Sarah WallockRecently, some friends and I decided to hike the Routeburn in 2 days and 1 night.
New Zealand’s Great Walks are truly epic. Especially the Routeburn. “I want to do the Routeburn,” “I want to too,” my friends would chirp up when we discussed trip plans for 2021. With one of the entrances to the track just 1.5 hours from Queenstown, we knew it would be the most manageable Great Walk to hike because it was essentially in our backyard. One day in December, a small group of us were discussing it and I checked for space in the hut. There were 21 open spaces out of 60 in Lake Mackenzie Hut for a Friday in March. It was fate! For every other day of the year there were only 2-3 spots left.
Usually, when the Great Walk hut bookings open up, they are booked out for the entire summer season within the hour. If you miss it, you miss it. Due to Covid-19, the hut bookings for the Great Walks were only allowed to be booked by those present in NZ. Not foreign tourists, not most tour companies, and not mass international groups. This meant, this summer we had a much higher chance of getting to do local hikes that required bookings.
Gathering the Troops
To hike the Routeburn in 2 days, we would go to the Divide in Te Anau, spend the night at Lake Mackenzie, and then walk all the way out to Glenorchy and drive home the next day. This way, we only would need to request 2 days off of work and maybe more of our friends could join. We thought doing the Routeburn in 2 days would be the easiest option and it turned out to be a perfect plan. Typically, many people complete the hike in 3 days/2nights or even 4 days/3nights because there are 3 huts.
Nick and I booked in for the Friday in March. I messaged some friends to see who was keen and within 24 hours it went from 2 of us doing the Routeburn to 15 of us. This was going to be epic. Our squad of 15 friends would hike the Routeburn. There is no better way I could imagine spending the weekend than great company, stunning scenery and a cheeky 32 km hike. It sounded too good to be true.
Queenstown to the Divide: Must Stop for Snacks
Three of our friends dropped out last minute, so it was now just 12 of us. We rented a 12-seater car from Avis and had EasyHike do the relocation. There are plenty of options for transportation for the one-way track. Do a key swap, switch keys halfway through with friends and drive each other’s car home. Get a bus to transport you to each side. Have EasyHike relocate your car. Have an independent marathon-runner relocate your car (get one of their numbers from a local in Queenstown). There are loads of options!
Any who, we thought it would be the most fun to take a big car to the Divide, hike and drive home altogether. I would highly recommend this option for a group that wants to spend time together. Rather than driving two of our own 5-seater cars and using EasyHike for two relocations, it actually came out cheaper to go in one large rental car and pay for one relocation. Our total cost was only $56 per person including the rental car, gas, insurance and relocation. Pretty cheap!
We set off from Frankton at 8:30am and headed straight to the Sandfly Cafe in Te Anau for a much-needed coffee and snacks stop. I grabbed a peach cobbler to enjoy at the hut later that night. I also grabbed the essential “car snacks,” tortilla chips, from FourSquare. “Car snacks” is a term I coined on this trip. Car snacks are snacks that you leave in the car for yourself for when you return from a hike. I will never do a hike again without car snacks.
The Divide to Lake Mackenzie: Panoramic Views of the Hollyford Valley
My biggest takeaway from this 12km section was how perfectly maintained the track was. The Department of Conservation does such a great job of maintaining tracks and taking care of natural spaces. We shot up the Routeburn at 1:30pm and headed up the Key Summit, a stunning 1-hour detour. We planned to hike as a 12-person group and take our time and it worked really well. Although some of us were different speeds, we walked the entire trail at a steady pace.
Key Summit 
The Key Summit was spectacular. I would definitely recommend heading up for a short day walk as there are 360 degree views from the lookout. The sun was beating down, there was a slight breeze. The weather was as good as it gets. Our order in our 12-person crew kept changing like the tides. Some people go up towards the front then meander in the back. I got a chance to spend time with everyone in the group.
We had a late lunch around 4:30pm and stopped at Earland Falls. Earnland Falls was a highlight of the trip. We were all so happy to be in the sunshine, breaking a comfortable sweat and enjoying one another’s company. I think we had also felt pretty accomplished for making it this far. We eventually reached the hut at 6:30pm. 5 hours well spent!
Earland Falls 
Lake Mackenzie Hut: A Cozy Hideaway in the Mountains
Of course, the first thing we did once we arrived at the hut was strip down and jump in the lake. It felt amazing to dunk in and reset.
Lake Mackenzie Hut was lovely. The facilities were nice, but it wasn’t the best hut I’ve been to. The ranger told an inspirational story about how he single-handedly started the predator trapping project in Fiordland National Park. It was interesting to hear how one small passion of bringing the native birds back to the area, resulted in a large scale conservation project supported by DOC and Air NZ.
Lake Mackenzie to Routeburn Shelter: The Final 21km
We shot off in the morning at 9am for the most steep section of the hike. Is this it?! Is this the “steep” incline? I kept thinking. Yeah, that was it! The incline across the entire Routeburn was quite gradual and manageable. I believe people of all ages and abilities could complete this hike. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we reached a lookout point halfway to Harris Saddle. We stopped for some photos and trekked onwards.
Harris Saddle itself was in a wintery cloud. No views. No sunshine. Nothing on our minds besides getting out of the gray and windy section. We reached Harris Saddle around 12pm and arrived to Routeburn Falls Hut at 2pm. Routeburn Falls Hut was one of the coolest huts I’ve seen in New Zealand. Proper treehouse vibes and sweeping views of the valley. I am very interested in going back for an overnight at Routeburn Falls. Maybe in winter with a thermos of mulled wine and a good book…
View between Routeburn Falls and Routeburn Flats Huts
Cheers to 36 Hours in the Bush
We finished the track just before 5pm. The timing was ideal and it was the right choice to hike the Routeburn in 2 days. We were happy, tired, excited and hungry. The car snacks were a success. The snacks were completed about 1 minute after hopping into the car. We laughed, reflected and started to plan our next adventure.
In Glenorchy, we hit up the general store for beer, ice cream, and chocolate. Some necessary calories after our 32 km hike.
All in all, it was a once in a lifetime experience to hike of the most stunning walks in New Zealand with 11 wonderful companions. This experience helped me realize how easy it is to get outside and how special it is the find a group of people who are equally excited about it.
