Playtime’s over
Picton to St. Arnaud
(I’m in Hanmer Springs by now. Thought I'd get a signal at some point on the last stretch but no luck)
Mile 1207 / KM 1943
Postcast of the day: 'Conan O'Brian Needs A Friend'. The one with Michelle Obama is great.
Song stuck in my head: 'Nite Vision' by Mean Jeans. I am obsessed with this song.
I miss: Food. Any kind of food. I am starving. And a long hot bath and a laundry machine. It's been 10 days since I last had a shower and washed my clothes. I feel filthier than I've ever felt before.
It was a beautiful hot day but I decided to sit in the cabin of the water taxi because I was still not feeling 100%. I was listening to music looking at the picturesque islands we were passing by when I saw something jump out of the water. "Dolphins!" I yelled and ran on deck. They were all around our boat and you could hear them communicating with one another which was magical. They kept following us for quite a while as we got closer to the northern tip of the South Island. The Cook monument there marks the beginning of the Queen Charlotte Track which is a super easy and beautiful mountain bike trail with lots of day hikers and lodges and all kinds of fancy things. Like so many times before, we looked like a bunch of overequipped explorers with our ultralight geek gear. You'd probably be fine without a PLB on that track is what I'm saying. I had a bit of a rough night becuause my sleeping mat had a leak and the repair sticker I had with me was too old and not sticky enough to stop it from deflating. It's amazing what a difference a bit of air underneath you can do. I was shivering all night wearing every piece of clothing I had with me. Didn't sleep-in that morning and neither did the others so we knocked out the Queen Charlotte Track in 2.5 instead of 4 days. Got the mat fixed and all is good again.
We resupplied in Havelock (the green mussel capital of New Zealand) for the next 6-8 day section. 6 days of food is fucking heavy, let me tell you that much, plus you always want to bring one or two extra days worth of food, just in case of bad weather. The forecast looked great and I had just eaten lunch, so I didn't buy enough food as I would find out later. I brought 6.5ish days. I should have known better, but I just didn't want to carry the extra weight! Note to myself: No more lunch before resupplying.
We hitched out of town and hiked up a dirt road in the afternoon heat for about 10k, when we found a beautiful spot by a wide river. We all got undressed and jumped into the cold water only to run right back to our pile of clothes because we were attacked by a gazillion sand flies. They ruin everything! I hate them. They go straight for the ankles and their bites keep itching for days and I just can't stop scratching. I lost my insect repellent somewhere and hadn't replaced it. Thought it was too heavy to carry out. Well... think again. Second note to myself: Get repellent. The 6 of us had dinner in our tents that night. Behind the mesh, away from the flies.
It was super early when I started hiking the next day and that day, the real adventure begun.
I have said things about the TA that I would like to take back. So far the South is everything I had hoped for. The beauty of the Richmond Ranges is absolutely mind blowing. Did some of the toughest hiking I’ve ever done up there. There are literally stretches where most of the trail consisted of grade 3&4 tracks which is pretty intense. The mountains here aren't high like the ones we have back at home in Switzerland, they drop down to sea level and go right back up 1900 in within a couple of kilometers. They can be insanely steep and slow going. 1km per hour and stuff like that. Pretty crazy.
There's one day in particular I'll never forget. All 6 of us had pushed to 'Slaty Hut' and I was exhausted when I got there. My legs were jello. The hut was already full with other hikers and I snatched one of the last free beds for the night. Everyone was talking about the weather and the rain which was supposed to start at around noon the next day. 'Slaty Hut' is the second last hut before Mt. Rintoul, and that climb up to the summit is supposed to be the most difficult and technical bit of the entire Te Araroa. Needless to say you do not want to attempt getting over it in bad weather conditions.
When I woke up the next day all I could hear was the wind houling outside, and I was sure we'd have to wait out the weather. In my mind I started going through my food bag and I realised how low on food I already was, so therefore I wasn't keen on waiting around an extra day or two. The wind was blowing hard, but the sun was out and the sky was clear. Our little group had a meeting and we all decided we'd make a run for it. All the other hikers at the hut decided to stay. As soon as we made the decision I got super excited. Our window was small. It was 6am and we had to get over Little Mt. Rintoul and Mt. Rintoul Summit by lunch time. The first bit aproaching the two peaks was gorgeous but as soon as we started climbing up little Mt. Rinoul the fog started rolling in. We could barely see from pole to pole and the shale rock under our feet made for a difficult climb. We got over the first peak alright but going down to the saddle was almost harder than going up. The rocks were loose and we kept sliding down and I landed on my bum several times. It was great though (not the bum part) and it felt amazing when we reached the big peak right on time. Didn't see anything up there but that didn't mater. We made it! An hour and a steep descend later we reached Mt. Rintoul Hut where we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games, waiting out the rain and eating nutella with spoons.
These past 10 days were tough on my body. My legs are tired and my knees have started making a weird clicking noise when I walk without my pack on. Probably not a good sign, but unless it gets worse I am going to ignore it. Definitely not going to google this. On avarage we climb around 1500m every day which isn't much, but if you do it back to back for weeks at a time it will wear your body down. I am amazed how capable it is every time I do these things though. Hiking has made me love my body, and I am so much more aware of what it can and what it can't do than I was before. With the knees though, not sure how much more they can do... I'll just be the girl with the klicking knees for the rest of my life. You'll hear me before you see me.
Also, in other news, I got a new trail name! It's 'Brownie', because I look like the little round kid from the movie UP when I wear my desert shirt and my backpack.
Sick Dom on the ferry.
My shoes are falling apart. Had to stitch them up with dental floss (mint) to make them last another week until I get a new pair. Can’t wait!
Found this note in the orange hut and it made me cry. Thought it was so beautifully written.
