Start – John Tait Hut
Finish – Blue Lake Hut
Daily Distance – 22 km
TA Distance – 2025 km
A day of heroic deeds, mainly in the field of pack weight reduction through deplorable gluttony. It is
actually quite surprising how much difference the reduction of a few hundred grams can make. My bag
has gone from feeling crushingly heavy to merely at the upper end of acceptable. As such, I have
managed to cover far more distance than I believed to be realistic when the day began. Not that you
would know it from having only covered 22km, but I’m coming to realise that big distances are much
harder to achieve down here than on the North island. Nevertheless, by having a long day today I have put
myself in a position to cross Waiau pass tomorrow before rain is forecast to arrive later in the week. The
highlight of another lovely day of walking was reaching the top of Travers saddle (1787m). The climb up
was tough, but trying to avoid the scores of alpine grasshoppers bounding about kept things interesting.
One particularly inquisitive fellow landed on my sunglasses, nearly leading to a hilarious obituary when I
tripped over my hiking pole in surprise.
Having arrived at Blue Lake hut quite late I decided to camp for the first time in weeks. Huts are great for
convenience and having a roof can be nice, but sometimes it’s nice to have your own space. Giant 28
person huts can feel particularly overwhelming at the end of a long day in the wilderness. Instead I spent
a pleasant few hours quietly sharing travel stories with Oren from Edinburgh/NZ who was camped next to
me. I had seen his name in the hut books over the last few weeks, so it was nice to put a face to the name
at last. Time for an early night though. I’m tired and tomorrow is shaping up to be another hard day.
Goodnight!
