Day 72-73 | Twizel & Christmas
24/25 December 2022 | 23°C | 27km
10 AM when I first look at my phone. Are we going for a walk today or just chilling at the lodge? not good to make decisions with an empty stomach, so let’s have breakfast first. It’s probably checkout time already but fortunately the young folks from the lodge are very flexible. The breakfast we have on the deck with awesome views is actually the lunch menu and consists of a soup with a cheese and ham toast.
In the end, we decide to go for a walk towards Twizel along the lake today. It was nice to have the morning off and chill but the legs have rested and want to get going. We get a bottle of sparkling wine from the bar for a potential Christmas eve celebration in the tent by the lake. Shortly after starting to walk back to the trail junction, a camper van stops and an English couple from Texas saves us from walking an extra 3.5 km giving us a ride to the junction.
After all the climbing of the past day, it’s and it’s a very enjoyable walk along the mountain bike trail around Lake Ohio today, slightly cloudy, but nice temperature. It’s 5h30 when we get to the river so it’s either camping somewhere on the way to Twizel, walking another 13km or walk along the canals where the chances to get a ride into town with one of the people fishing there seem pretty good.
A look on google maps indicates that the supermarket closes at 7pm so the decision to get a ride and catch up with the missed km the following day is quick. It’s no problem at all to get a ride, enough time to get some champagne and everything needed for a feast on Christmas Day. We are not lucky with finding accommodation - everything is closed or fully booked - but there is a nice and peaceful area by a river that is the perfect campground.
Bummer of the day: My new shoes are waiting at the High Lands Lodge which is closed until December 26, 2pm. Meow!
Day 74 | Aoraki / Mount Cook (side trip)
26 December 2022 | 22°C | 12km (to lake pukaki)
Spontaneous side trip to Mount Cook (Aoraki in Māori), New Zealands highest mountain. The initial plan was to walk as fast as possible towards Tekapo with only a daypack (“slackpacking”) and then hitch back to Twizel.
It’s a lovely sunny day, the track is flat and we watch parachutes walking over a vast plain until we reach Lake Pukake whose waters are incredibly turquoise blue-ish that day. Lots of people stopping to take photos or the lake with Mount Cook in the background.
Quick decision to change plans as it’s the closest we will ever be to New Zealand’s highway mountain. We walk to the turn off to mount cook village and put our thumbs out but nobody stops. When we decide to give it 5 more minutes, a van from the Heremitage hotel stops and a lady working there gives us a ride.
We look at the fascinating mountains from the hotelscafe, take tons of photos and visit the Edmund Hillary exhibition. How much harder his “travels” must have been compared to ours! I could have stayed there forever but we still have to get a ride back to Twizel which turns out to be surprisingly easy. We squeeze into a small car of a hippie couple and their two dogs (dackels).
Happy End of the Day: I get to the High Country Lodge in time to pick up the parcel with my new shoes. 👟🥳
Day 75 | Lake Tekapo
27 December 2022 | 42km
Long distance hikes teach you every day how you can make yourself unhappy when you make your surroundings responsible for your happiness: it’s either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. Today it will be too windy.
But first things first: the hitch to Lake Pukake is not as easy as we thought. Finally, a young guy heading to Christchurch gives us a ride. “I love you” says a sticker on the board. Must be nice to see that each morning when you get into your car.
The walk of the day is a longer stretch along the lake, followed by an eternally long and boring walk along the Tekapo canal. To make it even worse the wind picks up in the afternoon, full on head wind.
We call some accommodation as soon as we have reception but the entire town of Tekapo seems to be fully booked. Once we finally arrive at 9h15pm all restaurants have already stopped denning food. Not surprised but still disappointed, we use the kitchen of the Lakefront Backpackers to cook our dinner.
It’s dark already and we sneak into the backyard of a school, a nice spot for cowboy camping (sleep without a tent, just sleeping pad and bag).
