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 the tent, but Twizel beckoned, so I was up and out for another day walking gravel roads, today’s difference emerged when I rounded the corner of the lake and could look back at Mount Cook and the Nun’s Veil completely covered in snow. It was jaw dropping. The trail was soon following the alps to ocean bike path, through a camping area where I sat down at a picnic table, got out the Jetboil, made coffee and just stared at Mount Cook. The path later crossed the dam at the end of the lake where I could look down at the milky deep blue water, a color beyond description. Then it led through a young pine forest and finally across a dry bit of desert, not far from the set for the Lord of the Rings Plains of Rohan sequences, then into Twizel, a town that serves as staging area for various outdoor adventures. Picked up more supplies as the trip to Wanaka will take about five days. Warm sleepy afternoon, feet propped up and a Stoke IPA.

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. I had an idea what lupines looked like, but never had seen them growing in profusion until today. A long walk along a gravel road from Tekapo to Lake Pukaki, a glacier fed lake (near Mount Cook) that is milky turquoise. The Lupines were purple, but also turquoise, and even a shade of pink and orange. Very much a day of startling colors, which was a good thing as it was not the most interesting of walks– flat, rained most of the day, so the scenery was all fogged out. The best part is that I made excellent time, well-positioned to get into Twizel tomorrow– the last big town until Wanaka. I freedom camped on a ridge over the lake in a grove of beech trees. I hope they break the wind better than the site last night where the shaking of the tent kept me up much of the night.

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 those markers are at quite a distance. The second half was a long walk along a gravel road (apparently what I have to look forward to on most of the next section). Still, the lake and the snow covered mountains sure made it a good walk. The hostel was full, so I tented (much cheaper and I usually sleep better in my tent anyway– and it had a million dollar view, all for 11$). Resupplied, updated my devices on the free wifi, had a very chill day.

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, I guess it was where it was sited, looking down Bush Stream as it bent around the knoll. In what seems now a requirement, the first thing I had to do on leaving was wade through that stream– and it was a cold morning. I had a lot of tussock hiking, still not my favorite way to spend my time, but by late morning I had gotten to the top of Stag Saddle, the highest point on the Te Araroa. On the way up I hiked through all these moss bogs, springiest surface I’ve ever walked on. The views up top were amazing, snow covered peaks with the desert below. The descent was a lot of scree, then a whole lot more tussock hopping. I got the hang of it I guess as I made it to Camp Spring Hut early afternoon, just as it started to sprinkle. That hut didn’t have the feel of Stone Hut, and the rain was light, so I decided to hike on and freedom camp at some point later on the trail (that had the advantage of shortening the day’s hike into town tomorrow). Not long after the hut, the trail began to follow the Coal River downstream. For the last two days the trails have been sparsely marked, so much navigation is by topography. I knew the trail would go with the flow of the river and so did not worry much when a long time went by without seeing a marker pole. They usually showed up a some point. Late in the afternoon, it had been very long since I had seen one and the river’s edge was getting completely choked by impregnable sticker bushes. The main trail had made a turn I missed and was now several hundred meters above me on a ridge. After briefly considering continuing on down the river, I opted for heading straight up the side of the mountain to regain the trail. An afternoon of getting really poked by stickers and an unexpected long hard climb was not what I had hoped for. On getting to the plateau above, I soon found the trail, a place to camp beside a stream and a gravel road, crawling into bed vowing to read my maps more carefully next time.

