Kepler - Blown Away by the Kepler
- Natty Knees
- May 4
- 7 min read
Updated: May 14
The Kepler Track is an epic Great Walk across ridgeline, with views of sublime mountain ranges and glacial lakes far below. The crew climb up over 1000 meters to Luxmore Hut and are warned by the ranger of extreme winds forecasted for the next day with instruction to leave early, or else. As we begin the second day, other hikers abort and turn around as dangerous winds push us around and off the track and we have to make a decision to continue or turn around. Read on to follow our experience on the ridgeline and see pictures of a Great Walk that takes you to the top of the world.
Track: Kepler Track
Time of Year: February 2019
Day 0 - Fly into Queenstown
We fly into Queenstown and hire some rental cars to travel 2hrs via beautifully scenic roads to Te Anau. We are staying at the Top 10 Te Anau Holiday Park in a couple of small cabins which sit opposite the lake. Te Anau is a pretty little town situated on the shores of Lake Te Anau with everything in walkable distance, allowing us to pick up any last-minute supplies.
Day 1 - Kepler Track Car Park to Luxmore Hut
The cars are packed with our extra luggage and parked at a friend’s house who will keep it safe until we return. Te Anau is a relatively safe place like the rest of NZ, and you would probably be fine leaving a car on a residential street for the duration of the hike. But better to be safe than sorry. We walk back into town and stop at Miles Better Pies for our pre-hiking pie breakfast. Sassy Mama heads off to the chemist and picks up a small blue bottle of homeopathic white pills. Allegedly, it contains arnica which she swears will help us with any muscle aches.
The Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre is a 5-minute walk from town where we stop to pick up our hut passes and get a rundown on the track and expected weather. A shuttle then takes us the 15-minute drive to the start of the track. It's possible to walk the extra 50 minutes around the lake rather than take the shuttle, and I honestly don’t know why we didn’t. Lazy probably.
The Kepler is a loop track so we will start and finish at the Kepler Track car park. Today we are hiking 13.8km to Luxmore Hut, which should take us between 4-5 hours. We meander off around the shores of Lake Te Anau and it’s a lovely flat 5km stroll through beech forest. In just over an hour, we reach Brod Bay where it’s possible to camp lakeside. A young tourist couple walk past, and the female is grimacing and cradling her left arm. We check if they are ok, and she explains she has accidentally fallen over a log. We call the crew nurse over who examines the injury and proceeds to give them her ‘professional poker face’ look I have seen many times. The look is a reassuring gaze that actually disguises bad news to the untrained eye. I know this means it’s probably broken. She encourages them to attend the local medical center for an X-ray in town. When asked if it is fractured the crew nurse casually replies, ‘it’s possible’ hoping not to alarm them. We make sure they are ok to make it back to the carpark and then head on our way. Sassy Mama hands them some magical arnica pills for their troubles and these pills must be magical if they can fix fractures.
From Brod Bay the climb to Luxmore Hut begins. It’s a hot day and we are glad for the forest cover as we start to sweat as we head skywards. Like many of the Great Walks, the first day is the hardest requiring a climb up into the alpine environment. We negotiate switchbacks and ascend around some impressive limestone cliffs taking frequent breaks to slam down some water. The climb is definitely a workout, as Luxmore Hut sits at 1085m. After about 2 hours the trees begin to thin out and we eventually burst through the tree line. We are rewarded with spectacular views over the lake and mountains.
From here the track is relatively flat through tussock fields as we admire the incredible views before arriving at Luxmore Hut, 40 minutes later. It's a busy hut with many hikers opting to overnight only at Luxmore Hut and then head back down. The hut is large and well maintained with 2 bunk rooms and internal flushing toilets! which is a treat for a DOC hut.
Luxmore caves are close by which we check out. We then return to the hut to relax on the deck with a drink to watch the sunset.
The ranger at the hut is an old fella with a good sense of humour who is a wealth of knowledge about the area. At the hut talk he warns everyone about the very high winds forecast for the following day. He insists that everyone must leave no later than 7am to make it to the exposed ridge line before the wind increases in the afternoon. The ranger dead eyes our group in particular (how does he know?) and repeats the warning ‘NO LATER THAN 7AM’.
Roger that.
Day 2 - Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
At 7am we are ready to go as instructed and start the 14.6km hike to Iris Burn Hut. As we rise above the small hill behind the hut, the wind smacks us with full force. It’s difficult to move forward as the wind pushes us across and off the track. Every now and then I feel Pablo grabbing my pack from behind and throwing me back onto the track before I eat tussock. The winds are around 70km and once we reach the ridge line, we will worryingly be even more exposed to the elements. After10mins some older hikers who started earlier have turned around already and decided not to proceed. We soldier on and are glad we did as the wind dramatically dies down to a more manageable level after an hour or so, just in time for us to reach the ridge line. You literally feel on top of the world up here, with epic views stretching across lakes and the mountain ranges, leaving you gob smacked.
It’s Aotearoa at its most magnificent up here. In the distance, you can sneak a peak of the trail to come, snaking ahead around the ridge tops as far as the eye can see.
The ridge line is the highlight of the Kepler Track and after an amazing couple of hours we stop at the Hanging Valley emergency shelter for lunch with some kindred spirits, a couple of brandy swilling French tourists heading in the opposite direction.
After lunch we start the descent down to Iris Burn Hut via a stack of quite steep stairs. What goes up, must come down. We drop1000m through lush forest, maneuvering plenty of switchbacks until we reach Iris Burn hut, situated on welcome flat ground. We drop our packs in the bunk rooms, change into swim gear, and head to Iris Burn. The swim is icy, so we don't stay in the water long, preferring to hang out on the warm rocks instead. It's a great way to end an epic day.
Day 3 - Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
Today we are travelling 16.2km to Moturau Hut and the hike is expected to be easy and relatively flat. We have fun on the trail today walking mainly through woods, cool fern forests, and wetlands.
There is a major slip with downed trees we have to clamber over at one point for a bit of excitement. The Rocky Point shelter is situated at the halfway point which is good place for a lunch break. It’s a cruisy day and we exit the forest unexpectedly and are stopped in our tracks by the stunning vista of Lake Manapouri.
The water is too inviting to walk past, and we all jump in the lake for a swim and to cool off. As we come out of the water we hurriedly get changed spraying loads of insect repellent as we start to get eaten alive. The sandflies are ferocious around the lakes here. Luckily, we are only another 5mins from Moturau Hut, which has a massive upstairs room with a really long platform for everyone to sleep side by side (fun).
Moturau Hut sits lakefront, and we sit outside as the temperature drops quickly to enjoy a drink as the sun goes down. Sassy Mama takes the opportunity to offer up her arnica pills and the crew nurse inspects this little blue bottle. She starts laughing as there is only one ingredient listed, and it is not arnica but instead ‘homeopathic’??. We are not sure what is in these black-market arnica pills, but we all take one regardless and chase it back with some Whiskey.
Day 4 - Moturau Hut to Kepler Track Car Park
The last day takes us 16km from Moturau Hut to the Kepler Track car park and control gates. The track initially takes us through forest and spits us out onto some wetlands, then turns into a boardwalk, designed to protect the ecosystem underneath.
We are then back into forest and follow a mellow trail alongside the Waiau River back to the Kepler car park.
It's possible to exit earlier at Rainbow Reach car park but it's a lovely easy walk to finish the Kepler Track. We really enjoy the last few kilometers relaxing and having a laugh before the end of another epic Great Walk.
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