Day 76 | Campsite at km 630
28 December 2022 | 22°C | 23km
The sun wakes me up at 7am and I realize that I slept very well in that little hideaway behind the school. I have an urgent need to take a shower, so I quickly pack my stuff to head over to the hostel to ask if I can use their showers.
The reception is still closed so I sit some time by the lake before heading to a cafe with the funny name “The greedy cow”. I am positively surprised as they have a lot of veggie/vegan options on the menu. Heaven!
There’s the usual town chores of shopping and laundry and it’s around 2pm when we hit the trail. It leads along Lake Tekapo and as the sun burns down today we jump Into the lake for a quick, refreshing swim.
When the trail leaves the gravel road, we meet two pretty exhausted southbound hikers. They have a big day behind them (and a steep and difficult climb as we would see the next day).
Find of the day: A cool and sheltered camp spot with views over the lake and a beautiful sunset.
Day 77 | Royal Hut
29 December 2022 | 22°C | 27km
The highest point of the Te Araroa is on our way today. The biggest challenge of the day though is once again: way finding. The morning starts easy over a plateau offering awesome views of snow covered mountains. Not entirely sure but it looks like one of these is Mount Cook from the back.
After lunch we get off track twice when first a totally misplaced sign leads us onto a trail that would suddenly disappear and - shortly after being back on track again - inadvertently turn of a four wheel drive road without any signage. Not even the slightest trace of a trail is visible.
I get a bit tired after all these detours and start listening to some music to stay motivated. The climb to the saddle is long but gradual and not too steep and the views some of the best of the trail so far I feel. It’s bloody windy at the highest point (only 1.900m actually) so we head down soon after taking a last look back to the lake and an impressive mountain range. From two hikers at the top, we learned that the next hut is already full but we planned to hike further anyway.
Easier said than done! The trail is steep, overgrown, sometimes invisible and involves crossing a small steam several times. Progress is slow and once we reach Royal Hut we are pretty sore. We say hi to the people in the hut and pitch our tents just 1 km further up the trail.
Day 78-79 | Geraldine & New Years
30/31 December 2022
One of the hottest days on trail is followed by one of the coldest: Today.
The Rangiriri river valley - a river that is very hard to cross by foot- is coming up and we have already booked a shuttle to take us to the town of Geraldine for New Years and then up again at the other side of the river after on 1st of January.
A French girl at Royal Hut said that there’s another river just before that that it currently difficult to cross due the tcan be crossed but water would reach up to the hip. Though we had done this kind of crossings before and would do this anytime again on a nice day, we do not really feel like it on a slightly rainy and foggy day like today. There seems to be an alternative trail avoiding that. It would go over a saddle and start just a couple of kilometers after our campsite.
When walking towards the turn off, a female hiker crosses our path and we learn that she just came that way. It’s a good walk just a bit cold at the top, she says. She is wearing big gloves. The track starts easy, steadily climbs and the misty clouds have something magical. My hands start getting cold and I put them into the pockets of my rain jacket beneath my rain poncho. Further up it starts raining, a very cold rain. I just look at my feet and focus on moving quickly.
The saddle comes into sight and the wind picks up. There are a few patches of snow after the saddle. It’s freezing cold and we quickly head down. The thought of changing clothes in a nearby hut keeps me going but it turns out that the hut is off trail and we decide against going there (it also is a private hut and most probably closed). I still decide to stop to put on my rain pants against the wind and another long sleeve but my hands are so cold that I can hardly open the zippers of my pants. I am desperate and feel like crying. But it is what it is and the only way out of this is walking.
Roughly four hours later we get to the road. As we are now ahead of our schedule and have no phone reception, the shuttle would only come the next day so the only option to get to town today is hitch hiking. The road looks so deserted that getting a ride seems like a miracle. Who would head up a gorge that is basically a one way street without exit?
