Adventurer Nic

We woke to our alarm feeling bleary-eyed and exhausted after the eventful night (see previous activity description). We started walking a little later than usual. The first part of the route was through a prestige golf course which was preparing to host the New Zealand Open. The route then led alongside Lake Hayes after which we dived into a lovely cafe for an unplanned brunch and coffee which was lovely. We needed the treat after the trauma of the night before. We continued the walk over Lower Shotover Bridge and into Frankton where we resupplied at Pac n Save (supermarket). We then walked to Queenstown which was (unfortunately) mostly on tarmac paths beside a busy road due to a lakeside path diversion. We then arrived at our campground.

We had a bit of a lazy start as it was too cold to get out of bed! We could see our breath in the hut and the sleeping bags were just so cosy. We eventually set off at 7.30am and started uphill to Roses Saddle. The climb was straight-forward with no thick foliage to slow us down like yesterday morning. Jørgen (19yr old fellow Te Araroa hiker from Norway) caught us up on the descent and we decided to take the low route together which involved 4km in or close to the River Arrow (the alternative was an overgrown path which sidles above the river with lots of ups and downs which northbound hikers had advised us to avoid if possible). The river route was still long and arduous, crossing or walking in the river over 50 times until we reached Macetown where we ate lunch hungrily and dried our feet out. On the next section we again had a choice between a low route and a high route. We picked the high route and went over Big Hill saddle so we'd get a view descending into Arrowtown. James enjoyed talking to Jørgen about football (particularly Norwegian footballers), I think he's missed about 7 episodes of Match of the Day which he's pining for 🤣 When we reached the outskirts of Arrowtown we said goodbye to Jørgen and headed straight for an Italian restaurant. We sat outside and ate a margarita pizza, gnocchi with ragu and oil, garlic and chilli spaghetti with prawns. I washed it down with an Amaro Montenegro digestivo. It was hands down the best Italian meal I've ever had outside of Italy. We then walked to the campsite which was full but they squeezed us in thankfully. At 2.30am we woke from a deep sleep to a disturbance, a rarity in New Zealand where everyone seems to quieten down for the night by 9pm. A paranoid (very) drunk man was trying to find 'someone to kill' over his missing mobile phone. The Police were called, he was promptly whisked away and the quiet was restored once more. I didn't settle well after that though!

Today involved walking over three alpine passes (with steep ascents and descents) which reminded me the most of some of my multi-Munro bagging adventures. The first ascent featured some overgrown trails which held a lot of moisture from rain the night before so we were soaking wet by the time we reached the saddle (which was long before the sun reached us over the neighbouring mountain). After resting a while on the saddle we enjoyed a gorgeous descent down a spur into the valley below where we made it to Highland Creek Hut for lunch. The second pass involved a hike up a spur and then a descent down to a small old beech forest. We asked a Brisbane hiker, "Are you doing the TA?" and he said "No it's just a practical way to get to Queenstown" which we thought was quite amusing! The third pass involved ascending a fairly recent landslip and then dropping down to a creek crossing over stepping stones followed by a gentle incline to Roses Hut. We were 2 of 8 people who stayed in the hut and we had some good chats with other Te Araroa walkers before retiring to our top bunk beds. During the night I woke to the sound of possums hissing on the decking of the hut.

We walked from our campsite to the Parkrun start line and ran the 5k (see separate activity). After a short rest we started the main day of walking (starting with the same 2.5km we'd done twice already on the out and back of the 5k race haha!). It was a nice undulating path with rugged lakeside views featuring a couple of white sandy beaches with driftwood. We reached Glendhu Bay Campground, a huge campsite and bought an icecream and refreshments as this would be the last shop or cafe we'd see until Arrowtown. We then walked up a road section for around 3km before starting on the trail beside the Fern Burn which was through meadow and farmland to begin with, followed by a beech forest and then a tussocky sidle path onto a flatter area where Fern Burn Hut sits. There were already 5 tents pitched outside the hut so we knew it'd be full but more people continued to arrive after us, including a woman with a pet duck (random!) and a couple of families with children. We ate cous cous, gravy, salami, peas and shallots for dinner, a new idea inspired by our Czech trail friends and it was a fab change in our trail food routine. Our dessert was Hokey Pokey Crunch Whittakers milk chocolate (the best).

A brief interlude in our Te Araroa journey!

