The Routeburn Trek by Zander

            I don’t like backpacking. I just don’t get why we walk out of our way to see stuff that we could see on a day hike. Plus I like to take a warm shower every night and I can’t do that on backpacks. I don’t like sleeping in a tent or bunk room. I like to sleep in a bed at home and be able to get up as late as I like. In New Zealand, we went on the Routeburn Trek near Queenstown. It is supposed to be one of the best backpacks in the world. We went because my Aunt and Uncle suggested it and we couldn’t get on to the Milford Trek.

 

            The thing that I liked about the Routeburn Trek that other backpacks don’t have is the Huts. I like them because it means that we don’t have to carry tents, pads, or a stove.  I really liked that we had the Huts. That means that our packs were a lot lighter. It was perfect for us because it was a really easy walk every day and we had really light packs. If we had to bring tents, then we would be in trouble because we don’t have proper packs. Our sleeping accommodations were pretty good, there were bunks, and they had mattresses. It was about the same as a Holiday park, but we had to hike to get to it. I was really happy about that part of the backpack.

            The scenery on the Routeburn Trek was really good. It was supposed to be the second best in New Zealand. I personally thought that it looked exactly like Alaska. There are a lot of mountains with snowy peaks and that are all black and rocky. Below the tree line there are a dense forest with lots of trees, and a lot of rotten stumps and moss. We always camped by a lake and there was always water near us. Once we saw a really big water fall. It was 147m tall. It made a lot of mist. It was kind of weird to see all the mountains and glaciers so close to the ocean. But I felt like I had already seen it when we went to Alaska.

            On this backpack like many others, we left early. We do that a lot. It is usually because we run out of food, or we just want to go. This time we just wanted to go. We had planned on staying in the cabin for one more night and then hiking out the next day. But we just went out that day after we hiked up the pass. It took us 2 and a half hour there and back to go to the pass. Then another 3 hours to get the parking lot. We had hiked 30 kms in one day, I was pretty proud of myself for that accomplishment. It was really good to get off the trail and see our car and get off the backpack.

            The Routeburn Trek was a really good backpack. Well, as far as backpacks go for me. It was really short, we didn’t have to carry much, and we got to leave early. But we always leave early on backpacks. It was a relief to get of the trail and take a nice hot shower, and get into some clean clothes. I really like to get clean. When we got to the parking lot, I was so happy to see our car.  I felt proud of myself for going on this backpack and hiking over 30 kms in one day.