A young farmer passes by and offers to take us a few kilometers further. When he drops us off by a holiday home, he mentions that an open WiFi conncection at the house that we could use to make a phone call. While I head up to the house, Phil stays by the road just in case. I have just connected to the WiFi when a car pulls over. It’s volunteers that help maintain backcountry mountain huts directly heading to Geraldine. Bingo!
Day 80 | Camp at km 694
1 January 2023 | 12km
1st of January 2023. On a day like this one would probably get up at some point, have lunch and have a nap on the couch in the afternoon to compensate the lack of sleep (or a hangover).
Not us though today.
It’s 2h30 pm when the shuttle drops us off at a bridge up the gorge (close to Erawon, a location of Lord of the Rings). I am tired and my legs are heavy. Alhough the terrain is pretty flat, the first couple of kilometers seem endless. It’s getting better after a break by Lake Clearwater and at the end of the day it’s 12km on the speedometer. Choice!
Day 81 | Clent Hills Saddle
2 January 2023 | 20°C | 33km
Easy walk in the morning. Kiwis still seem to enjoy their holidays. We see a few families cruising around with their jeeps and pick up’s going fishing or hunting.
We admire the scenery at a beautiful lake that reflects the mountains around when a car arrives. A couple from Tasmania who is on vacation in New Zealand. While Stuart is fly fishing, we are having a conversation with Katie. There’s are quite some mosquitoes around but luckily she is equipped with an anti-mosquito spray that she is spraying all around us to make sure we are not bitten.
When reaching Double Hut in the afternoon where we had initially planned to spend the night, it is only 4PM.
“I will not make it to the saddle today but camp somewhere before that” is what I say halfway up on Clent Hill. Somehow my ankle started hurting in the morning already. Problem is that there are not very many flat spots to camp. Once we detect one, we don’t have any water, once we get to the next stream, a potentially good spot is very rocky, so we keep on moving over the next hill.
We are so picky about camp spots that suddenly the saddle comes into sight. Saddles tend to be pretty windy and not a great place to camp, is what I think.
But then surprise! Walking to the very right side, we unexpectedly find a fantastic camp spot with great views back into the valley with beautiful sunset.
Once more a rewarding, happy end at the end of a long, hiking day!
Day 83 | Lake Coleridge
4 January 2023 | 6km
I observe a baby sheep bumping with its head against its mums belly in order to drink. Does that start the milk flow or is that just a hint for mum that baby sheep is thirsty? Is that anchored in a little sheep’s genes or where does it learn that?
I am walking towards Lake Coleridge while my thoughts wander around that issue. Phil’s Auntie whom we had met for lunch in Methven had just dropped us off a bit earlier by a car park at the trail head which thankfully saved us hitchhiking or paying a shuttle.
The path around the lake gets very narrow at some point and as I manouver around some broken boardwalk I get to a small beach. I am a bit off trail and in an attempt to find my way back, I discover a bigger flat area with some old boat an old picnic table below a tree. Looks like that’s our home for tonight!
Highlight of the evening: Phil’s fishing endeavors are not successful this time but I manage to film a big eel approaching the shore various times. Looks like it is sensing us. Or just looking for food?
Day 84 | Campsite at km 790
5 January 2023 | 22°C | 28km
Dust! Dust! Dust!
Not much more to say about this day. 22 km on a gravel road around a lake without even seeing it. For a backcountry road, it is pretty busy, quite a few cars with boat trailers, hunters or fisherman.
What a relief to get off this road after 22 km!
Highlight off the day: A campsite beside a stream where the water for the evening bath is not as cold as usual. Sweet!
Day 85-86 | Arthur's Pass + 1 zero day
6/7 January 2023 | 19°C | 30km
I toss and turn during the night to find a position where i don’t feel any pain. Consequently, I am still pretty tired in the morning. But I am hungry and looking forward to a coffee. Though the weather forecast predicted rain close to Arthur’s pass it looks quite good in the direction we are heading.
