tramping new zealand

Queenstown is a zoo, and not really for the likes of me.

The streets are jammed with cars attempting to find a parking space, and there aren’t any. Roadworks constrain movement.

I’m camped up at Moke Lake with sheep and cattle, having a few days mostly stationary.

One day was spent washing and sorting out gear. The next was more interesting, tackling Mt McIntosh, which I’ve tried before two years ago, but was held back by poor weather.

This time round, the overnight rain cleared and sunlight burst through the clouds.

For some reason, I had left the car’s headlights on, which had drained the battery, and it took two hours to start the car again.

So, it was just before 12 pm when I finally started strolling up the hill. It was easy climbing, and my preparation over the last weeks held me in good stead. It seemed that all the previous efforts in the hills in the summer were paying off.

My Achilles tendon was doing its thing without concern, although I was careful not to stress it excessively.

Heading to McIntosh Hut required an at times steep 200m climb down to Butler Burn, with the knowledge that height would need to be regained on the other side, and then scrambled up on the way back.

I knew the track was swampy, so I didn’t worry too much about wetting my feet in Butler Burn, which, despite the rain, was only calf deep.

A non-talkative foreign couple was sleeping in McIntyre Hut, despite the early hour.

From there, without a pack, it’s only 1.5 hours to McIntyre Hut, and less than an additional hour to return. It was worth the excursion because you get up above Point 1342 and can see over Precipice Hill to the dramatic Mt Earnslaw/Pikirakatahi, 2864 m, and Earnslaw Glacier, right around over the Dart River and across Lake Wakatipu to the Humboldt Mountains.

Quite the view.

I hurried back down, keen not to end the adventure in darkness.

It was verging on that back at the campsite. Man, that was a day.

I thought I’d need another day to sort myself out with slightly less intense activity.