Day 120 | Matahika Outdoor Pursuit Center
10 February 2023 | 21°C | 19km
The first alarm rings at 5am and a couple more until 5.30am. Why are people getting up so early? Is it going to be a competition who arrives first at Nichols hut with only 6 beds? Luckily I am walking into the opposite direction.
When I get out of bed at 6am to make coffee, most of the other hikers have left already. How nice and quiet. Just Chas is still there with whom I talk about the differences between PCT/AT and Te Araroa. When I leave the hut at 8, the sun is out and instantly the air feels much warmer and less wet. I soak in the sun for a few minutes before I start walking.
Awesome views after a first climb up to Richards knob! I can suddenly see the coastline as well as look back to the ridge I walked on the past two days.
I am almost running down the mountains and opt for a long big lunch break once I reach a nice grassy clearing by the river. A food package is waiting for me at the Matahika Outdoor Center (including a huge bucket of yoghurt … yum!), so I eat as much as I can from what I still have left in my food bag. 😅
