We started the Caples track after the Routeburn so in total we had to carry food for 6 days and fuel (cooking) for 3 days.  The Caples track is part of the Greenstone/Caples track and was established by the Maoris to get Greenstone from the West Coast.  The huts had recently been done up so they were very good.  The first day was only 7km so an easy day.  Some different scenery.

Even though it was only a short day it was not without some excitement.  There was one creek crossing that I decided to cross, however there was a slippery rock, well you can see where this is heading can’t you…  I landed face down in the middle of the creek.  Luckily no harm was done, only a couple of bruises.  After that we made it safely to the hut and relaxed for the rest of the day, drinking wine and eating chocolate.  Yes it does sound very tough.

The next day was 22km with a climb over a pass so we left early.  Weather again was perfect and we make could progress.

The track at the top of the saddle had recently been upgraded so it was a true pleasure.  We didn’t see many people of the track which was great.

We stopped every hour and had fluids and something to eat which worked well.  We made it safely down the mountain and linked up with a river and followed that down the valley.  However, all was about to change.  Another creek crossing! This time it was a little bit more serious, and landed on my left side, so I bruised by shoulder, knee and one of my knuckles took the brunt of the force and there was blood.  My head almost hit a rock so I was very lucky.  Rach was great and we were back going in no time.  This time Rach helped me across the crossings, I was a bit gun shy.  The worst thing about falling is that you have a pack of about 20kg on so you can’t correct yourself and then it is very hard to get up again.

We finally make it to the hut tired, but in one piece.  We again had a great night talking to the fellow trampers and managed to give away most of our uneaten food.

The next day was relatively easy, about 8km and we were getting picked up at 12pm.  We mostly followed the river and it was down hill. So in total we hiked 67km in 6 days with lots of laughs and some great memories.  Thanks Rach for coming along.

We made it back with plenty of time and are ride was there early so we headed back to Glenorchy.  We were going to have to wait for 3 hrs for the next bus but we were kindly offered a ride from a couple back to Queenstown.

The first thing we did when we got back was have a shower, our first in 6 days.  Niels then arrived from Australia and we head to Ferge Burger!