Day 43 - Pfeifer Creek to Locke Stream hut, 15km, 4 hours

Kiwi Hut

A quick, easy day today. Fortunately the sandflies weren't as bad this morning as they were yesterday, not that I risked venturing out of my tent to find out until it was time to pack up!

The day entirely consisted of walking up the Taramakau Valley, with Harper's Pass hidden for most of the day by the drizzly conditions.

Close to the very attractive Kiwi Hut, we found some private huts, well secured, Mr Bean style.


After morning tea at Kiwi Hut, we ventured into the bush to avoid having to retrace our footsteps by 500 meters.


It was always going to end in a bush bash of course. 15 minutes later we'd covered the 200 meters back to the river, and promptly threw ourselves into the river to remove all the bush detritus, feeling exhausted but virtuous in an early explorer kind of way.


Some fairly tedious valley walking saw us at Locke Stream Hut, a good kickoff point for Harper's Pass tomorrow. Queue a fair bit of drying the tents and clothes off, some scouring around for wet wood and a fairly reluctantly burning fire. Still pleasant to sit in front of though!

I remember loving staying in this hut last time I was here with Karen's uncle Bob and cousin Ian. It's lost none of it's charms. Beautifully positioned on a knoll above a confluence of 2 cascading mountain rivers, it is a labour-of-love, constructed in the old style with hand adzed floors and supporting timbers. It certainly makes for one of the more memorable huts in New Zealand.