Lake Nerine circuit - The best 4-day tramp in New Zealand!

Lake Nerine circuit – The best 4-day tramp in New Zealand!

While it took Peter Jackson 10 years and millions of dollars to bring The Lord of the Rings to life on the big screen, it only took us a few hours drive from Queenstown (and a few dollars for a bus) to experience the magical landscapes that captured the imagination of JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Ian Brodie’s ultimate guidebook for Tolkien junkies – The Location Guidebook has been well known to trampers for ages….its just a ”21 great remote tramping places” guidebook tarted up with a bit of Hollywood hype and glamour.

Armed only with stripy long-johns, we left the glamour to the landscape and started a journey walking in the footsteps of stars. How better could we start off in this film set Shangri-la, than to be heading to the aptly named “Theatre flat” and be taxied to the Routeburn track by a Lord of the Rings Rohan warrior and animal trainer.

Each day, (actually each hour) we found ourselves in different film sets. Our imaginations coming alive as we explored different environments from mossshrouded and ferny forest glades surrounded by the peaks of the snowcapped Southern Alps, to the rocky misty tussock covered mountain tops.

Six happy trampers ready for the hills Grant Newton Tramping & Mountaineering 2003 Lee-Ann Mitchell The weather was fantastic and had the theatrical addition of unseasonal snow coating the mountains down to the bushline.

No signpost on the Routeburn track meant we didn’t exit stage right to Sugarloaf Pass - (all good though as it keeps those great walkers out of the back country!). It was a fairly steep grunt up to the Pass (1154 metres) and cold and windy conditions made lunch a bit miserable. However, nothing would depress our awe of being “IN“ the misty mountain film set.

As we descended steeply into the Rockburn valley, the cloud lifted leaving only light drizzle and dampness at Theatre flat. This 1km round campsite sits in an amphitheatre of rock faces and mountains, giving you the feeling of how a Gladiator would feel in the colosseum.

Our cue card and script for upcoming weather was to

Sidling around Lake Nerine Grant Newton be adlibbed for the remainder of the trip as we found our mountain radio had broken connections.

Day 2 was to take us from Theatre Flat up to Lake Nerine. A rock which has not grabbed anyone else’s attention (as it is only known as point 908m) grabbed Grant’s attention and half a roll of film was used. Amphion Peak and the Humboldt Mountains arose around us. A short trek up the valley to Park Pass (1176 metres) in glaringly hot weather could have been set to dramatic “slave march” music.

While the trip leader wanted to lounge in the sun like a starlet in a casting couch, the rest of us were keen to reach Lake Nerine. No cairns for the route could be Tramping & Mountaineering 2003 seen, and what turned out to be the route looked like it headed into a gorge and waterfall. A long and tricky sidle across the step valley on moving schist pumped the adrenalin.

Magical breathtaking deep snow greeted us at the top. It was Wendy’s first time with an ice axe and like a seasoned actor, she mastered the art of it within minutes. An hour or so of wandering through the snowy basins passed quickly and led us to Lake Nerine (approx 1470 metres). Last Christmas this had been a pretty little lake in a rocky basin kitted out with gorgeous delicate alpine plants. This Christmas it was frozen over with a thick layer of snow. A perfect day was topped off by a finale of sunset watching and eating a dreamy pasta concoction on islands of rock amidst the snow.

Day 3 blessed us with another day of superb weather to sidle around the lake. Views of Madeline and Tutoko on the Darren mountains were accompanied by unnerving and constant avalanche activity. We followed the theatrical ditty of “you take the high road, and I’ll take the low road”…and took a higher route to the North Col (trying to take advantage of plugged footsteps from a party that passed the night before). The lower route required a descent and a climb back to the col. The chosen path was good initially but got harder in parts with little run out and needing backward stepping on snow covered snowgrass without crampons.

A stone platform amidst the snow on top of the col at 1580 metres provided an idyllic lunch spot, with views down and over the North Routeburn valley. A gorgeous view was interrupted only by the sight of a few hairy and poorly dressed trampers heading up to the col who turned out to be TTC’s doing the same trip in reverse.

A long and luxurious snow tumble down and a river and scrub scramble led by Paul took us to a gorgeous campsite. A nearby swimming hole allowed for a compulsory freezing plunge for everybody that was followed by a frenzied attempt to dress before the most nubile of body parts were eaten by sandflies.

Descending from North Col into the North Routeburn Grant Newton Day 4 was to be an easy wander out along the North Routeburn valley to end up on the Routeburn track. We had a quick stop at a hut on the Routeburn only to utter our disgust at the flush toilets kitted out with 4 ply scented, patterned and embossed toilet paper before heading to a spot along the river to waste a few hours. The hot summers day had unfortunately attracted many a “gourmet” daywalker and tramper and clogged the Routeburn highway out to the carpark.

Tramping & Mountaineering 2003 While no stars were spotted at Glenorchy Café, we did justice to clearing the place out of steak before hitting the hills again in the real middle earth for another 4 days. Can you get a better 4-day medium walk in New Zealand? If so, be sure not to tell Peter Jackson about it!

Paul Abbott, Wendy Shuker, Lee-Ann Mitchell, Grant Newton, Jossee Lavioe and Paul Carter.