Te Waipounamu - The Routeburn Track

It rained most of the night, but stopped before dawn. Woke early - 5am, most people stirring by 6am.
Sat on the verandah admiring the moonlight shining on a nearby snow-capped mountain and Venus sparkling in the pre-dawn skies.

On the track by 8.15 in a light drizzle, which then became a light rain. Donned the wet weather gear, gloves and beanie. Trekked past impressive bluffs to the left of the trail and passed Lake Harris to the right. Reached Harris Saddle in1 and 3/4 hours. White-out conditions meant there was no point in climbing up Conical Hill to the lookout. We sheltered out of the weather in the hut, putting the gas burner to good use and making some coffee to warm us up.

We set off to Lake McKenzie, passing tarns and hills of tussocks but with poor to no visibility from any of the "lookouts" along the way. To keep ourselves amused, we decided to pretend we were Spanish and greet everyone we met coming along the track the other way with a "Hola"and "Buenos Dias".
Luckily for us the only people we encountered were a large group of Japanese hikers in the Ultimate Hikes group who replied each time with a very polite "konnichiwa,".
The clouds did lift enough for us to sight Lake McKenzie and the Hut on our descent and we arrived at the Hut at 1.15pm.

We managed to score the last two bunk beds in the bunkhouse above the communal dining room, hopefully away from some of the snorers from last night. We had lunch, and with the rain not abating, we chose to take a walk around the lake with a side-trip to Split Rock. Water was cascading down off the mountains creating little waterfalls - so this is what hiking in NZ is all about!

The fire in the potbelly stove made the hut very cosy and hopefully our damp clothes would dry out. Dinner tonight was Backcountry Cuisine- "Beef and Pasta Hotpot" - a much better offering than the night before - quite tasty. The safety briefing by the DOC ranger, Evan, included an informative chat about a stoat trap program he had initiated with the aim of encouraging bird life back into the area.
In bed by 9pm, needing only the sleeping bag liner to sleep in owing to the bunk-room being located above the warm communal area. Zzzzzzz.........