Day 97 | Camp at km 1082
18 January 2023 | 24°C | 23km
Though we get up early, it’s a late start today until we say goodbye to everyone, make some phone calls ( I learn that my cat back home has skin cancer and needs treatment) and have a last coffee and fresh snack for some time.
The Richmond Ranges are ahead and estimations to get through range from 5 to 10 days. We plan to hitch out to Richmond or Nelson inbetween to avoid a longer food carry.
Legs are fresh and after some road walking I find the first climb surprisingly easy. The terrain is dry and kind of reminds me of Northern California on the PCT.
We reach the first hut around 6pm. Not much of a surprise that it is already full and several tents already pitched outside. We head on over the narrow trail with red stones and rocky ground.
Will we be able to find a flat spot at all here? I am tired already and hope that there will be something suitable around the next corner, and the next corner and the next corner… and suddenly there it is: a small spot by a creek with a bathtub, rocks to sit on and even a wardrobe!
Day 98 | Camp at km 1105
19 January 2023 | 23°C | 23km
“The Richmond are hard but beautiful” many hikers say that crossed our way. “Hard in which way?” I ask back. “It’s just very slow. Two steps forward and one back” as a fellow Swiss hiker we know from the north island described it is probably one of the best descriptions.
Little moving stones and almost sandy ground require many little steps in order to not slip forward or backward. The terrain is ondulating, many small climbs but nothing major all day until we reach Hunters Hut at around 4pm.
It’s a bit tempting to stay here, nice little hut with a porch all around it overlooking the surroundings but as it’s still “early” and some southbounders show us saddle we would cross (visible from the hut), I am keen on tackling that one as well.
After the descent from the hut the climb is steep and we move up quickly. I notice some flat spots sheltered by trees further up which gives some hope that we would find something similar for camping on the other side going down.
Once at the top I am squinting: is that the ocean far in the distance?
Day 99 | Camp at km 1126
20 January 2023 | 24°C | 23km
Hey Richmonds, another chance for you to make an impression. Up to more I am not that excited!
The morning on the ridge is pretty windy so we head down for breakfast to the next hut in 3km (Upper Weirau). It’s downhill but not an easy stroll as we thought: hard to see the trail and a lot of rocks in the way. Not good if you are not a morning person anyway, we both swear and get a bit into a bad mood. A lot of people still hanging out at the hut once we get there wondering where we come from so early in the morning.
It’s further downhill after breakfast though the terrrain is pretty “technical” : a lot of rocks and roots, river crossings, earth slips and … wasps! They live in fallen trees and there a quite a few in this section. Luckily we make it to the next hut without getting stung.
A lot of swimming holes on the way and we jump into on before starting a bigger climb in the afternoon. No bigger saddle or pass just a steady up for northbounders that might not be noticed by southbounders.
Tarn hut is a lovely place at a small lake and as we are the only ones when stopping there, we think hard if we want to stay or continue. If we want to have the chance to get out to Nelson we still have to do a few kilometers, we reckon.
I put on my headphones to listen to an audiobook which makes walking easier sometimes and after a couple of hours there it is: a small sheltered spot with ocean views. Our camp for the night!
Day 100 | Over the Rintouls and all the way down to Aniseed Valley
21 January 2023 | 17°C | 41km
It’s dark, I am alone in the forest and I am not sure where I am going. Just the weak light of my headlamp is shedding some light onto the dusty gravel road I am walking on. Occasionally when pointing my headlamp into the trees several green eyes stare at me … what the heck am I doing here?
13 hours earlier …
I wake because someone pulls the closure of my air mattress. I am still tired but it’s a sunny morning and we have some nice scenery and a big day ahead.
The first northbounders we meet at surprise when we answer the usual question “where are you trying to get to today?” with “Hacket Hut”. Long way but doable. There show is where we would roughly go to and the steep climb to Mount Rintoul is easy to see. Looking forward to it!
But first a good and solid breakfast at the Rintoul Hut where a goat family is hanging out too.
The climb up to the summit is steep but very enjoyable and much faster than I expected. It’s very rocky and above tree line, the kind of terrain I like! Unfortunately, some clouds are coming up from the valley once we are up si views are limited. There is something mystical in the air, what a great day. Full of energy up to the summit of Little Rintoul. Very technical at some spots. Exciting! It’s all white around us at that summit so we head on pretty quickly. We snack a lot on the way to Stodys Hut where we have “lunch” at 4pm.
Is it still doable to get to Hacket hut and the closeby car park so that Mary in Richmond (an aunt of Phil’s friend Steve) could pick us up? We eat quickly and a lovely lady at the hut who is just cooking her meal makes us a coffee. How awesome is that! We decide to give it a go and arrive 2 hours later at Starvall Hut. Phil gets there first and learns from hikers that the car park is further away than expected. 6km, easy terrain, probably doable in an hour. Bummer! Plus the distance from Starvall to Hacket.
