Day 4 Kepler Track
Day 4 of our Kepler Track adventure was forecast to rain. We were resigned to this and rather relieved to sue our gear, since it had been sitting in our bags being lugged from one end of the ranges to the other for four days!
Getting to our bus on time meant getting up 30min earlier, and there were a ew sprinkles on the way to breakfast but we couldn’t see the sky in the dark! We began our hike in the dark, and as we sweated under our ponchos’ it became apparent that it still wasn’t going to rain, and we gradually began taking them off!
We didn’t see any Kiwi.
We did see an extraordinary Bog.
Not that kind of Bog.
A swamp bog! It’s a melted glacier with no water coming in, nor out, with a unique eco-system for that reason.
After just a couple of hours, and two swinging bridges we made our rendezvous with the bus, and have made our way to Te Anau for the most breath-taking part of the whole trip – a hot shower and a fresh salad.
It’s raining now as i write this, and i just want to thank the Gods for their calm and sunny interventions as we walked one of the windiest and rainiest hikes on the planet!
I have to say, that even though it was only 4 days, this trip was hard. The packs add another level of fitness to all aspects of your fitness – you have to balance harder, you have to absorb more impact, you have to lift more – and then repeat that for 8hrs straight. On the one hand, it has been brilliant to return to the “rite of passage” style gym trip, on the other, i didn’t expect to go through it myself (again!).
None of us on this trip are particularly special. We’re old, injured, overweight, living with chronic disease, and have chronic injuries. So at the same time, all of us are also extraordinary because we’ve overcome these things, as well as fear, self doubt, and self confidence to go ahead and give it a crack anyway.
I’m guessing that no one, except perhaps ourselves, are surprised that every single one of us made it 🙂
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