Start – 2 km before Waihohonu hut
Finish – Rangipo hut
Daily Distance – 14 km
TA Distance – off-trail
As many men of a certain age know, when something is hanging limp in your hand that was formerly
stiff, it’s a pretty disappointing situation. Unfortunately, that was my experience this morning; when one
of my tent poles snapped. Fortunate in that it happened taking my tent down, rather than putting it up and
also that there are huts to stay in on this circuit, but still mightily inconvenient. I’m disappointed that I
won’t be able to do the Tongariro crossing now as it requires stealth camping near to a hut I can’t get a
booking for, but I’ll hope to do that another time. Instead I will be making a long bus journey to
Wellington where I should be able to get my tent repaired before taking another bus back North to rejoin
the trail…sigh.
On a more positive note, the walking today was fairly undemanding and clouds not withstanding, was
very pretty. The only exception was one river crossing where the bridge was out, which really required
me to grit my teeth. It was my first crossing in white water and I indulged in a lot of tentative depth
checking before taking the plunge. Amusingly, having looked really dubious at the outset the water never
came above mid-shin and wasn’t dangerous in the slightest. Still, better safe than sorry and good practice
for the many river crossings ahead.
So it was that 14:00 found me sitting on the front porch of the hut drinking coffee with David, a young
trainee doctor from Canada. Later Marjon, a lawyer from the Netherlands arrived, so we have spent a
pleasent festive evening sitting around the wood stove with conversation, coffee and chocolate. Hopefully
tomorrow the clouds will clear and we’ll get a first look at Mt Ruapehu, which is the mountain that we’re
supposedly walking around.