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 last night. After I checked into the Geraldine Motels, I went up to try to arrange transport to the trail head– not an easy task as it is about an hour and a half from town, the second half on a seldom traveled gravel road (impossible to hitch hike). The Geraldine information center found a 4 wheel drive company who will make the trip, but the web site did not have direct contact information and they did not respond to my queries. Still, I was in a good mood because the town was so pleasant. They have the oldest purpose built movie theater in New Zealand, and across the street at the performing arts center I could hear dance practice going on. The restaurants, not elegant, but good. A town with a really good feel, and the owners of the motel–Ross and Sharon Mackenzie–are amazingly wonderful. She took me on a tour of some of the rooms, and when I came back from dinner, he caught me and offered to drive me to the trailhead in the morning. Classic kiwi generosity that never ceases to amaze me. After my breakfast at the cafe, we headed out. He took me through the back roads of his town, then the long drive up the river, eventually passing Mesopotamia, a station that was once owned Samuel Butler. Apparently he wrote early drafts of Erewhon there. We drove past the stone church built there for the people working at the station (and the owners who would have lived in a magnificent nearby house). The church had stained glass windows from England that were destroyed in the 2010 earthquake (the one that decimated Christchurch). The whole back wall of the church fell off. Still, an impressive little building surrounded by a graveyard and holly hedges, looks straight out of rural England. In a cloud of dust we arrived at the distant trailhead (I never could have gotten there hitchhiking). We said warm goodbyes, and I was off for a pretty hard day. The first part up Bush Stream which was high (mid-thigh) and running hard, making crossing tense, and there were many of them. There was no trail, just hiking pole marker to pole marker all day (even after getting off the stream) and they were often hard to see, so I had to trust I was heading the correct way. After leaving the stream it was up and over some high saddles, again, with no trail, just hopping from tussock to tussock avoiding the spear grass. This new desert terrain is not very forgiving and difficult to make time on. Got to the Stone Hut by 6:00. One of the walls is of stone, and it is surrounded by a rockslide. Here’s hoping they don’t decide to roll some more tonight.

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. Jan also arrived and he too tented. I left before everyone else got up, and headed down an easy 4 wheel drive track, except for a short climb over a saddle, which led to the Hakatere road. Once again, the need to circumvent the river instead of proceeding to the old point where the trail forded it created a dilemma– hiking an extra 10 km to a point on the road to turn back and hitch to town or just hitching from the road there. A farmer who offered me a ride to Mount Somers Village made that decision easy. From there I luckily caught another ride to Geraldine, the town the TA people recommend as a way to get back up to the other side of the Rangitata River at Mesopotamia which incidentally is where Samuel Butler, the author of Erewhon once lived. Got to Geraldine, a nice small town, resupplied and opted for a motel room–just a little luxury after a difficult couple of days. Classic 1950s motel, the couple who run it are so nice (even took me on a tour of the newer rooms)–just perfect.

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 knee deep and very cold. At least today the sun was shining (when I wasn’t in the shadow of the mountain), but the trail crisis-crossed the river all morning. My toes were numb, and walking felt like I had boards strapped to my feet. Later the trail turned off onto Round Hill Creek which I still had to ford often, but at least it was smaller. Making things even more difficult were the bushes that crowded the bank– they had inch long thorns that made hiking through them impossible. At one time, much of the path probably went through that area, but now it is too overgrown to even try. Still, late morning I sat by the creek, filled my water bottle and just sat there looking at where I was, wondering where I would be a year from now, and completely reveling in the moment. The rest of the morning to early afternoon was spent stumbling along unformed paths, over thick clumps of grass that hid the holes where the streams ran beneath, and there were very happy and healthy clumps of spear grass — what seems a species of yucca that pierces pants and skin. After an up and over a saddle, followed by several scree crossings, I found myself in a completely different landscape (though it still populated by the same difficult plants). The world opened into big flat dessert-like valleys with lakes off in the distance. When I arrived at Manuka Hut, even though it was early, I decided to call it a day. The morning’s pathless hike, coupled with strong wind had pretty well worn me out, and there were no huts or camping opportunities for the next 10 + km. I hope a good night’s sleep will set me up for the big push to the end tomorrow which will also involve trying to hitch a ride down off the mountain and around the next big treacherous river–the Rangitata.

