Finally, the day came for us to start the Kepler Great Walk! The Kepler is a 4 day, 60km walk through forest and mountains, reaching an elevation of 1472m above sea level. We started around noon, and finished the first day around 5 or so.
Here we are, at the starting point, ready to go!
So excited!
Our first suspension bridge!
Almost across!
Lovely views.
Part of the track went through the marshes, though there were nice platforms and bridges the whole way, never got my shoe wet once!
More bogs.
Interesting plants.
End of day 1 - Moturau hut. Because the spots in the huts were mostly filled up, we had to do the track in reverse, starting with the last hut first. It's a loop so it's not a big deal, the way up is just a bit steeper this way, but same total elevation either way.
Here's the beautiful Lake Manapouri by the hut.
The beach and hut were infested with sand flies. They are the worst thing about New Zealand, no doubt about it. They are worse than mosquitoes. Their bites last twice as long and are itchier, plus they are smaller and harder to kill. And they ruin pictures! I can't say enough about how much we loathe them.
Sunset our first night (I ran out onto the deck to take this photo, risking certain death by sandfly attacks).
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