Boyle Village to Arthurs Pass

After Hamner Springs we hitched back to Boyle Village and started our next leg to Arthurs Pass. We got a ride from a lovely local who took us all the way to Windy Point where our next leg started. He was a retired gentleman who just enjoyed our company and went out of his way to help us. Like I have said previously NZers are a great bunch of generous friendly people.
We hiked from Windy Point to Hope Kiwi Hut the first day. We are managing to now regularly do 20 to 30km a day depending on terrain. We are coping with the climbs better - just getting fitter I guess.
The next day was 31 km to No 3 hut up the Huronui Valley then the next was over  Harper's Pass to the Kiwi Hut.  Sandflies still a major pain.! How to send Wayno insane lol.
After that we did an awful long hard day from Kiwi Hut down the valley and then up Goat Pass to Goat Pass Hut. The tramp up to Goat Pass is the same as the Coast to Coast run leg and involves multiple river crossings. Luckily there had been no rain and the crossings were not too bad but after 12 hours on the trail and a climb for the last four hours we were pretty shattered at the end. That wa yesterday.
Last night while up at Goat Pass Hut the rain came in so this morning we were up and on the trail early as we still had more river crossings to do and didn't want to get stuck by high rivers. We got through OK and made it to Arthurs Pass where we are having luxury with meal showers doing washing and real sheets on our bed.
I have to say that this last section has been hard for both of us. I think we are just both mentally and physically tired.
Not many pictures taken this section sorry.  Will get out camera more next leg.
Tomorrow we are off to start Arthurs Pass to Tekapo section which will take about a week.

Travers Saddle & Waiaua Pass

From the Richmond Ranges we went round to St Arnaud and met up with Mark again. We refuelled and headed back into the hills for the Travers Saddle and Waiaua Pass.  This part was the most challenging of the trail so I was packing myself wondering how it was going to be and if I was going to be able to do it.  I had even seriously considered going around and leaving Wayne and Mark to go on without me.
The first day 5 Jan we hiked 31 km up the valley from St Arnaud to the Upper Travers Hut. It was a beautiful walk with lovely scenery.
The huts in the Nelson Lakes Park are much more popular than the Richmond Ranges huts so were a lot more occupied. We met and chatted with some great people. There are a lot of different tracks that are popular in that area.
The next morning we were up and off early to get over the Travers Saddle. It took us just an hour to reach the top and then down and over the other side which was not as hard as I thought it would be. The sense of achievement was good.
We stopped for lunch at West Sabine Hut where Mark had to do a consult for a girl who had sprained her ankle the day before and still couldn't put her boot on. It makes you realize how remote we were as for her to walk out would have been 8 hours! They had sent a message out with another tramping party and the chopper arrived to pick her up about 10 minutes after we  left.
We tramped on up the valley and stayed at the Blue Lake Hut. Again the hut was pretty popular and we met with a couple, Dylan and Rebecca who had come over the Waiaua Pass the day before and were going back over the next day the same as us. It was good to hear about the Pass first hand. I was still  very nervous and scared so not a lot of sleep happened that night!
Over the Pass we went the next day and yes was scary in places but not as bad as I thought it would be. Climbing from Little Rintoul to Mt Rintoul in the Richmond Ranges was worse by far.
Over the Pass we had some steep descents then long valley walks joining with the St James Walkway until Boyle Village. Down in the valley there were no huts so we had to camp one night. The sand flies were so bad we had to eat dinner in our tent and the next morning pack up and leave without breakfast. They were so awful we stopped for a break about 10 am for a cup of tea and we couldn't sit still to drink it we had to keep walking and drinking at the same time! And that was with using insect repellent!
We stayed one night at this lovely hut Anne River Hut.  It was quite new and warm with nets on the windows so you could get some fresh air with out insects. All the other huts you have to keep windows and doors closed up to keep them out.
After Boyle Village we hitched to Hamner Springs where we spent a couple of days resting as we were pretty shattered.
Mark spent one night with us then headed home to Waiuku. We stayed at a great campground called Hamner Springs Forest Camp 3 km from Hamner. We spent 2 nights there then used our Christmas present from our lovely children which was a Hamner Pamper Pack. This entailed a night at the Settlers Motel a steam treatment a massage and spa pool and free entry to the hot pools. Just what we needed after the previous hard couple of weeks. Thank you Anna Sam and Sean.

