$700,000 Kepler Track ready by 1988

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 13

$700,000 Kepler Track ready by 1988

Fiordland’s major new walking track will be formed over a three-year period and cost 5700,000. The Kepler Track, between Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, will be a fourday tramp, and provide a variety of scenery, flora and fauna, including white sand beaches, bush, alpine meadows, riverbanks, wetlands, and gorges.

The Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, said the construction of the track would create 12 jobs and seven permanent ones after it was finished. “Milford Sound hosts about 8400 visitors each year, earning about 52 million. In its first year of operation the Kepler Track is expected to host 5600 visitors, injecting $66,000 into the regional economy,” Mr Moore said.

"Walking tracks are becoming popular. They let overseas visitors experience New Zealand scen-

ery first-hand. The Kepler Track is a valuable asset.”

The chief ranger of Fiordland National Park, Mr Paul Green, said the track was needed because of pressure on the Milford, Routeburn and other tracks and the demand for a three-day to fourday track close to Te Anau.

Tracks are already established to Mount Luxmore Hut from Te Anau, to Shallow Bay Hut and along the true right bank of the Waiau River which flows from Lake Te Anau into Lake Manapouri. “Basically the Kepler Track proposal is to construct a high-standard loop track linking the Luxmore and Waiau tracks,” said Mr Green. “The construction should be relatively simple, and the bridging does not involve major rivers and so it will not be affected by floods.”

The loop track close to

Te Anau allowed for low transport costs and maximum convenience for walkers, he said. Three huts and two emergency shelters will be built on the track, which will be open all year but the main use is expected to be between November and April.

“In the off-season the track is more suited to experienced walkers but during the season it is regarded as suitable for trampers of average fitness,” Mr Green said. The development and completion of the Kepler Track in 1988 will coincide with the centennial year for national parks in New Zealand.