Day 97
Dec 6 day 97 Lake Middleton to free camp, south of Ahuriri River 7:00-6:30 30 km (plus 7 km off trail to hike around river to bridge). Today I was once again a walker of rivers, unfortunately not a forder of rivers which made for a long day’s work. I woke with a vague sense […]
Day 96
Dec 5 day 96 Twizel to Lake Middleton Campground 8:15-3:15 29 km Following my rule not to eat out of my backpack when a restaurant is available, I wandered around Twizel a bit before getting the big breakfast at the Hydro Cafe, so-named because this whole network of lakes and canals in this area is […]
Day 95
Dec 4 day 95 freedom camp on Lake Pukaki to Twizel 7:00-12:30 29 km There are mornings when I just want to stay zipped up in the sleeping bag. This morning the wind had stopped, the sun was bright, but the temperatures were still cold. After 40 km yesterday, I just wanted to stay in […]
Day 94
Dec 3 day 94 Tekapo Village to freedom camp on Lake Pukaki 8:00-4:30 40 km When the boys were young, we used to read a children’s book called The Lupine Lady, all about a woman who bought big bags of lupine seeds and spread them all along the roadsides in the place where she lived. […]
Day 93
Dec 2 day 93 freedom camp to Tekapo Village 6:30- 2:30 30 km Very simple straightforward day. I couldn’t get lost as the trail was clear (doubled as mountain bike trail) with plenty of pole markers. I do wonder how people who cannot see that particular shade of orange can negotiate the trail as often […]
Day 92
Dec 1 day 92 Stone Hut to freedom camp 7:30-5:30 26 km Some days seem as if they a going to be simple, and veer off track in unexpected ways. I slept in a bit, in part because I was tired from the previous day, but also because I found Stone Hut comfortable– unsure why, […]
Day 91
Nov 30 day 91 Bush Stream Car Park (from Geraldine) to Stone Hut 11:00-6:00 18 km Late this afternoon I sat on a rock next to a stream drinking water that hours before had been snow. It tasted like snow. But that was not the best part of the day, which requires going back to […]
Care
Care A few days ago, after a beautiful morning’s tramp, I arrived at a new and spacious Department of Conservation hut. Since there were no good campsites down the trail for some distance, I decided to call it an early day and settle in. The hut had a large deck that looked out onto a […]
Day 90
Nov 29 day 90 Manuka Hut to Geraldine 6:30-11:00 15 km + hitched ride to town The Manuka hut filled up with previous occupants and a very nice Christchurch bicycling family (with two very young children including a boy named Mikey), so I tented outside in the wind which thankfully calmed later in the night. […]
Day 89
Nov 28 day 89 Comyns Hut to Manuka Hut 6:45-1:30 21 km I packed as quietly as I could, remembering that Jan from the Czech Republic likes to sleep later than most thru hikers. The trail led out over the hill directly behind the hut to the north branch of Ashburton River which was rushing […]