The Kepler Track is a challenging yet hugely rewarding four-day trail over the mountains taking you from the beech forested shorelines of Lake Te Anau to Lake Manapouri by way of tussock covered ridgelines with spectacular alpine vistas.

The second day while crossing the ridgeline, we were challenged by wind gusts of up to 85km per hour making filming for the most part, almost impossible. I hesitated in making this video as I wasn’t satisfied with the qualify of film however thought it may help someone in their planning.

Highlights

- Beautiful walking trail through spectacular native forest

- Crossing the Mountains from Te Anau to Manapouri

- Fiordland National Park is stunning

- Cascading waterfalls and rivers, big and small

- A cheeky kea hopeful of a treat at the emergency shelter. (No, he didn’t get one)

- New trail friends that made crossing the mountain so much more fun; Landon from USA, Georg from Germany and Lucas from New Zealand

- Bird songs in the forest

- Sounds of nature

- Indescribably beautiful track!

Lowlights

- The gusts on Day 2 along the ridgeline were peaking at up to 85km hour. Extremely challenging and quite scary. I was glad to have the company of Landon, Georg and Lucas.

The Facts:

Kepler Track, New Zealand Great Walks.

ℹ️Stats

📅 Date: 29/10/20222 - 01/11/2022

☀️Weather: Kepler Early Summer, one day of sunshine, one day of howling wind, two days of reasonable sun/cloud.

🌲Location: Kepler Track, Fiordland National Park, Southland, New Zealand

⛺️ Accommodation: New Zealand Great Walk Huts. Bookings Required - I booked on Opening Day of the new season and the season was sold out within hours. If you miss out, watch the website for cancellations.

Day 1 – Control Gates to Luxmore Hut

Moving Time: 3:49:20

Elevation Gain: 887 metresDistance: 15.32 km

Day 2 – Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut

Moving Time: 4:25:20

Elevation Gain: 680 metresDistance: 16:71 km

Day 3 – Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut

Moving Time: 3:45:11

Elevation Gain: 170 metresDistance: 13 km - this is the toughest day as it’s when you climb to the McKinnon Pass

Day 4 – Moturau Hut to Rainbow Reach

Moving Time: 1:25:06

Elevation Gain: 92 metres

Distance: 7:01 km

Shuttles can be arranged to and from Te Anau, alternatively, it’s only a couple of km extra walk. Patchy cell phone coverage in a few places. The track can be walked from either direction.