Feb 23

Left Manapouri and drove to Te Anau stopping to check into tonight's accommodation on the way. In Te Anau, we stopped at Department of Conservation office and saw that the forecast was for good weather with wind. Checked to see the hours of the supermarket- until 9 p.m. Drove to the control gate trailhead of the Kepler Track and started hiking along the lake at 10:10 a.m. Took an hour to Bok Bay and then turned up a great well sloped trail toward Luxmore; we reached treeline in about 1½ hours where we literally broke out of the trees in a few steps. I had left the memory chip in the computer so I waited until we reached Luxmore Hut at about 3 hr 15 min to put in my old chip and delete a few pictures. After some food we started out for Luxmore peak along more good trail. As we went higher the wind got stronger; finally at the turnoff it said “10 min to peak.” We crawled up in the wind and took a couple of pictures; we had to leave because it was unsafe to walk and uncomfortable to sit. Took less than 4½ hr to the peak. On the way down we stopped and went into the Luxmore Caves. The walk down was very gentle, and easy on the knees. Note how they take you around rock bluffs on stairs with steel treads. Total trip time was 8:42 h. The Barnyard Backpackers is really nice. We have a 4 share with en suite. The common area is up the hill, and is very spacious. The kitchen has stainless steel sinks, ample refrigerator space and granite surfaces on the food preparation islands. We had venison sausages for supper; they were very tasty and very lean.