Maps

Here is the map:

https://onthegomap.com/s/c7t8ccm8

Summary

Saturday 18th February

I got up, packed up, and then headed to the kitchen where I met Rob and Reid for breakfast. Simple things are so delicious nowadays, such as Weet-bix and fresh milk. Luxury. The TA has definitely made me appreciate the simple things more for sure. I also had some English muffins, toasted with butter and marmite. A slice of heaven, the golden butter was practically dripping off. Learnt from Grannie, more butter the better.

Rob had a tub of ice cream that needed finishing as well so we sat at a picnic table and, naturally, finished it. It was rocky road which is different here than in the UK I swear. NZ rocky road has strawberries in it! I also chatted with a bunch of friends for the course of the morning. May have agreed to run the 29km, four Munro race called the Ring of Steall in September. May have to do some serious training for that. That’ll be real awesome if we do that!

Anyways, enough of food and friends and stuff. We got going late-ish and headed out of Wānaka. So long and thanks for all the fish, you were great Wānaka. I would live there for sure for a small amount of time. Had a great vibe to it. It was also very touristy, though that may have been the triathlon festival enforcing the busy nature of it. The path out of Wānaka was once again very dusty and filled with people biking around. We trotted along the side of Lake Wānaka and round the little headlands, our backs and legs groaning from the effort of walking after a zero day. We stopped at one white pebble beach for some coffee and Rob and Reid both went swimming, emerging from the water like James Bond in Casino Royale.

When we entered Glendhu Bothy Bay, it was once again touristy as anything I’ve ever seen. The holiday park was stuffed chock-a-block full of caravans and large family palace tents and people were jet skiing, paragliding, and kids shrieked from boats out on the calm water. Not my scene at all. The triathlon festival was also being run here and there were heaps of cones, marshals, tape and cheering.

Therefore, after a spot of lunch, we left Glendhu behind us and pushed on up the Fern Burn (once again, Scottish names), following the track alongside it. Usual routine resumed, we listened to some music and took in the surrounding beauty, soaking in the hot sun and the blue sky. It was easy walking and quite fun, although as we got closer to the hut I definitely got suddenly more tired. May have been because we were going uphill. Who knows?

Fern Burn Hut was stacked full of people! Heaps! And they kept coming. Pierre and Armound both arrived which was cool for sure. Maybe close to twenty people were there total? Reid and I got bunks in the hut since we had arrived early enough, but Rob pitched up outside. He was not feeling so good, specifically his feet, so he was planning to leave a little later than us the next day and take it easy through this next section. Slightly concerning!

A small paddle, a bit of frisbee and chatting around and meeting new people filled the day before dinner. By the by, my tea after dinner was good old Yorkshire tea! I had found some in the free box in the holiday park! Winning.

Sunday 19th February

OK, my mind is once again changed about huts, I slept really well. What’s going on here? Everyone kinda gets up at the same time in a hut so we got up with them all. I was packed up in no time (no tent) and sat around, relaxing in the morning as everyone left. The sunrise was pretty special, by the by. Peachy, turning into a quiet explosion of colour. We had a (relatively) chill day ahead of us. Only, like, 17km over hills or something. How hard can that be?

Rob was not feeling it today, his feet were sore and he was worried that keeping up with us may effect them badly. Therefore, he told us to go on and he’d make his way slowly behind us. Kinda sad, I want to finish with both Rob and Reid, it would be a shame not to after having done the rest of the TA with them both, pretty much!

Reid and I made our way up towards the saddle, a cheeky 500m climb to get the heart going. The tracks were well nice as well, very well maintained and certain. The weather reflected our mood though, morose and downcast (once the sun hid itself behind some clouds) since there was no Rob. We didn’t talk much and when we did, we hoped Rob would be OK and we’d see him again. It was all very uncertain since we didn’t know how bad his feet were feeling and how much that would hinder him… We briefly got signal and made an impromptu stop, a makeshift internet café along the track. Check the news, send some messages, get going again. We followed the path up and up until we got to the saddle and we forgot our troubles for a moment. The view was stunning, it had opened up and we could see all of Knuckle Peak with all it’s valleys and ravines stretching down from the summit. Probably some sick ski and snowboarding routes in there. I learnt to ski ages ago and really quite fancy skiing again. Or maybe learning to snowboard. Hmmm…

Stijn (pronounced “Stan”) was at the top making himself a coffee with the view and so we joined him and had a good natter over some biscuits and our own hot drinks, before we continued on our way on a knee-jarring descent down to Highland Creek Hut. I cannot stress just how busted our knees were feeling when we finally pulled up to the hut. Another brief drink stop (as you can see, we were in no rush whatsoever) and then we continued on our way.

