April 24 Day of the Routeburn Classic.
Woke up to pouring rain. After an early breakfast we left at 6:00 AM for a 1.5 hour bus ride to the start of the Routeburn Track. I was seriously thinking this might not be a good idea. I started running at 8:00 AM on a very rocky technical slippery course. I had done the run in 2007 in nice weather but this was a lot harder. I was quite comfortable with all my layers of clothes and my wind proof waterproof jacket. The scenery was still spectacular with waterfalls and streams. By the time I got to 7 miles, it was getting much colder and raining harder. I barely made the cutoff but decided not to continue knowing how treacherous it is on the other side of the summit. Since there is no way out, I had to go back the way I came. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get back to Queenstown as it would be at least 30 minutes before the aid volunteers made it back and I was too cold to stand around. I was lucky that there were people at the hut 2 miles from the hut with a nice fire. They were going back to Queenstown and so I was able to warm up and then had a long drive back with them.
April 25 Still raining hard. We left Queenstown and drove to Fox Glacier stopping in Wanaka for lunch. The drive was beautiful. We took many pictures of waterfalls streaming down the mountain.The scenery going over Haast Pass was spectacular. We had planned to do a river safari in Haast but that was canceled.
April 26 Still raining. Our Glacier Hike was canceled as well as the Helicopter Tour. We left Fox Glacier and decided to go to Franz Josef, WE were told we might get to see the glacier if we walked down to to where it started. After a 15 minute walk in pouring rain we got to a place where we could see nothing. WE decided to go to the hot pools and spend some time there and get a massage. The hot pools were very nice but the massage therapists were fully booked.
April 27 Still heavy rain. We left early heading toward Greymouth and stopped at Hokitika. Hokitika is very nice town. There are lots of shops and Maori artwork. We went to a Jade Factory and I bought a necklace with a Maori symbol for Good Health and Prosperty. We went to a small wildlife center and saw a Kiwi Bird.
To be Continued
