Ramble
Quest - Finishing up the Routeburn.
Although I'm a bit tired from hiking half the Greenstone, I know that I must take advantage of perfect weather and climb up to Key Summit. I'm thinking there's just a lookout up there but I'm way off! One of the great things about traveling without guidebook or map is that I get to be completely surprised by things. I'm nearly floored when I climb up to Key Summit and find two more trails at the top! Even more amazingly, one boardwalks over a fascinating alpine bog. Quite a contrast to the rocky exposed point I was expecting. The other path heads up along a ridge, giving tremendous views of the surrounding mountains and lakes. I wind up spending a few hours up here, but it was one of the highlights of the Routeburn for me.
I have just enough time in the morning to backtrack to the point where I'd turned around and hobbled back to Flats. The highlight of this section is Earland Falls. Waterfalls in New Zealand are a bit like catherdrals in Europe. The long-term traveler can become inured to them. Earland Falls is hard to be blase about though! Great streams drop from a precipitous height and you can get very close it.
I hustle out to the Divide in a light rain. No views from the summit today! I spoke with many people who did the Routeburn and none of them got views from Key Summit, so I was very lucky to go up when I had the chance.
The bus to Milford is late, but I don't mind. I'll have nearly four hours to kill there before my overnight boat departs and I know there isn't much to do.