Up and up again, boosted by caffeine and sugar and we made it to the top, sweating and dirty to find another view greeting us and a lunch stop. Shania something-or-other, a singer, owned all this land and we could see some nice houses and properties down the bottom which probably belonged to her. Or so the rumours go. This was, like, third or fourth hand knowledge.

Another knee-crunching descent followed, and the another lung busting ascent. I tended to fall down the hills faster than Reid (because heavier things fall faster, right Galileo?…) but he shot up the hills much faster than me (just Physics innit?). The top was a windy, gusty ridge that we followed down to the very bottom. Tonnes of skinks (what’s the difference between a skink/newt/lizard?) by the way. More than usual, I swear. I’d be walking along, glancing at the ground, and I would keep seeing the slithering motions of all the skinks twisting away and off the path as I kept coming. Storm clouds loomed overhead, watching us but not quite deciding to burst and drench us.

We got to Roses Hut and found ourselves some beds. Nice. We played some cards (Up and Down the River. Or is it Down and Up hmmm) with Zoe, Armound and Pauline before eating dinner. There was a moment of excitement though! What’s the coming over the hill, is it a monster hiker? Indeed, it was, but alas no Rob, just René, a French guy who had come all the way from Wānaka. Beast! Kinda sad though, we were hoping Rob would make it today.

We headed to bed after some Milo and biscuits, dreaming of when we’d next see Roberto. Downcast mood for sure.

Monday 20th February

Well, Reid and I were up and out of the hut last of everyone, but we slept well at least. Roses was at the bottom of a steeeep climb and so that got the muscles going quickly and before long, we were awake and warm, although physically tired already! Knees still ached from the previous day. It was a good sunrise we saw, looking over Roses Hut and the valley beyond. It got overcast and cloudy real quick though.

So much so that when we got to the top, the saddle was in a cloud! So clearly, the bestest of views. Up and over the saddle and then we started descending (emerging from the cloud) through tussock grass, sharp, rocky terrain underfoot all the way down to the Arrow River. There was an option here, we could go the high route over all sorts of mountains and hills and cliffs and keep our feet dry. Or, we could do the low route which was supposedly faster, following the Arrow River downstream. Since there hadn’t been much rain, we took the low route walking through that rocky river bed, the water making our feet and ankles freeze.

But it was refreshing, promise! We even stopped and climbed a large boulder in the middle of the river to have a cup of tea in the sun. We continued on, splish splashing through the numbingly cold stream. Like seriously, after walking down that river for a while, we couldn’t feel our feet! My new shoes were doing their job though, grippy.

The route eventually led out onto a 4WD track and we started motoring along that, feet squelching to begin with and then eventually drying out. We had lunch in some shade (where I pulled out 8 splinters in my palm. I may have fallen earlier) before we got to Macetown, an abandoned gold mining town. That was funky. Serious wild west vibes, except set in NZ. Plus the houses weren’t wooden but, like, tin shacks or built from stone. DOC had rebuilt a couple of the houses as a tourist attraction.

Passing through town, we continued on along the dusty, dirty 4WD track. My headphones were truly broken so I couldn’t listen to any music, which is a blessing and curse I suppose, in it’s own way. Following the track, we got to the bottom of Big Hill. Yes, that’s it’s name, Big Hill. Very obvious name, I love it. I want to know how they came up with that very specific name, hmmmmm…

The climb to Big Hill saddle wasn’t as bad as I was expecting though. Maybe it’s because I had absolutely no food left in my bag, so it was super light. Or maybe my knees were so knackered I couldn’t feel them at all anymore. At the top, we got some signal and were reconnected to the real world again. I got going before long though. A long long descent was ahead of us and we followed the gentle track all the way down to Arrowtown. It got progressively hotter as we got closer to town, the sun letting itself be known.

Walking into Arrowtown, we were once again in the depths of society. Therefore, we fled to the ice cream shop and treated ourselves. Two scoops, one being mascarpone and summer fruits, the other being coffee cream. It was good. Met Zoe and Emma there too. They had been just ahead of us all day I believe, we could always just about see them when we got a good view.

We then bought a bottle of wine as a gift since we were being picked up in Arrowtown by Kristine who we had last seen in Pipiriki on the Whanganui River and who we had spent those three nights locked down with in Mangawaiiti. She took us to her and Bernard’s place, a house called Nerenok – Danish for “Near Enough”.

Oh what an evening. I cannot express my gratitude to them enough. We were shown around their lovely house and shown their rewilding project which they were doing themselves. They were rewilding their garden, bringing it back to just being native plants only. We had nibbles and then dinner was a Feast. A Feast, with a capital F! Ottolenghi food, and all vegan. Superb. Honestly ate so much that sitting down was uncomfortable! I kept getting up and walking around. And all so delicious. Ugh, so goood!

