Ascent of Mt. Luxmore, 2014

Mt. Luxmore is a bump on the ridge just off the Kepler Track, well above the Luxmore Hut. Not many people have climbed it twice, I suppose, but I had my reasons. I climbed it in 2009, while Vicki was elsewhere on the Kepler, and recorded--on this very blog--my time from Brod Bay to the Hut: 4 hours. I was curious, and concerned, to see if I could match that time five years later. The full ascent is probably close to 4,000 feet.

Actually, pretty much the whole ascent was in a white-out; Lake Te Anau was in
an inversion, owing to the (relatively) warm, dry weather

Along the hike, under a big head-wall

Once up on the plateau I figured the clouds had burned off; but no, I had just gotten
above them

Looking up toward Mt. Luxmore, the bump on the right

Looking around...various peaks poking through the clouds;it all looked pretty alpine,
if not Himalayan, despite the fact you're only about 3,000 feet up

Ditto

Ditto again

At the base of the trail up to the summit, two Kea conspire to distract me and
steal my wallet, keys, camera, etc.

Mt. Luxmore summit triangulation point; looking toward Lake Te Anau

Summit area

Summit selfie; compare with 2009: OK, I may have aged 5 years, but I have
definitely gotten better at self-portraits

Te Anau town through the clouds

Looking back, on the long tiresome descent

Luxmore Hut

Arrival of the grand-parents: a large extended family was having a reunion at the
hut, and here the grandparents arrive by helicopter (Rebecca and Rachel note)

Next morning, some higher clouds and a view of one of Lake
Te Anau's several glacial arms 

Last hazy look at Mt. Luxmore; I made the climb to the hut in 4 hours 11 minutes,
that is, 11 minutes off my 2009 pace; a dinner acquaintance, a marine biologist by
trade, said that was not statistically significant; so I was pleased... 

Key Summit On The Routeburn

We did the entire Routeburn Tramp in 2009, and a bit of it just a few days before now. But Vicki wanted more of it, particularly a chance to see more of the Alpine scenery we missed in the lousy weather of 2009. So, on the way back from Milford to Te Anau, we stopped at the Pass and did the Key Summit day hike, which is an off-shoot of the Routeburn. The weather was fine, it was a good trail, and we extended the hike way out on the ridge to see all three of the lakes, Marian, Gunn, and McKeller...the significance of which is the three watersheds you can see from Key Summit, one going to the Tasman, one to the Antarctic, and one, via Balclutha, to the Pacific.

On the way we stopped at the Chasm, the major upshot of which was seeing this
bird's-eye view of a large tree fern

And these waterfalls near Homer Tunnel

Beautiful little waterfall and pool near the beginning of the
Routeburn, west side

From the Routeburn/Key Summit hike, Mt. Christina

New Zealand dragonfly

More alpine scenery

Ditto

Greenstone all around; near the great fault between the Pacific and Australasian
plates (OK, I was only a C student in geology)

Lake Gunn (or possibly McKeller or Marian)

Lake McKeller

Definitely Lake Marian

Another panoramic shot

More alpine scenery

Vicki celebrates; the Routeburn was her bain in 2009, followed by knee
replacement surgery, rehab, and now, lots more hiking; pretty impressive!

The Key Summit marker, which allowed us to locate some of the upper reaches
of the Routeburn

There, right of middle, above bush-line

There, closer up

And there, close enough to make out the switch-backs

Milford Sound, 2014

In 2009, we did the Milford Tramp, stayed in Milford a couple days, then did a morning's kayaking on Milford Sound, certainly New Zealand's best known fiord and one of its several World Heritage icons. (See http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/milford-sound-2009-we-return-you-now-to.html for some of our 2009 visit.) Anyhow, as we noted at the time, amateur kayaking really does not get you very far down/up the fiord, so we resolved this time to take the 2-hour day cruise. Although more famous and, some would say, more spectacular, Milford is much smaller than Doubtful Sound. Anyhow, here are some pix of the cruise, featuring, most notably, Mitre Peak, the aforementioned icon.

Standard view

Standard artsy-fartsy view

Heavy traffic on Milford Sound

Our ship, the Milford Haven; $49 including breakfast

Night before, we stayed at the Milford Sound Lodge campground

Serenaded by cicadian rhythms

Next morning we were underway, cruising close by Mitre Peak

And finding ourselves joined by one of those giant floating hotels, the Maid of the Sea or
somesuch

Which made a quick U-turn opposite Mitre Peak and then hastened back out...
"Milford Sound, check!"

Meanwhile, we are chugging along, past Copper Point, numerous waterfalls,
fault-lines, fur seals, kayaks, birds, etc., out onto the Tasman Sea; Milford Sound,
however, spectacular as it is in other ways, is rather featureless at its mouth

Looking back in

More seals; later, we saw a couple hunting, but the pix were not so good

More Sound scenery

Vicki, before the Seven Sisters...wait, no, that was Geirangerfjord

Another attempt at a panoramic shot

Us, there; Milford Sound, check!