I can't remember if I already wrote about our plans to meet them in New Zealand. They are members of the Pioneer Valley Hiking Club back in Springfield, Mass, and they decided to take a vacation in New Zealand during the time Shari and I were going to be here. They got here in early March and rented a car and have been touring the South Island. They had booked the Hemp Ridge and Routeburn tracks for the same days we did, so we could all hike them together.
So we did our laundry and shopping and booked our transport to and from the Routeburn Track and then drove down to Tastapere where the Hump Ridge track starts. We got to the booking office just in time for the track briefing and then we went to check into the cabin that Shari and I had reserved. It was awful, so we cancelled out of that place and went over to the hostel that Julianna and Ann Marie had originally booked. Much better place. The only problem here is it has no phone.The nearest one is about 2 miles down the road.
I was going to get up at 1:30AM (on 3/16) and call Susan to wish her a Happy Birthday (it would have been 7:30AM (3/15) back home), but I can't drive their car so I'll have to call in the morning here and hope I catch her in the afternoon at home. If she's not there I can at least leave a message on her machine.
We start daylight savings time here overnight, so I just set my watch back an hour. Yeah - an extra hour of sleep. We want to get a fairly early start on the track because it is a long day - 18km with about a 3 hour uphill climb.
Unfortunately I called a couple of car rental places after we arrived here this evening to try to reserve a car for March 23rd in Queenstown and they didn't think they had any of the real economy cars available for that date. I need to call back in the morning at 8AM when their computers are back up and see what we can get. We plan to be up at the phone booth shortly before 8AM so I will call Susan and then the car place and then hopefully get on the track by 8:45AM.
3/16: The day started well. We had a great breakfast and then went to use the phone and Susan answered when I called her. I'm so happy I got to wish her a happy birthday and talk to her for awhile. We then were able to reserve an economy car for 10 days starting March 23rd to tour the South Island and we have the option for 4 more days with a car on the North Island. We also reserved bunks in a hostel in Queenstown for the nights of 3/21 and 3/22.
We then headed off to drive to the start of the trail and got to the parking area for the trail about 9AM. You can park at a farm that you can also stay at, and it is really lovely. We couldn't stay there last night because it was filled for the night. All the oweners who have a share in the farm were staying there for a business meeting and we talked to some of them for a few minutes before we headed off on the hike. One couple who live on the North Island gave me their phone number and address and said that Shari and I could stay at their house when we are up on the North Island. People here are so nice!
We started down a trail and then weren't sure if we were on the right trail, so we turned around and Ann Maire went back to check at the farm. It turns out we were going the right way so we didn't actually start until 9:15AM. Interesting trail. Through some brush, then along the beach and then back in the woods. It was a really long day - 18 km and a lot of climbing. Three solid hours of uphill. I didn't get to Okaka Hut until 5:15PM.
This is a new track that just opened in 2001 and it is run similarly to the Milford Track. They only allow 40 people a day on the track, but it is only 2 nights. We have only 9 people on the trail today, so there is lots of room in the hut and what a hut it is! Hot and cold water, a gas stove (that looks like a wood stove) in the eating area and a view of the beach. Unfortunately, it just fogged in when we got here so we don' have much of a view.
The other thing this track has is lots of mud and supposedly we will encounter more of it tomorrow than today. There is an interesting passage about mud in the book The Lonely Planet - Tramping in New Zealand: "The sight of Kiwis (New Zealanders) splashing their way across a river or plodding through ankle-deep mud with little regard to their boots never ceases to amaze overseas trampers. In many countries, particularly the USA, walkers seem almost obsessed with keeping their socks dry." I'm one of those hikers that tries to keep my feet relatively dry but I plowed right through the mud today. It wasn't deep enough to come over the top of my boots.
HOME PAGE
HOME PAGE