After 30 minutes walking I have to stop to take some pain killers. The first time since I am on trail. My groin, knee and calves are in pain, it feels like some nerve is stuck somewhere. I feel much better once Vitamin I (Iboprofen) starts doing its job. There is wie a few hits on our way today. Hamilton hut - our stop for a second breakfast - has sparkling clean, has 20 beds, a huge porch overlooking the river and a chimney.
Only two hours later we reach West Harper Hut. I see two hiker having a break below a tree and then - surprise - it’s Headlights and Lavender - a Swiss couple I used to meet on the North Island. They skipped the Tararuas and made it until here. One of the first people of our wider trail family of southbounders (Sobos) we meet on our northbound (Nobo). journey. Funnily, I also meet Oskar whom I was in touch with via the ultralight hiking forum in Germany.
After another 3 hrs walk when the rain starts pouring down, Lagoon Saddle Shelter comes into sight. Perfect timing! Fortunately it was just a rain shower that strips an hour later when we head out again.
Beautiful views over the Waimakariri River Valley one of the locations where the well famous CoastToCoast race takes place each February.
Once down by the road, I call a few accommodations in the valley but they all seem to be fully booked. We booked at The Sanctuary at Arthur’s Pass for tomorrow but now we are one day ahead of schedule. They still have one bed for tonight but not two, says Bill the friendly owner. I try another hostel but accidentally call the same number and now Bill tells me he can work something out. He even offers to pick us up. 😊
Day 88 | Locke Stream Hut
9 January 2023 | 26°C | 21km
What is poison for my groin problem in my right leg? Sand, moving stones and wobbly ground. How is the terrain all afternoon today? Sand, moving stones and wobbly ground while walking through the river bed of Taramakau river all afternoon.
I am quite surprised though how relatively good my legs feel after yesterdays “trail run” over Goats Pass. Amazing what the body can do after a good nights sleep (and my daily stretching routine), Very quiet in the dorm today, only 1 other Canadian guy who apparently likes to sleep in as well.
It’s Monday morning and hitching takes some time now that all the weekend tourists traveling through Arthur’s Pass are gone. Eventually a tourist shuttle stops and takes us to Morrison’s footbridge for 10 bucks each.
Surprise on the first few km’s in the forest: I bump into Margot, Jasper and Anouk whom I know from the North Island. They are so surprised that they almost pass me by. 😅 We have the usual chit chat. While I tell them about the nicest spots in the South, they mention some natural hot pools coming up in about two days further North. Looking forward to that! The wobbly, stoney river bed walk starts after lunch. The sun ☀️ is full on today. Good to be close to the water but few spots to find shelter. Consumption of sun screen at its maximum!
Still it’s a walk through a nice valley. What a pity that you have to watch each step very closely. I stop once in a while to look back and once getting close to the hut I am amazed once more how much ground one can cover by foot in a day.
Locke Stream Hut is quite a big one with 2 dorms with 9 bunks each separated from the main room. We expect some northbound hikers there but once we open the door, there is: Nobody!
Total kilometers on the South Island by the end of the day: 870
Day 89 | Lake Sumner
10 January 2023 | 23°C | 28km
While the tedious walk in the riverbed continues in the morning, followed by a climb to a saddle, I send some wishes to the universe for an easy to walk trail that is easier on my knees, ankles and groin.
And yes, my wishes are fulfilled after lunch when grassy meadows alternate with soft forest trails!
We pass quite a few southbound hikers and several huts before entering into a forest with several (unnecessary) ups and downs and I wonder why we did not just continue walking by the river when suddenly it smells strange …. and there we are at some natural hot pools several hikers have told us about.
It is mega hot und burns like 🔥 when I slowly step in with my scratched legs covered with sunfly bites. I cannot stay to head down to the river for a refreshing cook down there.
Looking at the map we decide to not take the Te Araroa trail leading again through the forest but an alternate trail through some paddocks along the river. It’s a lovely walk meeting many cows once gain until we set up camp close to Lake Sumner.
