The Kepler Track, New Zealand
Moturua Hut -- The third of the three "doc" huts along the Kepler Track is idyllically situated at the shore of brooding Lake Manapouri. The hut's proximity to the nearest car park, via an easy 90-minute forest walk, makes it an ideal stop for fully-fledged trampers and day hikers alike.
Indeed, my friends from Timaru and I opted not to stay for the night here (although I did have advanced booking for my bunk bed), but to push on to the Rainbow Reach car park. Whilst their car was waiting for them there at their leisure, I had to hurry so as not to miss the last bus out of the car park at 5:00 pm, thus skipping a quick side tour of the amoeboid wetlands.
Crossing the Waiau River again at Rainbow Reach gives the tramper a satisfying sense of closure, whether he or she would go on for three more hours to complete the entire 60km course of the Kepler Track, back to the control gates at Lake Te Anau. This river, by the way, also served as a stretch of the Great Anduin in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.
These photos were taken with a Nikon CoolPix 5200, set at 7.5mm.
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