Start – Stodys Hut
Finish – Lake Hawea
Daily Distance – 21 km
TA Distance – 2594 km
Bluff Distance – 446 km
Today has been a real highlight day. 4 lunches in 1 day! A new trip record!
I jest of course. Not about the number of lunches, because sometimes I even impress myself, but today’s
standout moment was reaching the summit of Breast hill and looking down onto lake Hawea some 1200m
below. It was described as a trail highlight and lived up to its billing. I feel very fortunate that the high
wind and rain of yesterday evening had disappeared by this morning, leaving me with a cool, but clear
day to enjoy the views. It’s actually a slightly unusual ascent given that you have no idea what you will
see until actually arriving at the summit and being blown away as the lake suddenly unfolds below.
Unfortunately there was a chill breeze coming up from the pole, so after a brief lunch break (10:30 and
lunch #1, a fine start), I began the long and steep descent down to the plain below. Feeling rather buoyed
up after such an excellent start to the morning (and not a little childish), I decided to race the officially
signed timings for the descent. 2-3hrs says the board, “bah!” says I. After throwing back a preparatory
coffee with a gusto in keeping with Vikings, drinking horns (rather than nifty, collapsible, hiking cups)
and mead halls, I limped off. Heroic questing parties never make mention of how your knees seize up
after 10 minutes sitting down. Makes it kinda tough to look like an action hero until after a quick spot of
trail yoga. Descent was initially down a fairly craggy ridge, eventually leading into a switchback path for
the last 30 minutes. The path was generally always fine though, just requiring care when scrambling
down the larger steps, and I really enjoyed myself. Including plenty of photo stops, a brief chat with a
Frenchman walking the TA Northbound and voilà, I was standing by the lake with a very satisfactory
time of 1:30 for the descent. Of course my knees feel as if they have aged 10 years after dropping 1000m
in less than 4km, but I am glossing over that and trusting a Wanaka based rest day will sort them out. Just
another (blessedly flat) 25km before then.
The remainder of the day has involved a lengthy lunch (#3) in Hawea with Pontus and Sofia from
Sweden, who I ran into on the way into town. I sometimes forget that NZ portions tend to be huge, so
after hungrily devouring my fish and chips, any thought of walking farther than the nearby campsite
evaporated. The carrot cake probably didn’t help either…or the iced cream. This has helped me publish
some blogs now I’m back online though and even left enough time left over for a nice cold pint. Much
appreciated as it seems far longer than 6 days since leaving Twizel.