It’s only downhill from here but how is the terrain? Estimated time for arrival communicate to Mary 9.30pm just before it gets dark. I feel a bit uncomfortable and stressed but before I can think we are already running down the hill. Thigh there is still quite a few hours of sunlight it’s already darker in the forest. Just before Hacket the trail crosses the river several time. Exhausting but I am on autopilot at that point, just push through I tell myself. Then finally the hut. 6km/2 hrs to the car park as per the DOC sign. Phew! Is it really doable in 1 hour as someone at Starvall hut said? It is already 9pm but Mary said she would wait for us. We look at the map to see which way to go and start walking quickly but I soon cannot follow Phils pace anymore and loose sight.
It’s getting dark and a little panic starts rising inside of me. But wait! Haven’t I done a lot of night hiking on the PCT? I calm down and get my headlamp out before it’s completely dark. Also my phone is sufficiently charged so I can check the map.
Once in a while when I point my headlamp into the trees some green eyes stare at me … deer wondering what I am doing here.
Around 11pm I look at my map again. How long have I walked? I should be by the car park already. Did I take a wrong turn? But I just followed the road, there were no other options. I decide to start looking for a flat spot to pitch my tent, better working it out in daylight the next day.
Suddenly as small white light comes towards me. It’s Phil’s headlamp. He got to a junction with the main road about 1km ahead and found out that we took a wrong turn early on. It’s not far but Mary is surely gone.
40km and at least 1500m of elevation gain today. If it needed a proof that I am fit I guess that’s it. Totally exhausted and tired, we setup the tent by a paddock further down the road and fall onto our sleeping pads.
Days 101-102 | Richmond/Nelson (resupply & zero day)
21/22 January 2023 | 0km
Highlights of almost almost 2 zero days in/around Richmond/ Nelson:
Auntie Mary takes us to Kaiteriteri beach (and a few other nice spots on the way there and back)
Lunch at the “Boat Shed Cafe” right by the Nelson waterfront (so tasty that I even order some beef tartar 😱)
Phil finally buys some new shoes (giant holes in the old ones)
I have a “deep tissue sports massage”, best investment ever, especially when on a trail
Cooking dinner in a “real” kitchen with ingredients bought in the supermarket instead of going to a restaurant or fish&ships shop
Being in a real house/home instead of a hotel or hostel
Day 103 | Middy Creek Hut
24 January 2023 | 22°C | 24km
It’s about almost 11am when Mary drops us off at the cat park at the start of the Hackett Track, the “right” car park :)
We wanted to be ready to go at 9am (about 30mins drive from Richmond to the car park) but the bed was too cosy and the wine the evening before too good. I’d an easy walk though and halfway back to Hackett we get to a junction that shows us to g directly walk to Browning, the next hut going northbound.
Two learnings there:
- Eva who I hiked with the first week on the north island has been coming through here 2 days earlier and also went to Nelson! Seems like we missed each other. Shit! Was looking very much forward to seeing her again.
- A hunter who also had a break at the hut offers us some venison he brought from home. While I decline, Phil is happy about the “meat add on” to his sandwich and tells him that we saw quite a few dear the other night. The hunter get excited. Luckily, we died not very a rifle but I guess he is coming next back one day. Oh no! Just took some venison to reveal this piece of information. 🫣 Rocks Hut looks nice and is totally empty once we get there. Very tempting to stay but it’s an easy stroll down to Middy Creek Hut and the Pelorus river. Two people already in the hut but lots of flat space for camping. Lovely place for swimming in the Pelorus river. Absolutely love it! Just the sandflies try to eat me alive once out of the water. 🤪
Day 104 | Pelorus Bridge
25 January 2023 | 21°C | 24km
Dear Richmonds, we soon have to say goodbye!
It’s our last morning by a hut in the mountains. Just a few more kilometers on some forest trail with sometimes more, sometimes less roots and stones until we pop out onto a gravel road leading to Pelorus bridge.
It’s roughly 14km of road walk along farmland … a new feeling to be able to look around AND walk instead of watching every footstep and stopping to take a look around.
We reach the bridge and thus the road from Nelson to Havelock at 4pm. Too late to get something from the popular coffee place that closes at 3.30pm we think but to our surprise the door is still open and we can quickly grab a piece of a yummy carrot cake.
It’s sunny and still relatively early so instead of pitching our tents, we decide to hitch to the town of Havelock and slackpack (leave our backpacks at the hostel and walk with a light pack) the missing 22km the next day.
Day 105 | Havelock
25 January 2023 | 22°C | 22km
Walking without our big backpacks from Havelock back to Pelorus Bridge to catchup with the kilometers we hitched yesterday.
A walk on a dusty gravel road and farmland along the Pelorus river. Not much more to say ….
Day 106 | Anakiwa
27 January 2023 | 12°C | 20km
Bye bye Richmonds, hello Queen Charlotte Sound!
We had been talking about this last stretch of the South Island for several days already naming it the “home strait”. No more climbing just walking along beaches and eventually jumping in …. at least that is how we had imagined it.
