Looking 4 trekking partner 26DEC09 - 9JAN10 STH IS

Come on people - there's gotta be someone!!!

Heyya, dont know if this is quite what your after... but I have big plans for this time of the year around Te Anau. On the 30th Dec I will start at the Routeburn (from the Divide) and head up to Lake McKenzie. If theres time (and nice weather) I want to dump my pack there then head to Ocean peak on the same day (will have to move though, as its a long way!) Then on the 31st I head to Routeburn Falls hut... but not by the track but via Emily Pass and maybe Emily Peak if its climbable! New Years eve at Falls hut, then on the 1st up the Routeburn and over Harris Saddle and down the Deadmans Track all the way to the Hollyford road and along to Morrian Creek and up as far as possible until I collapse or run out of daylight... tenting at Tent Flat. Then up the valley on the 2nd, past Lake Adelaide to Phils Biv. Then on the 3rd go up Giffords Crack and to the summit of Barrier Knob then down to the Homer Hut. Back to Te Anau on the 4th. 6 days all up but will need a good day for the Barrier Knob traverse so could be 7 (or 8 days) with waiting at Phils Biv. Anyway, might be too far out of your way if you're based at Queenstown. But if you went up the Routeburn from the Glenorchy side it could be possible, and there are heaps of shuttles from Te Anau to Queenstown in order to get back.

Dang it, that should read Morrain Creek, not "Morrian". Why is there no Edit Post button on these forums???

Morraine Creek, fantastic place, though it would be 35 years since I was last there. As a 17 year old I was taken by Austin Brookes and Harold Jacobs (Chief ranger of Fiordland National Park at the time) on a jaunt from Homer Hut to Gertrude Saddle, down Giffords Crack, then did a traverse of Sabre, Marion and Barrier. We only had day packs and little food, spent one night at Gill's Bivy and the second night on the summit of Marrion. I was poohing myself most of the way. No wonder I never became a climber!

Wow, that sounds awesome. Im not a climber either and have heared the terrain around there is pretty gnarly. Google earth and topo maps can only show so much!

Varmoss: the last bit looks very exciting! I just need to work it out how to synchonize the dates with yours. See, I'm going back on the 9th and your itinerary ends on the 4th. Is it possible for you to move it forward 3 days?

Varmoss: which huts you are going to stay at require prior booking? Also, are you going to hike the Hollyford Rd or are you going to leave a car some around there? Cheers.

Hey, There are 4 huts on the Routeburn (from East to West: Routeburn Flats, Routeburn Falls, Lake MacKenzie and Lake Howden) and they all require bookings to stay at as the Routeburn is classed as a Great Walk. There are tent sites at Routeburn Flats and Lake MacKenzie. You only need to stay at 2 huts to tramp the full Routeburn, most people stay at Falls and MacKenzie. I have made bookings at MacKenzie on the 30th and Falls on the 31st (Im coming up from the Te Anau side), and due to my other plans in December/January I cant change them. Heres a couple of ideas for you, if you like them! From Queenstown, shuttle up to the Caples/Greenstone carpark on the 29th and go up the Caples track (or the slightly longer Greenstone), stay the night at the Upper Caples hut (or McKellar hut on the Greenstone). No booking required in these huts, about $10 a night. Then on the 30th head up to Lake MacKenzie and join me there. Or, on the 31st Shuttle up to the start of the Routeburn and walk up to Routeburn Falls and meet me there. This is the cheaper option as you only need to book one Great Walk hut pass (Falls hut). Im shuttleing up to the Routeburn so no car. After going down the Deadmans track to the Hollyford road I'll be walking along it to Morraine Creek. Its about 6km, so figure 2 hours stroll along a flat gravel road (I want to vist Humboldt Falls about 500m further along at the end of the road as I missed visiting them when I tramped the Hollyford/Pyke circuit last year). From Homer hut, I have been told its possible to wave down the passing shuttle from Milford Sound heading back. I plan on catching that back to Te Anau on the 4th January, although if you liked you could catch it to The Divide and from there go back up the Routeburn, or down the Caples or Greenstone, depending on what you did prior to meeting me at Routeburn Falls. Tracknet runs lots of shuttles around Te Anau and Queenstown (www.tracknet.co.nz) and they have a same day service from Milford Sound to Queenstown, but it costs alot of money. Its up to you. If you got back to Queestown on the 4th January you would still have time to do another tramp (The Rees/Dart circuit is a good one) before leaving on the 9th. Anyway, hope thats given you some ideas. Cheers.

How about to do the following tramps with us? 1) Motatapu Track, from Arrowtown to Wanaka 3 days. 2) Cascade Saddle, from Wanaka to Glenochy 4 days 3) Five passes from Glenochy 5 days. We now have at least 2 people definately coming and arriving Queenstown 10am 28th Dec 2009. You can stay in Queenstown and do Ben Lomond + Moonlight Track on 27th Dec. http://queenstown....n-lomond-track.html We then meet up and shuttle to Arrowtown on 28th staying in Fern Burn Hut for the 1st night. We are Auckland Tramping Club fellows and have done Rees-Dart, Routeburn, Greenston-Caples, Matukituki-Liverpool Bivvy, Kepler Winter Tramp, Milford, Hollyford...etc. Quite familiar with Fiordland and Aspiring National Park. We can arrange the transport and guide the trip for you. We will carry a tent as well. If interested welcome write to cj-chen at xtra dot co dot nz Lucky77