We left our Airbnb after a handful of video calls back to the UK with family. We stopped at the shop to pick up some supplies for lunch and started on the Hawea River Track towards Wanaka. The path was busy with cyclists and hikers enjoying their time off on the NZ public holiday. We stopped in Albert Town for an icecream and a cold drink before continuing beside the Clutha River. Soon we found ourselves walking beside Lake Wanaka. We had an obligatory dip (much needed in the hot sun) and made it to our campsite in Wanaka in reasonable time. A bit of a connecting day with not much ascent but a very pleasant day on the trail none the less 😃

We woke naturally to the sounds of our fellow hikers (a Czech couple and our Spanish friend) getting ready for the day and we all had a relaxed breakfast together before making our way steeply down to Lake Hawea. The route descended a long spur at first (where there were awesome photo opportunities along the way) and then down tightly zig-zagging grassy paths and along the lakeshore on a gravel cycleway. James and I swam in Lake Hawea as soon as we got down to it (which was cold but refreshing!) We then walked to the local cafe for brunch and a nice coffee. After this we went to the supermarket and got a few bits before checking into our Airbnb for some R&R. We will continue on to Wanaka tomorrow.

We woke up in Top Timaru Hut to a 5.30am alarm (early starts are common here, especially as everyone is usually asleep in the huts by 8.30pm after exhausting days on the trail). James and I set off walking at dawn (around 6.30am) and chose the high route of two available - the other involved walking down the riverbed which was inadvisable after rain the day before as the water in the river is grey and opaque so you can't see where you're putting your feet. The fear of god was put into us by the signage/trail notes for this section because a woman fell from the trail last year and sadly died. It involved walking on a narrow sidling path, sometimes in exposed positions above the river, but we were never out of our comfort zones thankfully. We respect the trails/weather here and didn't hike this section yesterday in the rain due to the warnings so stayed in the hut for two nights to allow the rain to pass. We then had to cross the river around ten times before heading steeply uphill to Stodys Hut where we had lunch. As we approached the hut we met two hunters, one of which had a whole stag's head attached to the back of his pack, antlers and all! We caught up with our Czech and Spanish trailmates before setting off on the next section (the ascent of the magnificent Breast Hill) which offered epic views down to Lake Hawea and over to Mount Aspiring. We laid up there for a while before heading down to the saddle and on to Pakituhi Hut where we wolfed down our dinner. The hut had a lovely veranda to sit on and eat/chat, as well as a good sized dining area. Our Czech and Spanish friends made it to the same hut and we had a great natter in the evening. This was one of my strongest trail days. Despite the height gain I was loving every moment and in such a great mood, enjoying New Zealand backcountry tramping at its best!

With bad weather incoming later in the day we set an alarm for 5am and packed our tent away just before sunrise. After the early start we reached Birchwood Road in good time, despite not having a clear trail to follow up and atop the bluff in the low light. The trail then led us through meadows and farmland to join a bulldozed track which would lead all the way up and over the pass to our destination. We met a handful of northbounders on the way but nowhere near as many as yesterday. We took a pause at Tin Hut (it was too early for lunch but we ate a little anyway) and progressed up the track swiftly, thankful that the rain was holding off. We reached Martha saddle (the highest point of the whole section 1,680m) just before the very light drizzle began and got a view, yippee! We descended the other side on a scree track which we made good progress on. It zig-zagged into the valley and we soon reached Top Timaru Hut (a 6-bed hut where we were miraculously the only occupants). We ate, stretched and reminisced before planning the up coming section from Wanaka to Queenstown and pondered whether to take a rest day tomorrow to completely avoid walking in rain. (UPDATE - We decided to take the rest day which I really enjoyed. A full day resting in a backcountry hut with no signal - bliss! We would double up on the next section which should be far more appealing in good weather.)

We took our tent down at Lake Ohau Lodge and ate breakfast, getting away just after 7am. We walked along the road briefly to reach trailhead and started uphill from here (it was near enough a 1,000m climb to the first of three main saddles/hills on this epic section). There were some lovely well-maintained woodland paths for half of the ascent so it didn't feel too hard. After this, the ground became somewhat tussock-y and wet but we managed to keep dry feet up to the saddle. Multiple skinks scurried/slithered out of our way as we walked along the damp ground. I was pleased that my bout of tendinitis appears to be well under control and giving me no discomfort. At the saddle I ate a hard boiled egg, teriyaki beef jerky and pretzels for lunch (a supreme combo). The descent was a bit rough in places (tussock/scree) but it was mostly a steady gradient with flat meadow walking to finish (including a short nav error which resulted with us falling into a knee-high swampy bog, oops!). We were both really tired towards end of day and there was a stiff wind as we approached and crossed Te Araroa South Island's widest river crossing (the Ahuriri River). Thankfully, after a few days of dry weather it was only knee-high. We pitched our tent close to the river, ate dinner and slept like hibernating bears! 💤