Day One: A nice easy start from the DOC office in Te Anau along the banks of Lake Te Anau to the official start of the track at a set of control gates on the Waiau River. This section passed through a wildlife sanctuary home to the rare Takahe and other native birds found on the track. Past the control gates the track hugged the banks of Lake Te Anau through to Brod Bay. From here we rose quickly for a good solid two hours through some great Beech Forest and past a series of limestone cliffs. After emerging from the treeline it was a further 45 minutes through to Mt Luxmore Hut. The views of the Southern Fiord of Lake Te Anau, back to the town and over to Lake Manapouri were stunning.
Day two: We woke to a crystal clear morning looking out over some low hanging cloud that blanketed the Southern Fiord below. Another good solid climb of about 400 metres in altitude gain and we reached the summit of Mt Luxmore and the highest point of the track 1472m. Below the Southern Fiord kept opening up and the track back to the Hut and beyond across a never ending ridge was clearly visible. Stunning weather followed us over the Alpine section of the track with views deep into Southern Fiordland. After completing the alpine section of the walk, a thigh crunching decent through thick beech forest had us at our campsite back in the bush outside the Iris Burn hut.
Day three: More good weather for a sedate walk meandering along the banks of the Iris Burn. The day passed through more beech forest and crossed numerous streams before we had our first glimpse of Lake Manapouri. From here it was a short stroll along the banks to the Moturau Hut, which had stunning views of the Lake. So good in fact we went for a dip!!
Day Four: We woke early and pushed the pace back to the control gates. After leaving Lake Manapouri we followed the Waiau River back to the beginning of the track and onto Te Anau and our parked car.
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