The 2 bunk rooms held 65 of us, so as you can imagine we were all crammed in there side by side, no showers, but toilets, running water in the kitchen and gas stoves so pretty luxurious really! The evening were spent chatting, playing cards or reading, few stayed up past 8-9pm. We met some great people from NZ, and all over the world. Luca was not the only kid, there were 3 other families doing the hike with their kids, though Luca one of the youngest, they all did great and bounced back at the end of each day WAY better than all us adults 🙂

The next day was harder than the previous, and definitely more treacherous but incredibly beautiful, the photos don’t do it justice!! We were so so lucky to get great weather, doing this portion of the hike, would have been miserable and a bit scary in wet weather. There were Kea’s at one of the stops and they kept us entertained trying to sneak our food.

We made it to the next hut, Iris Burn, in good time, an incredible setting and had a good evening ahead of us.

The set up was the same housing wise, but this time we were next to a river. The coldest water EVER but we were all so desperate for a wash we jumped in, even me!

The next morning we hit the trail again for the longest day kilometer wise, but way way easier, mostly undulating terrain and through the bush.

The Robins were a highlight for Luca, so friendly, we stopped often for him to interact with them.

There were also a lot of these everywhere!

We followed the river down to Lake Manaporui to Moturau Hut , again the same set up and another gorgeous setting! Our group were all getting used to each other by then, adapting well to the close quarter living and tiring days .

The lake had warmed considerably after the days of sunshine and we all dove in, it was WONDERFUL! Sand flies though quite ferocious in the morning especially! We left early by 7am, to get away from them and to make sure we got to our next destination by 10am. We were catching a shuttle back to our car and they do not hang around and wait, if you are not there you either have to walk out or wait until the next one at 3pm! The walk was a lovely one to experience at that time of the morning, and a fabulous way to end the Kepler. All of us in agreement we are up for another of NZ’s Great Walks, which one, is yet to be decided 🙂

We made it back to Dunedin by the afternoon, in time to pick up Pica from the kennels for which she was very grateful, she hit the bed and went to sleep immediately, rousing herself later in the pm 🙂

The chicks had grown a lot so I made the decision to let them out that evening, they were so so happy!

The garden too has flourished, much to Luca’s joy..

Even the wildflowers Luca and I planted early in the season had one last burst of flower in them

So that has been our adventurous few days! It has most definitely recharged us for the year ahead!!! This came up on my feed when we got back, quite eerie how this happens, but totally appropriate 🙂