I had a restless night last night with little sleep. I'm not sure why, sometimes it just happens.
I started off down valley, making for the confluence with the Waiau River, where I would be leaving the St James Walkway and forging off towards Waiau Pass.
Shortly after the turn I happened upon the famous St James wild horses. I was glad to see them, I had an idea that they had been culled after the aversion to public land of the St James Station.I continued on. I was in a self congratulatory mood, having walked the best part of 1000km without once having erred off trail by more than a couple of hundred meters, not realising that even as I was having this thought I was forging a good 3km off track. In my defence I was heading on a trail, just the wrong one - the St James Cycle Trail. Never mind, it did take me down the Waiau River to where it dives off into a spectacular gorge; I'm just unsure whether it was worth the extra 6 km there and back again to see it.
Ideas of an extended lunch were curtailed by the legions of sandflies that descended as I sat, so I continued on up valley. There was some very pretty river walking but Waiau Pass, which had been looking intimidating all day, was looking progressively more so as I approached the end of the valley.Oh well, tomorrow's problem. I had reached the brand new Waiau Hut, which had opened since I had started the trail - an extraordinary donation to the country from an ordinary guy who lives down in Timaru. I'd been really looking forward to staying here - it's a great little hut with a fantastic fire and a beautiful scenic outlook.
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