Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

New Zealand: Kepler Track

A warning sign about keas
This warning sign in Te Anau is spot on; keas really are delinquents

The little town of Te Anau is home to DOC's headquarters for Fiordland National Park, and it's also the start and end point of the circular Kepler Track, which I thought would be a good introduction to New Zealand's longer treks. Stocking up for the Kepler was pretty easy, as it's one of the more mollycoddled walks in the country, with relatively luxurious huts, gas cookers, plenty of beds and a very high standard of track. I decided to take a leisurely four days over the walk, which is about as long as you can take, so I bought all the provisions I needed, and after exploring Te Anau and its various points of interest, I headed north to Ten Mile Bush, the nearest DOC campsite to town, and settled in for the night. I never really got to see Ten Mile Bush because it was dark when I arrived, but when I woke up and saw that it was little more than a normal rest area, I popped up to the next one, Henry Creek, and spent Saturday unwinding and packing in preparation for the walk.

Te Anau
Across the lake is Te Anau, the pretty Fiordland town where the round trip of the Kepler Track starts and finishes

The Kepler Track

Mt Luxmore Hut
Mt Luxmore Hut

I'd chosen the 67km Kepler Track as a gentle introduction to real tramping; the walks to Mueller Hut and Ball Shelter in Mt Cook National Park were both 'real' tramps, but neither required carrying serious provisions (although we managed to pack a fair bit in for our Christmas Day celebrations, naturally). The Kepler, on the other hand, is one of the country's eight Great Walks, which are slightly more expensive than other walks (or much more expensive in the case of the Milford and Routeburn tracks) but which are reckoned to be the classic Kiwi walks. Of course, all this has a whiff of marketing claptrap about it, because there are plenty of astounding walks in New Zealand that aren't classified as Great Walks, but the scheme is a useful way of focussing tourists on those tracks that DOC has put money into maintaining, and the classification indicates that the walks are worth doing, which is handy if you're visiting New Zealand on a short holiday and don't have the luxury of time.

South Fiord from Mt Luxmore
South Fiord from Mt Luxmore

Into the Bush

Wild keas in the bush on the Kepler Track
Wild keas in the bush on the Kepler Track

Day 2 was a gorgeous trek through the mountaintops, made all the more beautiful by the continuing good weather. After 18.6km and a seriously steep descent through more rainforest – but this time a rainforest filled with babbling brooks, squawking birds and wonderful waterfalls – I arrived at the next hut, Iris Burn, in time for lunch. This points out one of the delights of easy tracks like the Kepler; the scheduled time for a day's walk is normally five to six hours, but as with most DOC times, I ended up doing them in about three to four hours, so even with a lie in I'd make it to the next hut for lunch, leaving ample time for exploration.

Lake Manapouri
Lake Manapouri