Queen Charlotte

We crossed over on the ferry to South Island on Boxing Day at 830am. The boys as well. Wayne and I started the Queen Charlotte Track the same day. The boys were starting the next day and running 58 km to catch up with us at Mistletoe Bay. We started at 3 pm and had 24km to do so it was a long way with reduced time. We even jogged a little way and arrived at our first campsite at Camp Bay by 730pm.
The next day was a long 33km day. The Queen Charlotte Track is beautiful but hard under foot so arrived Mistletoe Bay with sore feet. No complaints as we were much better off than Sam and Sean who made it in by 8pm tired sore hungry and thirsty.  They must have downed 5 litres of powerade each back when they got in.
The next day we walked 12 km to end of track then we went on to Havelock and the boys back to Picton and home. We had a night in Havelock to do refuel for next leg in the Richmond Forest Park.
We were a little disappointed with the last day on the Queen Charlotte as mountain bikers are allowed and being holidays the track was too congested with walkers and mountain bikers together.
After Havelock we were off to the Richmond Ranges.

Richmond Ranges

Mark arrived safely with the help of Peg and Kevin on New Years Eve to Hackett Hut. It was raining hard and consistently and we had thought we might have gone on to the next hut which was a 4 hours 900metres climb with 8 river crossings to start with. The heavy rain had made the river crossings impassible so we had to wait it out to the next day till the river went down. New Years Eve at Hackett Hut with Chris a German who arrived wet and cold and Jeff a local who was at the hut when we arrived at 10 am and already was half cut then!
New Years Day HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.
Off we set to hopefully make Old Man Hut via Starveal and Slaty Huts.  We had 8 narley river crossings as the river was still flowing well but with   the help of Chris the German who is 6 ft plus tall we made it ok. The water was up to my waist on one of the crossings -scary!
We made it to Old Man Hut and the views around 180 degrees were the best so far.  The weather was perfect.
The next day we planned to get to Tarn Hut which involved a big climb up over 3 peaks Little Rintoul  Mt Rintoul and Purple Top. I had always been nervous about this part and the two climbs on from St Arnaud Travers Saddle and Waiaua Pass.
And yes it was as I expected hard and scary especially Little Rintoul across to Mt Rintoul. Lots of narrow parts and some steep downhill scree with no hand holds which is my least favorite part. I survived! The views again were outstanding and weather great. We made it to Tarn Hut about 5 pm tired but with a sense of achievement.
About 2 hours out from the hut Mark went up another track to look at the views from there and got misplaced and ended up taking the wrong track in the wrong direction and not realizing till late that he wasn't on the right track for the hut. We had no phone coverage at the hut. Wayne went back looking for him but we didn't find out till the next morning that he was OK so not much sleep and plenty of anxiety occurred that night. Once we had established he was OK we were pretty shattered so made the call to take a different route than planned and get out of the Ranges and meet  up at St Arnaud and get back on track. So we took the Lower Goulter track ended up at Blenheim for the night and hitched to St Arnaud the next day. We have two days of unfinished business in the Richmond Ranges!

Pelorus River Track

We started the Pelorus River Track on 29th December. The weather was lovely and the track was hard but beautiful.  Each forest that we trek through is different from the others. The Pelorus River was beautiful and green and we had our first swim of the trail there.
The first night we stayed at Middy Hut on our own. We now are into the South Island where there are Back Country Huts everywhere and by buying a Back Country Pass you can stay in the huts for free. The huts have a bunk bed water and toilet  (long drop ) and usually a firebox so it is good not to have to put up the tent. Each hut is a different size and the ones in the Richmond Ranges were mostly 6 to 12 bunks. Doc puts the huts usually in lovely settings and we have met some great people along the way.
After Middy Hut we walked on to Rocks Hut for lunch the next day and then on to Browning Hut. We were able to take it easy as our friend Mark was coming in to meet us at the next hut Hackett Hut on New Years Eve to tramp the Richmond Ranges and Travers Saddle and the Waiaua Pass for 12 days.
We met some lovely people in Pipiriki Kevin and Peg from Nelson area who when they knew what we were doing and that our friend was hopefully meeting up with us offered to pick Mark up from the airport and drive him to the track end closest to us and walk the hour and half into the hut and even bring in more food supplies for us. What awesome people they are and with their generous help made that part of our journey so much easier.

