Earnslaw Burn Track

Welcome Burn my dears,

I'm currently discovering a lot again and so my posts are very sporadic and I can't quite keep up with sharing my stories and adventures with you. The hike I'm reporting on today was actually at the other end of the South Island and I've driven a few kilometers further since then.

The hike was the most challenging I've done in New Zealand so far, and probably before that too. I was out from sunrise to sunset and it was a total of 21 km with an elevation gain of 900 meters. According to my app, I was on the move for 7 hours 18 minutes, and that's how I felt at the end of the hike.

The day began in absolute fog and light twilight at Moke Lake and I had to scrape ice for the first time. Here's a tip for you: If you don't have an ice scraper handy, a thick plastic cup works pretty well too. Then it was about an hour to the car park and from there I set off for the valley with two other solo hikers. The track was described as very challenging and at this time of year the nice lady from the DoC Center in Queenstown warned me about mud and wetness as the track doesn't get enough light and warmth to dry out.

And as you can see from the previous pictures, the track was definitely a real adventure and there were lots of streams to cross, tree stumps to climb over and generally just having to be very careful where I was stepping. The path through the forest was also very long and I walked for several hours before I came out of the forest into the valley.

The view of the Mount Earnslaw Glacier and the valley with the waterfalls in general was just unbelievably beautiful. It was also very quiet except for 3 or 4 helicopters that flew tourists to the end of the valley. I climbed the valley on foot and somehow felt superior. Dirty and wet, but superior. The track in the valley was even wetter than the track before and I regularly sank completely into the water or mud with my shoes on. I was accordingly dirty and I fell flat on my face 3 times on the way up because I slipped in the mud. The bruises are only now fading. I was glad that nothing worse happened from these falls.

Not quite at the end of the valley, I decided to turn around and walk back to the car because I had time left so as not to run on the challenging track in the dark. And that was a very good decision and I made it back to the car with another fall in the mud and a stubbornness vs. tree trunk incident. I was so engrossed in the path and where I was putting my feet that I didn't look up and ran at full speed into an overhanging branch or tree. Luckily, I have a Sagemüller stubbornness and only landed on my bottom - very confused and definitely a little baffled.

When I got to the car, I took off my muddy shoes and pants and stowed them halfway in the car and made my way as quickly as possible to the nearest warm shower. Unfortunately, it was already so late that all the showers in the area were closed and I had to change my mind and spontaneously stayed at the campsite in Queenstown and filled my body with food and pure sugar - aka Coca Cola - to revive it. It was soooo delicious!

What a strenuous but wonderful hike. That evening I fell asleep at 8 o'clock and slept better than I had in a long time.

The next day we were supposed to continue to Wanaka to rest a bit and enjoy the lake.

But more on that in the next post.
Your Britta