Start – Starveall Hut
Finish – Old Man Hut
Daily Distance – 13 km
TA Distance – 1903 km
Today has been the type of day I hoped for when I came to NZ. I mention this as today looked to be
heading for a repeat of yesterday’s hiding from the rain. The weather forecast had predicted a light drizzle
all day, but the rain had other ideas and continued thundering down well into the morning. It eventually
stopped at 09:30 prompting a frenzied rush for the door while there was still time to reach the next hut at
a reasonable daylight hour.
The going was initially a little difficult as residual low cloud was making the marker posts a little difficult
to see. This was shortly after made somewhat more difficult by a recurrence of the heavy rain.
Fortunately, it was just the last breath of the storm as it would have made for a long 5 hours to the next
shelter. Throughout the day the mist and clouds receded and I was treated to my first south island
mountain views. I have been critical up to now about the lack of mountains on the trail, but all negativity
has been forgotten today. It has been worth the wait.
Tonight’s peculiar hut find has been a bag of dog biscuits. Everyone is preemptively rationing their food
against bad weather already, so dinner seemed a lean affair. Also, nobody anticipated just how rugged the
walking would be here and the resultant upsurge in required calories. Another few days and I feel any
