Great Tracks, bits and pieces

February 09, 2020

Road to Kinloch from Queenstown

New Zealand has an incredible array of walking "tracks" which are similar to our trail systems but many of them have huts that you can stay in along the way that usually provide shelter, a water source, and sometimes cooking gas as well as tent sites. The most popular ones require reservations. Bonnie and I did the Milford and Abel Tasman in 1981 and through a wonderful opportunity, have the chance to hike bits of the Routeburn and Greenstone/Caples tract that cross the divide from the end of Lake Wakatipi crossing over to the West coast. We made friends with Vern Affleck through working in the orchard who is related to the Bryant family that ran the Kinloch lodge at the end of the lake well before there was a road. They used to meet the TSS Earnslaw steamer at the Kinloch dock providing tours of the valley in old Bedford buses they shipped in on the deck of the steamer that had the tops cut off, giving people an open driving experience on the rough stock roads in the area dating back to the 1930's. Mrs. Bryant would bake 100 scones a day and some of her recollections included having the wash freeze on the line before it was dry according to some journal entries in the family cabin. Vern's family long since sold the lodge but still has a wee batch (cabin) in Kinloch and kindly let us use it as a base to explore the area, as well as celebrate Bonnie's birthday. We took a quick hike the afternoon we arrived and found down the shore our new, old homestead; but it wasn't for sale. The following day we hiked the lower Routeburn and Sylvan Lake trails and the second day did a wonderful loop off the Caples/Greenstone track up to Lake Rere and returning along a trail through the Greenstone station above Lake Wakatipi. Here is our trip to Kinloch and the Routeburn....