Saturday 30th Jan - Chilled out day today. Laundry, catching up on the blogging, sorting out accomodation and food for further along the trail and checking out options and booking huts for the Stewart Island leg of the trip. There were a couple of events on around Hamner so lots of people in town. Also a random hen and separate stag do by the looks of it. More people than I have seen in a long time anyway! Was nice to not have to be anywhere today and enjoy the downtime and more soaking in the hot pools of course!!
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Friday 29th Jan - The 100 day milestone mark today and nearly getting to the 2000km mark too. Not long now. To add to the mix the sun and blue sky came out for the first time since Monday too so shaped up to be a cracker day.
Headed out and finished off the final section of the St James Walkway through to the Boyle Outdoor Education Centre. Was a strange feeling having the mountain range behind me. It was a mixture of satisfaction that the section of trail had gone the best it could have and also a slight disbelief that I had actually done it. Picked up a parcel of food I had posted to myself when arriving at the Outdoor Education Centre and found out there were no more shuttles going out Hamner Springs way that day so I needed to hitch a lift. The plan was to go out to Hamner Springs for a few days break and then get a lift back to the Outdoor Education centre to continue on the trail Sunday/Monday. Out on the highway, it only took 5 mins and I got a lift to the turnoff then another lift from there to inner Hamner. Fantastic. Not bad for only the second and third time of ever hitching in my life. (The first time was as a university student and another whole story altogether). Checked into the Top 10 holiday park and got a cabin. Shower, food and wine followed up with a soak in the thermal pools.... Magnificent. Thursday 28th Jan - Weather not inspiring at 7am so went back to bed after the sprint out to the loo. Woke up again at 9am after a very deep sleep and slowly started the day. The Swiss Shepherd wasn't in a rush either so we both waited till the rain cleared about 11am and we shuffled off in our opposite directions. Got to Boyle Flat Hut and only one other guy there who had spent the day there hanging out due to the drizzly weather conditions. When you have the hut to yourself it is very appealing. Got to bed early and had the best sleep ever.
Wednesday 27th Jan - Packed up and carried on towards Ann Hut. Feeling really tired today. Looking forward to getting to the hut and getting some decent sleep. Weather still drizzly and low cloud. Am assuming I am the last person to have crossed the pass this week as not another sole around. I wonder how many people are backed up in the huts up to Blue Lake Hut.
Lots of river and stream crossings today (all low you will be happy to read Dad). Apart from these the walking was mainly flat and boring. Got to Ann Hut in the afternoon and there was one other person there but looked like they were sleeping as the room door was closed. I went and had a sleep in the other room and felt much better in the early evening for it. Was only two of us in the huge 16+ bunk hut. The other woman was a North bound Te Araroa walker so we swapped notes and advice on what was ahead for each others travels in the opposite direction. The woman was a shepherd from Switzerland. This is what I love about the trail. Meeting such interesting people and learning about their backgrounds. I would never have crossed paths with a woman shepherd from Switzerland in my usual day to day Wellington life. Tuesday 26th Jan - Awoke to gentle rain on the tent. Can not believe that I scored that last clear day for the pass yesterday. Such a relief and comfort to have that behind me and now the weather can do what it wants as far as I am concerned. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
The sun came out briefy so I packed up around lunchtime and left my little camping haven. Some rock sidling around the river had me walking cautiously again through to Caroline Bivy where I stopped for afternoon tea and then moved on towards the St James Walkway. The weather was still drizzly and then moved to light rain. The track opened up into flat open grass and started following a four wheel drive track so made for very easy and quick walking. Was amazing just walking without having to concentrate on good footing placements. I felt like I was flying through the grass. Started getting late so camped down in one of the open grassed sections before the rain came through again. Monday 25th Jan - Today is the day and looking out the window I could see the clear mountain tops so looking clear for the Waiau Pass Crossing. The two other Te Araroa walkers headed off individually when ready and I was not far behind. The other guy in the hut was only doing the Lake Constance loop up and back so was not in a rush out the door. This is also my Plan B if the weather changes later in the day.
