This is Lydia and myself at the start of the trail. We were standing in a steady drizzle, that lasted for a good two more hours, but the hoods soon came off (as did some extra layers) - it turns out that hiking with a 12kg pack on warms you up!!
This is the first of many scenic moments that were labeled, at the time, "the highlight of the trip" ...
Above is Lydia with Tim, a South African man who was traveling between jobs in Sydney, Australia.
Our other two hiking companions, Jamie and Peter. Jamie is an American girl who just graduated from college and decided that traveling would be a better use of her time than a job hunt. Peter is Danish, the youngest of our group - he just left the Danish army and cheerfully describes himself as "homeless and unemployed".
The valley outside of the Routeburn Flats Hut, a Department of Conservation hut that we did NOT stay in. However, we decided to stop for lunch at a strategically placed picnic table and enjoy the lovely view.
Same valley, different (much HIGHER) perspective. This is about when I decided that I should have spent a bit of time at the gym before this hike ... turns out that you have to go UP a lot when hiking through mountains!
About an hour after we arrived at our DOC hut for the night, it started snowing. This is the view from the terrace.
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