I am done! ... with my original pair of socks. Having done more than a thousand kilometres they are getting threadbare and have been relegated to hut socks. My pristine hut socks now get the chance to step up to the plate.
It's Easter weekend - today is Easter Sunday - so I've been sharing the huts with the great unwashed masses. Unfortunately for the great unwashed masses, I am an even more unwashed mass/mess. In any case, being Easter Sunday, I started the morning by going around the hut handing out Easter eggs - there was much gratitude.
Today also marks April Fools and the end of daylight savings. A triple whammy. Normally I love the extra hour of sleep, but it's completely irrelevant to me here - I'm well and truly into the routine of operating with the sun.
Today I had a climb to match the recent Waiau Pass; this time 1000 meters to the Travers - Sabine Saddle.
Maybe I'm getting fit, but it was easy. There were a couple of hundred steep meters close to the bush line, but apart from that nothing to write home about and I did it largely without stopping.
Near the start of the climb the Sabine River is crossed, far above a fearsome chasm. The river can be barely spied in the dark below, but certainly can be heard!
Above the bush line the path of the east and west Sabine Valleys can be easily made out below. My hut from last night is close to the confluence of the two rivers.
The views expand a little further at the saddle itself. The Arthur Range in behind Motueka can be made out to the northwest - a first visible indication that I'm approaching the north coast!
Then it's down the other side of the into the upper Travers - the top of the Travers River is quite picturesque.
I stopped at Upper Travers Hut, which has sensational views of the saddle, intending to stay the night. After a few hours here and with a dodgy weather forecast for tomorrow, I changed my mind and headed down valley to shorten tomorrow's walking.
The Travers is another beautiful river. The track goes directly beside it - it's quite marvellous. But I was feeling a bit blasé about it. It was a gentler version of my adrenaline filled Sabine walk from yesterday, so perhaps this was inevitable.
There's nothing like a big waterfall to snap the feeling of "I've seen all of this before". The Travers plummets through a gorge, similar to the Sabine from this morning, and exits in this spectacular cascade.
Shortly after I arrived at my accommodation for the night, John Tait Hut. Somehow there was no-one in residence, despite the fact it is only a day's walk from St Arnaud, although 2 people turned up later. Nevertheless after a full hut for each of the last two nights I'm looking forward to a quiet night.
It's Easter weekend - today is Easter Sunday - so I've been sharing the huts with the great unwashed masses. Unfortunately for the great unwashed masses, I am an even more unwashed mass/mess. In any case, being Easter Sunday, I started the morning by going around the hut handing out Easter eggs - there was much gratitude.
Today also marks April Fools and the end of daylight savings. A triple whammy. Normally I love the extra hour of sleep, but it's completely irrelevant to me here - I'm well and truly into the routine of operating with the sun.
Today I had a climb to match the recent Waiau Pass; this time 1000 meters to the Travers - Sabine Saddle. Maybe I'm getting fit, but it was easy. There were a couple of hundred steep meters close to the bush line, but apart from that nothing to write home about and I did it largely without stopping.Near the start of the climb the Sabine River is crossed, far above a fearsome chasm. The river can be barely spied in the dark below, but certainly can be heard!
Above the bush line the path of the east and west Sabine Valleys can be easily made out below. My hut from last night is close to the confluence of the two rivers.
The views expand a little further at the saddle itself. The Arthur Range in behind Motueka can be made out to the northwest - a first visible indication that I'm approaching the north coast!
Then it's down the other side of the into the upper Travers - the top of the Travers River is quite picturesque.
I stopped at Upper Travers Hut, which has sensational views of the saddle, intending to stay the night. After a few hours here and with a dodgy weather forecast for tomorrow, I changed my mind and headed down valley to shorten tomorrow's walking.
The Travers is another beautiful river. The track goes directly beside it - it's quite marvellous. But I was feeling a bit blasé about it. It was a gentler version of my adrenaline filled Sabine walk from yesterday, so perhaps this was inevitable.There's nothing like a big waterfall to snap the feeling of "I've seen all of this before". The Travers plummets through a gorge, similar to the Sabine from this morning, and exits in this spectacular cascade. Shortly after I arrived at my accommodation for the night, John Tait Hut. Somehow there was no-one in residence, despite the fact it is only a day's walk from St Arnaud, although 2 people turned up later. Nevertheless after a full hut for each of the last two nights I'm looking forward to a quiet night.
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