Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
5-6hr
3
Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
5-6hr
4
Moturau Hut to Rainbow Reach
1½-2hr
4
Rainbow Reach to control gates
2½-3½hr
Bookings & Transport
The Kepler is a Great Walk. Between late October and mid-April you must obtain a Great
Walk pass (hut per night $54) for the huts. Passes must be obtained in advance, and it will
pay to book early, either online via DOC's
Great Walks Bookings
( 0800 694 732;
www.greatwalks.co.nz
)
or in person at a DOC visitor centre. In the off-season the huts revert to
backcountry Serviced huts ($15). There are campsites at Brod Bay and near Iris Burn Hut
(Great Walks season $15, out of season free).
The recommended map for this tramp is 1:60,000
Parkmap 335-09 (Kepler Track)
.
Conveniently, the track begins under an hour's walk from the Fiordland National Park
Visitor Centre, via the lakeside track alongside the Manapouri-Te Anau Rd (SH95).
There's a car park and shelter at the control gates.
Tracknet
(
0800 483 262;
www.tracknet.net
)
runs shuttles to the trailhead ($6) and offers secure parking.
Kepler Water Taxi
( 03-249 8364;
stevsaunders@xtra.co.nz
)
offers early-morning boat services
across Lake Te Anau to Brod Bay ($25), slicing 1½ hours off the first day's tramp.
Milford Track
The best-known track in NZ and routinely touted as 'the finest walk in the world', the
Milford is an absolute stunner, complete with rainforest, deep glaciated valleys, a glorious
alpine pass surrounded by towering peaks, and powerful waterfalls including the le-
gendary Sutherland Falls, one of the loftiest in the world. All these account for its pop-
ularity: more than 14,000 trampers complete the 54km-long track each year.
During the Great Walks season, the track can only be walked in one direction, starting
from Glade Wharf. You must stay at Clinton Hut the first night, despite it being only one
hour from the start of the track, and you must complete the trip in the prescribed three
nights and four days. This is perfectly acceptable if the weather is kind, but when the
weather turns sour you'll still have to push on across the alpine Mackinnon Pass and may
miss some rather spectacular views. It's all down to the luck of the draw.
