By 8am on Friday morning (now 26th July) James, Mat and I were on our way to Kinlock to drop our luggage at the Lodge and start the 4 day trek. James kindly offered to take us - it took much longer than expected to get there though, as we thought Kinlock was a 5 minute drive from Glenorchy but it ended up taking 2 hours to get there! We said farewell to James who dropped us off at the start of the Caples Track and went on our way...

The track was full of suprises, both good and bad! A short summary of what the trekking days enailed:

Day One was a 16k trek, fairly flat and easy hiking through the valley in the sunshine. We took lots of breaks to take photos, breathe the fresh air and enjoy our surroundings. Mat fell straight on his bum crossing a stream within half an hour of setting off which was rather entertaining! We arrived at the small but sweet Upper Caples Hut at 3pm, I managed to start the fire (all by myself J), we had pasta and watched Bridget Jones' diary on my tablet. There was a sleeping mat left in the hut which was a blessing as the mattresses in the huts are really cold so the sleeping mat allowed me to actually get some sleep for 2 hours each time J whilst Mat was there sleeping like a baby everytime I woke up to put more logs in the fire!

Day Two involved getting wet...we walked 21k from Caples Track and joined onto the Routeburn Trail and it did not stop raining all day! So the morning we got a little lost and had to back track, I got very cold in the process, fell over several times...within an hour of walking I just wanted to get in the warmth and put some dry clothes on. We decided to just try and make it to the next hut and then we would decide whether to carry on or to wait until the next day and hope the rain would stop. Once I changed out of my wet clothes and put Mats warm hoody on I was ready to brave the rain and proceed to our desired hut. I was much happier and full of energy after a bit of food (nut bar and fruit loaf always do the job). The walk was impressive, I felt like I was walking on a film set it seemed too surreal. The trees form all sorts of different weird shapes and sizes and through the trek you come across all kinds - one minute you are surrounded by a rain forest covered in green moss, with great big trees and lots of small green bushes, the next minute you are out in the open walking through dry hedges whilst looking up at the most incredible snow top mountains. You realise how small, insignificant and powerless you really are in this world full of incredible nature. After a long day of hiking through the rainforest, clambering over fallen trees and wading through several streams that had turned into rivers we finally arrive at Mackenzie Hut soaking wet. What turned into a pretty challenging day suddenly became much more tough...we had no dry wood and couldn't keep the fire going. After an hour and a half of attempting to keep the fire alight we realised that it was going to be a cold night ahead of us. We cooked some pasta and fell asleep huddled together with Adele playing in the background, try to keep our spirits up. It was a long night that night, waking up cold every hour or so, I had never been so happy to see my watch tick to 7am, a respectable time to get up. Oh did I forget to say that there was a camp with kitted out huts with gas fires about 5 minutes from us which was for "guided walks only!" We did try going in but it was all locked up. GUTTING!

Day Three, we took a while to pack and get dressed into wet clothes and soggy shoes which I hasten to add were all flippin' freezing! It didn't take long to warm up as the walk was a steep climb up the mountain. It was only very light rain in the morning too which gave me a bit of encouragement. The views of the lake and the hut below us were awesome, so we made sure to take it all in and get some good pictures. The morning was was along the ridge of the mountains, we were high up, stepping through a bit of snow and ice, but nothing we couldn't handle. Luckily it hadn't snowed for a few days otherwise it could have got dangerous and we may have had to turn back, especially as you couldn't really follow the trail as it was covered in snow. We were surrounded by clouds and mist but we did at times we get to see what was surrounding us when a break in the clouds formed. The weather can change so rapidly here you can always see the landscape in a different light. It was so cool to be up there and experience the walk, despite the legs feeling a little tired from the previous day. As we were close to reaching our third and final hut, we caught up with a couple who were doing a day walk to the summit. We were in luck and ended up walking back with them to the end of the Routeburn track rather than staying in a hut again. It took another 4 hours (total of 18k on day three) but was worth the effort as we could finally relax in a warm hostel and comfortable bed with dry clothes! YIPEEE.

This was a real challenge, but I'm really proud we completed it and actually achieved more than initially planned, walking further and faster than predicted. I had to talk to myself on the second day to stay positive and remember why I was doing it as the cold was really getting to me. Mat was great company and we worked well as a walking team. I was generally fine on a physical level; my legs were only a little achy on the third day and my feet had only just started hurting a bit by the end of the hike. I will never forget this experience!