Waikanae to Wellington

After Waikanae we walked down the beach to Paekakariki  about 21 km still feeling tired.  Was a beautiful day and coastline looking out to Kapiti Island was spectacular. We stayed at Paekakariki Campground.  The pohutakawa trees were all in flower and for the first time we felt like Xmas was coming.
The next day we walked from  Paekakariki to Porirua along the coast right next to State Highway 1. A lot of traffic but lovely coastline. We stayed at Elsdon Camp at the base of Colonial Knob which was our next walk. 
The next day we had a badly needed day off and went to the mall in Porirua and did some badly needed shopping and badly needed hairdresser visits. We met up our friends Shelly and Greg who now live in Wellington and went to their house for dinner and back to Elsdon Camp for the night. Elsdon Camp is an old army barrocks which has been converted to a campground.
December 19 we walked Colonial Knob Walkway and Mt Kaukau to Ngaio.  This walk with spectacular views of Wellington and coastline to South Island -yeah right! Of course fog rain and SEVERE wind.  So bad we kept having to stop as we felt like we were going to be blown off the hill and fog so bad we could only see a few metres in front of ourselves. Wayne felt so disoriented that he felt like he had had a blind fold on and spun around.
We stayed at Waterloo Backpackers in Wellington for two nights. Was very strange being amongst city noises again. Took us a while to get to sleep.
Saturday 20th December saw us walking from Wellington to South Coast. We started by catching the Cable Car up to the gardens and back onto the TA Trail.  We managed to misplace ourselves a few times but achieved the final leg of the North Island.
We spent the next few nights before Xmas at Shelly and Gregs. Wayne helped Greg with some jobs and I did final Xmas shopping. Our son Sean joined us for a couple of days and we had a great time visiting Te Papa.
Christmas Eve we met up with Pam and Rex again and our other son Sam joined us.
We had 2 nights luxury at CityLife Hotel in Wellington with our boys for Xmas.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.

The Tararuas

Long time between blogs sorry again!  Often we get to camp late and am too tired to blog or there is no battery left on phone or no coverage.
After Shannon we did 4 days in the Tararuas which was the most challenging and exhausting tramping we had done. The first day was a 9 hour hike climbing 900metres to the Te Matawai Hut. The bush was lovely and we met and spent the night at the hut with Phil and Rob from Wellington doing the TA Trail in sections.
The next day was 13 Dec and we climbed up to Nichols Knob at 1400metres. The track was pretty scary wind exposed cold and foggy and we got misplaced a couple of times and learned we needed better maps than we had as the tracks were not well marked in places where they needed to be.
Every time there is somewhere with spectacular views we have had rain and /or fog! We had difficulty finding the hut and eventually got there at dark after 14 hours hiking cold tired and scared shit less! Threw some food down our throats and went to bed within 30 minutes.
The following day we new was also going to be long what we thought would be 9 to 10 hours ended up taking us 12 hours as there had been a major slip on the old track and a new part formed which was really difficult and a lot longer so reached Parawai Hut at 7pm again cold and tired. We lit the fire and opened firebox door and had dinner by firelight.
We also got misplaced after a river crossing realized after  about 150metres and went back and got on right path. Again the track was not clearly marked over the river. About 3 days later an Austrian tramper got lost we think in exactly the same place. He was found ok 2 days later.
The final day in the Tararuas was technically an easier day. The track was called the  Puketea Track and should have taken about 6 to 7 hours but we were so exhausted from the previous days we had to keep stopping for rests and took us about 8 hours. Then we walked around 7km halfway to Waikanae and a lovely local farmer picked us up and took us to town.
We stayed at pub in Waikanae exhausted and desperate for a shower.
The two most important things we treasure on this journey are water and showers!!!