Day 98
Dec 7 day 98 Ahuriri River to free camp on ridge above Timaru River 7:15-5:15 30 km (+4 walk up road to trailhead) Recipe for hiking on South Island: Start day hiking up narrow valley, probably crossing a cold stream often, climb all morning to reach a saddle at about noon, then descend into a […]
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. […]