“The long way taken looks real good now”
Taylor Swift – Tis The Damn Season
Day 100
- Day 100 – Queenstown to Greenstone Campsite ; 32 km
Total hiked: 2728 km
Returning back to trail was great!
Not only had we got the chance to celebrate a wedding and eat everything we could imagine, but before starting back trotting we caught up with Charlotte and visited Deer Park Heights. I had an absolute blast patting, feeding and being chased by all the animals. Thanks ChareBear 🙂
Whilst the actual Te Araroa bypasses Lake Wakatipu and continues along Mavora Walkway, we thought an extra 32 kilometres might be fun. Specifically the 32 kilometres of the Routeburn Track to Lake Howden and WOW were we right!
Starting from the Routeburn Shelter we meandered through beech forest, alongside Route Burn (the river), past Sugarloaf stream and Bridal Veil waterfall to Routeburn Flats Hut. From the flats we had views of the magnificent Humboldt Mountains with sprinklings of snow atop and continued up a very gradual hill (especially after Motatapu) to Routeburn Falls Hut for lunch. 🙂
Continuing up the valley, through tussock-wetlands, past Lake Harris we made it to Harris Saddle/Tarahaka Whakatipu (1225 metres). Deciding a quick side quest to the highest point on the Routeburn Track was a must we also boosted up Conical Hill (1515 metres).
The views were incredible!!! We could see the Hollyford Face, Darran Mountains, the greater Fiordlands and even Milford Sound in the distance.
Skirting down the hill we continued towards Lake Mackenzie, past the Ailsa Ranges through the Orchard with its pretty ribbonwood trees and the mighty Earland Falls. At 174 metres tall, she’s a pretty big fall. 😉
With its highway style track, easy terrain, gorgeous huts and even more stunning scenery it was easy to see why the Routeburn is a Great Walk and we were both chuffed to have completed it.
But just as quickly as we trotted the 32 kilometres of the track we were off and stayed on the much less busy and less pricey (also known as free) Greenstone Campsite near Lake Howden.
What a day! 🙂
Now back to trotting the actual trail.
GC Chronicles 
The goat, donkey’s and ducks looked very interested in the food you had. Views of the mountains are incredible and the Earland falls looked amazing
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