Australia to New Zealand
Routeburn, Day 1
Our group was 39 people plus 4 guides. The age varied from school children to senior adults over 70. The majority of the walkers were locals, either New Zealanders or Australians, and a few Americans. The bus left Queenstown and slowly wound its way along Lake Wakatipu and into the mountains. It took almost 4 hours to get to the trailhead with a 1-hour stop for breakfast at the café in a small town, Te Anau.
Our first lodge was the Lake Mackenzie hut which was 12 km (7.5 mi) or 4 hours away. My backpack was 7 kg. I like hiking but do it with a much lighter load. The respiratory bug was gone; however I had a more serious problem. Three months before the trip, in September, I tore a hip flexor muscle. The pain was excruciating. The prescribed fentanyl did not work. I stopped taking the drug worried that I might become addictive to it. There was little I could do about the injury besides stretching exercises and believing into the body’s natural abilities to heal.
In October when the trip was booked, I was capable of walking slowly for up to half an hour. The pain receded, the muscle felt better, yet my condition was not good enough. In November, I started having nightmares about the approaching departure date. What if the physical strain from the trekking was too much for the muscle? We would be in the mountains with no roads and I would have to be airlifted by a helicopter. I was worried about the risks and, at the same time, very much wanted to go. Perhaps, because I had a strict deadline or it could be a coincidence but the pain was almost gone in December. There was no time left at home to test how the injured muscle could endure hours of walking. When I came to Melbourne the damn respiratory bug did not let me to train.
So, here we were, at the trailhead with 32 km to go in 3 days and everyone smiled for the camera. It began as easy walking. In one hour, we came to a fork from where we could do an optional nature walk for another hour. My friend and I decided to go. The backpacks were left at the fork, walking without them felt like a breeze. Despite the low clouds and poor visibility, the views were worth going there. One hour later, it started raining.
This area on South island is one of the wettest places on earth. It rains there 200 days a year, so everyone came prepared for that. The next 3 hours we spent practically surrounded by water. It was in the air and under our feet. Even the waterproof clothes did not help. The men mostly wore shorts and t-shirts because, according to them, clothes get soaked through but the skin does not. So, the less clothing the better.
The views around us were amazing and the thoughts about water sloshing in the boots somehow got cast aside. It was warm anyway. Yes, it was soggy and so what? By the end of the day’s walk, the torn muscle and the tired back were sore but overall everything was fine.
Once in the lodge, I took off all my wet clothes, had a good shower and put on dry clothes. The showers were clean, comfortable, and modern. I took my wet clothes to the laundry and washed them by hand, then hang out in the drying room and went to the dining area to have dinner. After that, the group had a briefing on what to expect on the following day. We socialized with the others for a bit, picked up our clothes from the drying room and went to bed. My friend and I were late to book a room for two and we could only get a shared room for four. Our roommates were a guy and his girlfriend. The alarm was set to 7 am, the distance to walk tomorrow was another 12 km.