We shared our visit with Marc and Vince, a Swiss couple of guys who had started at Cape Reinga with Kristine and Bernard (who had only walked the North Island, saving the South Island for next year). Super cool guys, once again persuaded to apply for jobs and PhDs in Switzerland. I fell asleep in a double bed that night. Zzzzz

Tuesday 21st February

Kristine and Bernard were off to the airport (aeroport?) to head to Auckland and so we were left to lock up. Amazing trust in us. They went and dropped Marc and Vince off on the trail whilst we took our time in the morning, packing slowly and eating heaps of food. I played their aged piano (a baby grand Challen) in the empty house, cream blinds drawn down with an Italian vibe, the sunlight creating stripes of light on their modest coloured walls. Honestly, probably will never do that again, that was hauntingly beautiful and fun.

Anyways, we got going after making sure we had cleaned and fixed everything up. Out the gate, turn right and walk back to the TA route from which we followed into Frankton. Across the old Shotover Bridge and along the river. We even bumped back into Marc and Vince which was funny.

Reid has been debating about buying a new pack for the last couple weeks. He wants something permanent (Zpacks are a glorified plastic bag and don’t last past about 5000km) and Kiwi made. When we were in Frankton, we rounded a corner and saw, serendipitously, a Cactus Outdoor Shop – the exact brand and pack that he was looking at buying! Well, we just had to go in. The lady was super kind, answering questions and even letting Reid pack the new backpack to see if it all his gear fit and how it felt. Well, it did fit. Should he buy it then and there? Torn, we went and ate pizza whilst he phoned his girlfriend to chat it over.

Decision made, and with Pierre coming along for the ride because he found it amusing, we went in and witnessed Reid buy a new pack! How fun. That was hilarious. He mailed his old pack back home and then we made our way into Queenstown proper and to where we were staying. We actually caught the bus from Frankton since it was starting to look like rain. Spit spat spotting of rain. On the bus, we met Aussie Zoe who I had last seen at Upper Travers Hut in the Nelson Lakes and who had just finished! Amazing! Congratulation to her, she was now off to explore some more of NZ with her partner who had flown out from Aussie to join her.

Rob had caught the bus from Arrowtown (where he had walked into today) and we were really excited to see him. Therefore, when we got to our camp ground (with three other Hillebergs!!) we had a fun, lovely reunion by doing some laundry. Classic. But that rain that had been spitting down for the entire afternoon, yeah, it finally broke. It belted down. So so hard. We hid in our tents for a bit until it eased up, turning from a constant pounding to the occasional drop. We made our jolly way into town again for food and a resupply. Naturally, I went in flip flops and they broke oh so many times en route to the burger place and the supermarket. I may as well have walked barefoot!

One burger later, and soaked again (because you know, it rained again), we got back to the campsite and dived into our tents and bed. It started pouring down. Gonna be a fun night!…

New People

• Emma: I think I had briefly met her before on the Timber Trail… From the UK but never been to Scotland. Quit her job to travel for yonks. Gert lush.
• Zoe: Kiwi lady who has been to Scotland. Doing the TA for charity and has to do challenges set by her friends along the way. She completed one at Fern Burn, take a selfie with ten other people in a hut.
• Astrid and Niels: Belgian couple who we had seen at Pakituhi Hut previously.
• Dave and Amy: British couple going NoBo. Dave asked me where I had gotten Yorkshire tea from
• Sonja: German lady who is an art teacher who gets going early in the day and eats dinner at 17:00. Hates Radix meals
• Athena: Australian lady who walks with Sonja.
• Marc and Vince: Couple of Swiss dudes who started at Cape Reinga with Kristine and Bernard.
• Max and Pauline: German couple with a Rejka tent. Tan lines for days.
• Stijn: Belgian guy who looks like Sebastian Stan and who reads a whole bunch. Likes coffee.
• René: French guy who showed up late and we thought he was Rob. Alas, no. Big beard.

Status

• Physical: 9/10 – feeling kinda tired
• Mental: 9/10 – a little mentally fatigued
• Distance covered: 2700km
• Most memorable moment: Playing cards together at Roses Hut. Or coffee/tea with Stijn at Jack Hall’s Saddle. Or the entire time at Kristine and Bernard’s.
• Toughest moment: Last up and over to Roses.
• Burnt-o-meter: 3/10
• Oatly bars: 103
• Jars of peanut butter finished: 17
• Falls: 23
• Song suggestion: Scherzo No.2 Op. 31, Chopin

What’s Next?

After Queenstown, we are hopping on a shuttle to the beginning of the Routeburn Great Walk which we will aim to do in one day. From there, we’ll go down and rejoin the TA and motor on through the Mavora Lakes before hitching out to Te Anau for a couple days of rest.