Friday 26th February: Overcast with drizzle turning to heavy rain, 15°C to 20°C down to 12°C
Te Anau to Moturau Hut: Shuttle Bus Depart 9.30am, arrived Control Gates 9.45am, 17k walk: 6hrs
8.30am where is everybody?
The early birds
Grey skies but we're still going
Ready set go
Kepler Track
Setting off down the Kepler track
River Waiau
Bring out the ponchos
Fun at lunch in the shelter
It's not that bad Milton
Moturau Hut at 185m
Moturau Hut
First of many Back Country meals
Sandfly Phil lecturing on hydro electricity
A drizzly rainy day with loud claps of thunder and flashing bolts of lightning. We're glad we're not hiking the high part of the Kepler today. We arrive at the Moturau Hut wet but not too cold. The highlight of the day was all of us completing the 17k walk intact!
We're all up at 7am (well some of us are), breakfasted, and we each pack a small bag to leave at the motel reception for when we return in 4 days time. It's just a short 5 minute walk to the Tracknet bus which leaves from the Te Anau Holiday Park. It's overcast and not raining but the DOC (Department of Conservation) forecast they gave us yesterday wasn't good - gale force winds, storms and heavy rain. Soon we're all on the mini bus with bags packed in the covered trailer.
We have the choice of whether to hop off at the Control Gates and walk 17k, or stay on the bus to Rainbow Reach and walk only 6k. Half of us decide there'll be nothing to do all afternoon if we get to the hut at 11.30am, and decide to do the longer walk. One by one, the other half (not mentioning any names) slowly leave the bus to join the goers and soon we're all off down the track, across teh Control Gates between Lake Te Anau and the Waiau River, and on our way.
The track is very flat and very pretty, following the fast flowing river, but soon the drizzly rain starts and the thunder rolls in. It wouldn't be so pretty up on the high part of the Kepler track today. Morning tea after an hour's quick walk is standing up with a muesli bar and in another hour we're at Rainbow Reach sooner than we thought, then walking the slight detour over the swing bridge to the small shelter, hoping for a dry spot for lunch. Graham is sodden through and wrings out his shirt, while the rest of us have a quick bite to eat, again thanking our lucky stars we're not at the top of the mountain today.
It only takes another hour and a bit to walk the 6k to Motorau Hut overlooking Lake Manapouri and we arrive at 3.30pm, quickly stripping off and claiming the best bunks possible - low down and in a quiet corner is good. Time for a cup of tea before boiling a pot of hot water to cart into a small wash room (which only has cold water over a basin) to have a quick splash dash and put on some clean dry clothes.
Back in the dining room at 5pm to cut up dinner and hang our wet clothes on teh rack above the fire. We've each brought our own collection of food for meals. We have Back Country mince with added carrots, onion, capsicum and tomato, Donna and Milton have lentils and Garlic with an assortment of herbs, and Graham and Jenny have mashed potato and Back Country Mince. Plus of course some wine that we have all lugged with us in water bottles!
At 8pm, Ranger Phil arrives and gives us a lecture outside (the rain has stopped) on hut safety issues - fire protocol etc, then gives us a blow by blow account of who where and when Lake Manapouri was saved from the hydro electricity scheme which threatened to raise the level of Lake Te Anau and swamp the town. 45 minutes later, we've all received an interesting education and a good dose of sandfly bites around the ankles. Milton was the prime target with at least twenty bites around each ankle, an they're soon nasty red welts.
Bed at 9pm in a cosy sleeping bag in a small dorm just the other side of the kitchen - some hikers coming our way forewarned us about the best bunks. There's no lights, so the torches come out to do some last minute re-arranging of bedding like making a pillow out of spare clothes.