I made my way out and up to start the climb around Lake Constance. During this time the view back to the Blue Lake was pretty but not like the jaw dropping beauty of Lake Constance. I now understand where the saying 'heaven on earth' comes from. Today I saw heaven on earth. The tranquility and beauty just stopped me in my tracks to look and absorb. The water reflected the surrounding mountains so was sometimes hard to tell what was water and what was mountain. After a steep descent and sidling around the lake it was onto the next section of walking to the actual Waiau Pass and up a steep scree slope. During this time the view of Lake Constance changes again and looks more like what I thought the Blue Lake was going to be. The weather just got better and better during the day - near perfect conditions. When I got to the top of the pass at 1870m there was only a slight breeze. Then it was a slow descent, picking my way through the best path down and finding the right footing and hand placements plus a bit of bum shuffling. Did not need to take my pack off and I felt confident and strong going down as the weather allowed thinking time and the rocks were all dry as a bone for good gripping. Yay!!!!! Got to the bottom very chuffed and excited. The only bummer about doing it on your own is there is no one to share the celebrations with and also no cell phone coverage through any of that section so could not call and tell anyone the news too. Made my way to the Waiau Forks informal camp spot that was just too inviting to walk past. Set up my tent and sat by the river for a bit then lit the campfire and had a feast of cheese, sardines and tuna on crackers to celebrate a sucessful crossing of the pass. Today was a most excellent day. Sunday 24th Jan - Not in a rush today as only going as far as the Blue Lake hut which is about 3 hours walk. The Wellington group that arrived late last night were not in a hurry to leave either as still tired from the previous night. I said my farewells and left them to it.
Got to Blue Lake Hut and went down to check out the water. Looked more vibrant green than blue so perhaps it will look different when climbing up to the pass. Went back to the hut and had an afternoon nap. Lovely and quiet. Felt great after a wee sleep. In the early evening 3 others arrived at various stages. One brought a good weather report through ftom the DOC warden who said the weather was going to push back one more day and Monday was looking good for the Waiau Pass now. Eek!!! Looks like it is all on for tomorrow after all. Saturday 23rd Jan - One of the guys in the hut was not a Te Araroa walker but had done alot of tramping in the region and was quite opinionated about the degree of difficulty of the Waiau Pass. He said it took him four separate attempts over the years to get a sucessful crossing and one section he had to take his pack off. Mmmmm. starting to cr@p myself about the approaching challenge in the days ahead. Moved on to the next hut - Upper Travers Hut and kept to my mantra of not letting other people's fears become my own. Music from Billy Joel on the ipod also helped. When I got to the hut the weather seemed to be improving with even the sun appearing so it was clear enough to do the Travers Saddle that goes around Mt Travers. Had a lunch stop and kept moving to catch the good weather window. Just before I was nearly at the top of the saddle I met up with the DOC ranger who circles around the huts and provides updated weather reports too. He also had his parents with him on this stretch as they were holidayng in the area. He confirmed the weather was going to turn on Monday so the best day to cross the Waiau pass was tomorrow. Bummer I am only going to get to Blue Lake Hut tomorrow. Just as well I have a stack of food and I can eat my way through the next few days.
Carried on with the climb to the top of Travers Saddle and it was absolutely stunning. Tiny bits of snow here and there and a great day to have got up and over. Also met some North bound TeAraroa Walkers who were great to share current information about the Pass. They and crossed on their own separately and did not need to take their packs off. They said just to take it slow and steady- great that is sounding more positive. It was a steep descent down to West Sabine Hut so took my time and happy to have got myself a day ahead of the planned schedule for this section. The Hut was a bit busier but no other Te Araroa walkers, all other folk out and about enjoying the Nelson Lake Region. One woman was there as a guide for another couple and she had walked Te Araroa a few years ago. Was great to ask her about the upcoming crossing too. Mmmmm. She had to take her pack off for sections of the crossing and it toppled over and smashed her GPS... back to reciting my mantra...... Later that evening a group arrived after 10pm in the dark when we were all sleeping/trying to sleep. Found out later they had come through from Wellington for the long weekend. Friday 22nd Jan - Checked in with the DOC site and looks like bad weather kicking in Mon/Tues so looks like I will make my way as far as I can and wait out bad weather until I can cross the Waiau Pass. Headed around the Lake to the first hut - Lakehead Hut for lunch. Beautiful easy walking track but back to a heavy pack laiden with food again. Met a couple of other Te Araroa walkers along the way too who were also heading to John Tait Hut. There is a change in landscape from the Richmond ranges to the Nelson Lakes region and the views including lakes as well as rivers is very pretty. Heading on further to John Tait Hut the other noticeable change is the size of the huts. They are huge and are around 16 to 20 bunks. Some with separate dorm room style setup. Looking at the hut books the bulk groups of people have moved through already with it being the NZ school holidays. We only had 6 in the hut tonight.
Thursday 21st Jan - Very relaxing day today of eating, catching up on blogging and general resting. Caught up with some of the walkers who had just come out of the Ranges and swapped stories as well as sorted the final food items for the Waiau Pass track that I'm starting tomorrow.
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