Day 53 - John Tait Hut to St Arnaud, 23.5km, 5 hours 30 minutes

An easy day down the Travers Valley to and then along the side of the beautiful Lake Rotoiti.

The day started with an excellent sunrise - the first I've had for a while. I haven't been up early enough to see many, but with car fever kicking in I was keen to get to St Arnaud ASAP. I'd better describe what car fever is. When tramping towards the end of a day it's common to get hut fever - a finite burst of energy when you think the hut is close. It can be devastating when it turns out the hut is further away than you thought. Anyway car fever is just a subset of that - when you are getting near the end a tramp and are looking forward to getting back to the car. In my case there is no car of course, but I've been really looking forward to getting back into cell coverage so I can phone home, and that's been driving me on for a few days.  Long story short, I was on track early!

I was down valley pretty quickly and stopped at Lakehead Hut for an early lunch. I've always been a bit meh about this hut. There is nothing wrong with it per se, but one of the  one of the most beautiful lakes in the country is about 500 meters away, which is enough that it's a pain to go for a swim. What's more, it has one of my favourite huts barely a kilometer away across the river. That hut, Coldwater Hut has it's own jetty, and being constructed from stone is a beautiful hut, if somewhat bastardised by recently having had its porch filled in. It's also aptly named, the Travis River which flows into Lake Rotoiti here is MUCH colder than the rest of the lake. But anyway, I wasn't stopping at Lakehead for anything more than a snack.

I forged on down the side of the lake, a front country bit of track that I finished in little more than an hour passing many overnight and day walkers picking their way across mud and streams rock by rock. I don't bother with that - clump, clump, clump on through. 

I don't know if it's the time of year, but the wasp eradication program seems to be going well.  The forest here is normally abuzz with them, literally, but the forest was peaceful coming through.



And so to St Arnaud, and the point where I leave the last lake on trail.

I'd booked into a hotel in St Arnaud and was in the foyer when I pretty much banged into a work friend who was up at his bach from Motueka. Turns out I got to stay there instead. Thanks Andrew!