Day 90 | Boyle Outdoor Education Centre
11 January 2023 | 13°C | 30km
Mossie alarm at our campsite! We quickly pack up to have breakfast somewhere up the trail to avoid being eaten by sandflies. There are heaps in my tent and when I pack it in it becomes a big grave.
It’s a walk in forest and grassy meadows today with quite a few hikers and huts on the way.
My knee starts hurting again and I release my hipbelt during the afternoon to get load off my hips which helps but I still wonder how I made it through the afternoon. I just turn on autopilot and follow Phil who is speeding ahead.
Once getting to the trailhead carpark, it’s too tempting to hitch the last 10km. Once arriving at the education center in Boyle village, it starts raining. Perfect timing!
Day 91 | Boyle Flat Hut
12 January 2023 | 17°C | 13km
When I wake up, most of the hikers have left already, including Phil who wants to catch up with the 10km we hitched yesterday. It’s been a while that I slept so well (big thanks to my earplugs).
It is very quiet until some people arrive for cleaning. Today - as I would find out later - it’s the yearly cleaning day of the lounge and kitchen including an intense cleaning of the carpet with a machine that makes a hell of a noise. There it goes my relaxing rest day …
Once Phil comes back, he is in favor of moving while I am still unsure due to the pain on my groin and knee but guess I can give it a go with a couple of Voltarens.
Due to our late start in the afternoon, we would only do 13km today in not so difficult terrain. Our destination is Boyle Flat Hut but we already see from afar that there are already several tents around it so we don’t even bother to cross the bridge but pitch our tents sheltered in a group of trees on this side of the river.
Day 92 | Fields of Gold - Camp at km 978
13 January 2023 | 21°C
My knee and right leg hurt and keep me from sleeping at night. I start crying as I don’t know what to do. Should I turn around to Boyle and take a few rest days? How many? Will the pain not come back then? Do I need to leave the trail?
I fall back to sleep again eventually and waking up I am still undecided. I think about all the hikers that take pain killers for several days, something I tend not to do but why not try it out? It’s a bit risky I feel with a bigger stretch and two major passes coming up but in decide to give it a try by taking two ibuprofen with my breakfast.
This is the point of no return. If I continue I have to walk through. I still feel the pain for about an hour when I start walking but then I am pain free. It’s easy walking today with just a tiny almost unnoticeable pass. We meet some common faces today.
First of all, a Korean guy we nicknamed Pinnacle, after meeting him for the first time close to a rock formation called “The Pinnacles” about a week ago. He is section hiking in the area and we have been bumping into him several times now.
Later in the day, “The Fishermen” how we call them cross our way, two young German brothers we already had met on the north island. It was the start of walking through the dry grassy meadows of the Nelson lakes area today and at the end of the day we pitch our tent in exactly these “fields of gold”.
Day 93 | Waiau Pass & Lake Constance
14 January 2023 | 21°C | 29km
Last evening, Phil and I had an argument of how far we would go today. He feels we could make it over the pass today while I am a bit worried that I will overexert my injured leg. It’s still roughly 22km to where we would start to climb. A useless discussion, as too much planning does not really make sense as things might turn out different anyway.
It’s a lovely sunny day and we are flying over the beautiful “fields of gold” along a river all morning. We cross quite a few southbounders these days and the first ones today are Jens and Connor from our old trail family up north. What a joy! We chat for quite a while and it’s almost a bit sad to move on. When we have a break at Weiau Hut it’s only 1h30pm, it’s seems like we would get to the bottoms of the pass late afternoon, actually a good time to go up and over when it’s not so hot …
The terrain gets a bit more technical with several bowlder and scree fields to cross and we reach the last flat spot for camping by 4pm. Point of no return. Would be weird to stop now, still so much time left, perfect temperature, legs feel good and just 2 (steep) kilometers to go.
It’s a steep rocky climb but I absolutely enjoy climbing like a mountain goat above tree line. Very rewarding to see how quickly we gain elevation and look at the path and the valley behind us.
