Start – Comyns Hut
Finish – Manuka Hut
Daily Distance – 21 km
TA Distance – 2317 km
I am currently undertaking a porridge making apprenticeship in Rohan. An excellent statement to be able
to make from both a culinary and deeply nerdish point of view!
Even more so than yesterday, today has felt like walking through the set from a film. Well, not so much
this morning, which involved walking up a river gorge and wading from one side to the other 50 or so
times (I stopped counting after 37). This afternoon was lovely though, meandering through tussocky
grassland, framed by mountains on all sides. One small blight on today has been the prevalence of spear
grass and other spiky bushes intruding onto the trail. This morning especially was often a choice between
bitterly cold feet, or scratched up limbs when the official route disappeared into a maze of spikes. Still,
c’est la vie. It made the afternoon seem even better by comparison.
I forgot to write about it last night, but after 3.5 months, I finally became tired of eating lentil curry for
dinner. In a slightly maverick move I am now eating porridge for dinner. I was partly inspired by
watching people eat hearty, steaming bowls for breakfast, but also by having a surplus of oats large
enough to keep a horse content for several days. Last night’s effort was somewhat sub-par owing to me
forgetting that stirring is an essential part of the cooking. A disappointingly charred end result. I am
happy to report that tonight was much more successful and chopped, dried apricots are a delicious
accompaniment.
