Dusky Track

The Beginning. We hopped a boat across Lake Hauroko, crashing through waves and swerving under waterfalls. Our skipper had been making the trip, ferrying trampers to the start of the track for over 20 years. We were accompanied on the boat, as well as most of the track, by two Auckland Kiwis, providing endless entertainment in the huts.

Our second hut, above tree-line amidst tarns, tussuck and near Lake Roe. A sweet little pot-belly dried us out and the morning dawned bright and clear. We awoke to a chopper and DOC dropping a new coal supply.

We took ample opportunities to kick back, relax, and enjoy...

The Views.

On the fourth night we arrived at Dusky Sound. True to its reputation fog rolled in and rain, which was to accompany our next four days of tramping, fell gently into the waters.

The last pass and view of our third and final valley to traverse. The rain broke for a few hours and we stopped here to munch crackers and chocolate.

Conor slides across a wire crossing in the driving rain. More than 40 of these traverse rivers and streams which swell in the all-to0-frequent rains.

And the view from our final hut on the upper Spey River. We caught a tourist filled boat across Lake Manapouri and dripped ourselves dry onto the plush seating. A night in Te Anau and a circuitous hitch back to the van completed our 9 day Dusky Odessey. Magical and intense, the experience swallows you.