Reaching the pass at 7pm reveals beautiful views of Lake Constance in the next valley. We head down down a scree field which seems almost harder than going up, no traction on the ground. “You can just slide down” as some southbounders suggested, seems a bit to sketchy.
Luckily, the grassy spotted while going down is as dry and as flat as it looked from above and will become our campsite the the night.
Day 94 | Traverse Pass & Upper Traverse Hut
15 January 2023 | 23°C | 24km
It’s the first night on trail that I slept a little bit cold. Not a big surprise, our camp is at 1330m elevation. We pack up quickly and postpone breakfast to the next hut in roundabout 5km. It’s a narrow valley and the sun just reaches our campsite when we are about to leave.
It’s a lovely morning stroll around Lake Constance until we miss a turnoff that leads further up. Well, why not just walk around the lake whose water level is so low these days that it must be possible to walk around, we think. 🤔 But the water reaches up to the mountains after the next corner and even though we climb over some rocks we soon come to the point where moving further is not possible. We still don’t want to turn around and try to climb up to where the GPS shows the trail.
It’s very steep and I hold on to all kinds of plants and leaves in the hope that they are well rooted in the ground, if not I would directly slide down and fall into the lake. A realization that causes a big fear. Just do not panic now, I tell myself. A creek about 10 meters further left looks like a way out and once I get there, I can see that climbing up over the stones in the creek is pretty straight forward.
We take a deep breath as we realize how dangerous this unplanned morning adventure was. Soon we reach Blue Lake, apparently one of the clearest lakes on the planet. It’s not allowed to take water from it or even swim in there, but we use the nearby hut as our late breakfast location. The day flies by and we fuel up at West Sabine Hut before starting our climb to Travers Saddle in 1787m. It’s all up through forest, not too difficult.
Once we are halfway up I start struggling, my calves hurt and I find it mentally hard to keep moving without seeing any progress. The cutest looks the same no matter if I am 100m up or down. I start crying and get angry shouting that I don’t understand anymore why I am doing this.
We take a break and the map shows that we will soon be above tree line. What a relief! Once above the trees and able to look back, I pick up speed again and make it all the way up to the saddle in a short time. It’s already 7pm when we start the descent down to Upper Travers Hut just a couple of kilometers down.
There are still a couple of free beds but it seems so busy that we prefer to look for a campsite in the grass close by. After quite some searching - it’s not as flat as it seems - we find a spot and cook our well deserved dinner while the sun is setting.
Day 95-96 | St Arnaud & a zero day
16/17 January 2023 | 25°C | 30km
Sant Arnaud, the next little village, resupply stop and source for “real food” is calling. It still is roughly 30km away but we are determined to get there today.
It’s still humid, shady and a bit chilly at our campsite in the grass close to Upper Traverse Hut at the wake up call at 6am so we decide to pack up and get moving to have breakfast a few kilometers down the hill at some sunny spot. My legs are still tired from yesterday’s climb but I slept quite well and after a calf massage I feel ready to go. And the temptation of sleeping in a real bed tonight is just too appealing.
It’s a 2 hrs walk down to John Tait Hut over rocks and roots. Some hikers are still packing up there while we are sitting on the porch of the hut making breakfast. It feel great to have had a super early start today. By 2pm we reach our lunch spot, the jetty at Lake Rotoiti. Phil jumps in right away despite seeing a giant eel swimming by. Urghhh!
Though the last 11km along the lake sound good they are as bit boring as one can’t see much of the lake while walking in the forest. I try to distract my mind by listening to my audio book. The last few kilometers seem to drag along forever but by 4.30 I finally reach the “beach action” at the upper and of the lake by the tiny village Sant Arnaud.
After 120km in less than 5 days including 2 passes of more than 1700m, we surely have deserved a nice room, a first class dinner and a zero day in the lovely Alpine Lodge! 👍
