Routeburn Track!

And finally: the Routeburn Track! It's a world-renown New Zealand trail known as a "Great Walk." It took us 2 nights and 3 days to walk the 32k (28 miles), but this was after we had already been hiking for 4 days on the Greenstone Caples Track. Some athletes start with the sun, jogging the whole trail with day packs. (That's probably what my dad and James' mom Rosalind would do.)

The trail is carved into the mountainside.
 You can see the Mackenzie Hut in the lower lefthand corner of the screen.

Just a few kilometers from the top! Set the camera on a rock to take this one.

We were so lucky to get a clear day! It felt like we were inside Lord of the Rings.

 

Icicles on the shady parts of the trail

 

 

 

Over the saddle!

A landslide took out all the trees for this section, giving us this amazing view!

Our second night we camped in the valley at the Routeburn Flats campsite.

For the last few days of our 7-day trek, we talked a lot about food and what we would eat when we made it back to civilization. Down to the last of our  instant soup, we decided that when we got back, we would eat at Fergberger, the most popular burger joint in Queenstown. This is James' $17 "Big Al" - beetroot, 2 patties, cheese, 2 eggs, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, aioli. He ate it all.

I had a "Bun Laden," falafel patties dressed with lemon yoghurt and chipotle chilli sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber, avocado and aioli. Yummmmmm.