3 hours after leaving Havelock and walking along the Pelouras sound, we reach the Queen Charlotte Tavern and it starts raining. It’s just a light summer rain and the walk is still enjoyable but no suntan, sunscreen & bikinis ….
At 5pm sitting on the toilet by the Anakiwa wharf I feel that it’s enough walking in the rain for today. After a shower and a Power Nap at the Anakiwa lodge, the rain has stopped and I head down to the wharf were Phil is trying his luck with the fish. The air is crystal clear apart from some mystic clouds in the hills.
A relaxing and peaceful Friday evening atmosphere …
Day 107 | Portage
28 January 2023 | 19°C | 12km
The day starts like the previous one ended: no rain, cloudy skies but with quite a bit of wind. The trail is sheltered by the trees though, so the wind is not a big issue.
We stop at a viewpoint for a snack and observe one of the big ferries from Wellington entring the sind into Picton. One of the these we will take in 3 days to go over to the North Island again. This ferry looks strangely slow when it starts turning towards Picton, is what we think observing it. (We would learn the next day that one of the ferries had a technical problem and was stuck for several hours in the middle of Cook Straight 😱)
Portage, a small town or resort, is our envisaged destination today and around midday there is the option to either walk the trail along a ridge and then take a side trail down or take the road. We opt for the latter primarily as walking a ridge during a windy day is not that enjoyable and the views seem to be blocked by trees anyway.
After being so long in the mountains, the road walk is quite enjoyable, a lot of nice houses are tucked away in the trees of the bay and boots are moored all along the bay. Quite a picturesque scenery.
At 4.30pm we stop at the .. for a beer. It’s about the only accommodation here but when asking at the reception for the price of a room, we feel it’s a bit too much. We have our beer in he lounge with views over the bay when a lady (apparently the manager) approaches us offering a cheaper room that we could look at. After seeing it we don’t think twice and decide to stay. The trail provides?
After dinner we google up the case of two young people that disappeared 25 years ago during a New Year’s party at the Furneaux Lodge … our destination for tomorrow. 😲
Day 108 | Furneaux Lodge
29 January 2023 | 20°C
Does it make sense to climb up to a trail that is covered in clouds and probably muddy after last nights rain? Probably not, so we continue our journey along the road to have at least a view on the bay from there.
Despite the clouds and a slight drizzle in the beginning, it’s a nice walk that has something mystical. Also the wekas - some kind of chickenlike brown bird - seem to like it. A little weka family walks along the road … looks like it’s easier for weka mum to dig worms out of the ground after the rain.
There’s very few cars on this road where several land slides have washed away one of the lanes, not enough traffic to fix it apparently. Do some of the people here reach their homes by boat?
We join the trail again at Punga Cove, a lovely resort with several small caging overlooking one of the many bays of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Once we sit on the terrace of the restaurant for a drink, the sun comes out! Very tempting to stay here but we already booked a room in the morning at Furneaux Lodge, so let’s head over to Endeavor Inlet, the next bay.. It’s an easy, enjoyable walk along the coast just a bit slippery here and there. The trail is so wide and well maintained - like most of the popular Queen Charlotte Track - that two people could walk besides each other.
The dinner at the lodge is yum though a bit expensive but it’s our last evening on the South Island, so it’s time for a little celebration. Unfortunately, our plan to have a glass of wine in the hut tub doesn’t work out: the water there is disappointingly cold. Bummer! No luck with hut tabs these days … the one at St Arnaud was closed for maintenance, the one at Portage belonged to the manager 🥲😅
So we head over to the jetty instead where a little surprise awaits: some of the waves a shimmering just like they are illuminated by some kind of neon lights (an effect created by plankton in the water).
Day 109 | Ship Cove
30 January 2023 | 24°C | 17km
Last day on the South Island! It’s only 3-4 hours to Ship Cove from where we have booked a boat to Picton.
Breakfast: As usual.
Walk: Easy
Lunch: Not hungry. I start thinking about “the end”
Arrival at Ship Cove: Too fast, almost feels a bit unreal.
We get there at 3.10pm. The boat and some “tourists” are already there. Just enough time to take some photos until the boat leaves at 3h30. It actually is the mailboat that delivers mail to the different bays from Picton and on that occasion takes travelers as well. Sweet, we see again where we have walked the previous days!
Day 109 | Picton
30 January 2023
After 3 hours of cruising through the sound we reach Picton where our first destination is - of course - the pub. I quickly run over to the ferry terminal to see when the next ferry is available but unfortunately there is nothing left for today.
I run over to a hostel but reception is closed and it looks full. The next hostel looks a bit weird. I still ring the bell and an older hippie lady with a very short dress appears. Nothing left either but she kindly offers the sofa bed in the TV room for a good price.
We will have a few drinks to celebrate anyway so falling asleep on a hostel couch not be a big problem. 🍻🛋️