Nov 27 day 88 Glenrock Stream to Comyns Hut 7:15-11:15 16 km

Today I saw the truth of the old adage “red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” I woke at 5:00 and saw out the window a magnificent and ominous red sky accompanied by strong winds. Had coffee with another of the Blue Pub guests–a truck driver regarding the winds with some concern. It was still Thanksgiving back in States, so with the help of some free street-side Spark wifi, I was able to FaceTime briefly with the family who were in NYC. I hated to miss Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, but the trail (and the bus I was to catch to get to the trail) beckoned, and after picking up a meat pie at the Four Square, we were off up a windy and windy road. Had great conversation with the driver who had spent time in the US. At the trailhead the wind was very powerful, and there were some sprinkles, but also much blue sky and the Methven weather had just called for some morning showers, so off I went. The first part was up through some pastures, and I felt at first as if I were back on the North Island except soon the landscape changed dramatically. The steep hills were basically treeless and covered with brown grass. At erosion points, the hills showed their foundations– basically they were huge piles of gravel covered with a thin layer of soil. Still, the trail was well-formed and I made good time the first 10 km to the A-frame hut. By the time I got there, the rain was really starting to come down and I should have gotten out all my heavy weather gear, but after a brief stop I decided to head on to the next hut–Comyns– which was only 6 km away. While in the A-frame I recognized the pack and gear belonging to Jan from the Czech Republic. We had been in a hut together on the north island above Taumaranui and I had been a few days behind him for some weeks now. I didn’t see Jan until after I left and had reached the ridge above the hut. He appeared, walking back and we exchanged waves. In retrospect, I probably should have stayed there as the wind was soon strong enough to make me stagger, and the rain became intense and horizontal. I was only wearing light gear and had some concern about heat loss in those conditions, particularly since I had a number of wet stream crossings. But the trail was good and the wind usually at my back, so I covered the 6 km to Comyns in a little over an hour, arriving very wet and cold. Comyns is an odd old hut, completely made of steel– corrugated steel siding attached to a structural steel frame, all of which rocks and rolls In the wind (even the door is steel). There were plenty of holes for the wind and rain to enter and no firewood for warmth or to dry clothes. Shivering, I peeled off wet layers and put on dry, made soup for lunch, hung my clothes to drip, and crawled into a sleeping bag for warmth, remembering that just yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the sun at the Blue Pub sipping a cold beer, and that back home people were sitting down to a meal that was likely much more than ramen noodles. But no self pity here, I’m still on an amazing trek seeing incredible beauty at every turn. A hard cold wet day is just part of that brutal beauty.

Nov 26 day 87 Hamilton Hut to Methven 6:45-1:30 30 km (then hitched into town)

Today was one of those dilemma days the Te Aroroa sometimes throws at you. From Hamilton Hut, there is a campground at about 15 km distance. The next accommodation is the Lake Coleridge Lodge, an upscale place that really wants early booking (and it is 47 km away). After that initial 15 km, all the walking is on a road, and there is no place to freedom camp as it is all fenced farmland. And to confound matters even more, the reason for going to Lake Coleridge Village to start with is that there is where you are supposed to ford the Rakaia River, except now the TA discourages that route, asking hikers to go around via the road at Rakaia Gorge. My solution to all this was to hike out hard this morning from the hut. It was a brisk and windy day, and the trail down Harper River was a 4 wheel drive track that crossed the river constantly. So I spent the morning with wet feet, wading through some cold snow-melt water. I got to the road late morning and kept pushing until I had done about 30 km. Then a man from Christchurch who works with farmers on livestock ID offered me a ride. It was then I decided to go to Methven instead of Lake Coleridge Village. From here, I have been able to resupply and arrange early morning transportation back to the trail head on the south side of the river. I missed seeing Lake Coleridge village, but ended up with a much more reasoned approach to crossing the Rakaia.

Nov 25 day 86 Cora Lynn Car Park to Hamilton Hut 9:30-3:15 15.5 km

Last night’s Bangers and Mash did not agree with me, so my night was not particularly restful. Started the morning slowly as I wanted to get Eggs Benedict at the cafe before leaving (they are really really good– with us hikers, it’s all about the food). It was still overcast and sprinkling, so I checked at the DoC about how flooded the Harper River would be. They had no real information, but as it turned out, south of Arthur’s Pass the sun came out, so I decided to just hike to Hamilton Hut. If there is no more rain, the river should be down much further tomorrow when I get near the deep part. Fingers crossed. Outside the DoC, I caught a ride with Kelsey, a woman from Walnut Creek California, who was taking a couple day hike and ended up at the same hut. I definitely didn’t have any legs for hiking, so called it early, not trying for any further kms. On the way up the side of Mount Bruce, I could see all across the valley and the Alpine Scenic Train, which really did look, at that distance, like a model train. Definitely will try to sleep well tonight.