field. There were a couple of people, but I didn't see anything that I would call cabins. There were two shacks. We decided that we couldn't stay there. We had to pay $10 because the people said they had to turn some one away. We probably did those people a favor.
We found another place. It was actually a place that Ann Marie and Julianne had booked, but we had cancelled because we had the "cabin". We checked out this place and it looked decent so we got two rooms. It had a good size kitchen with two stoves. We cooked spaghetti for dinner. It was good, but the Vienna poppy seed bread that I picked up was delicious, seems like it was just made.
So now we are in our rooms. The rooms have sinks and stoves, but we share a bathroom. The stove I wouldn't use because the wires are all frayed and the light fixture in the ceiling is just a bulb. So, if I call this place nice you can imagine what the other place was like.
We set our clocks back tonight. They adjust their clocks around the change of season. Since it is going into their fall we turned it back.
So now it is 8:30 instead of 9:30 and I have nothing else to do. I guess I can read. Well, sweet dreams everyone. Speaking of dreams, I seem to dream a lot or at least I remember dreaming. I even had a dream about my crabby neighbor. For the people that know me, you know how much I love her. Hopefully I will dream about something good tonight.
March 16, 2003
Ohhhh my aching legs!!! It was a long, steep hike today. Glad to be sitting down.
We got up and ate. We couldn't go anywhere until we made some phone call at 8:00 when things open. We didn't get on the trail until about 9:15. Driving to it was beautiful because the road is along a bay called Te Waewae which goes out to the Southern Pacific Ocean. I enjoyed watching the waves.
The first part was through a forest which dumped you onto the beach and you walk along that for a while. There were quite a few bridges that were made of chain link fence. It was very narrow and it was a little unnerving.
There was a section of all boardwalk. It was quite extensive and required a lot of work to build. They place chicken wire on all of the boardwalks. It is to make it less slippery when it gets wet.
There were sections of the trail that was very muddy, which we were informed of. They were even renting out gaiters if you didn't have any. We were warned that the trail was going to be getting steep. That it would take 3 hours. I didn't think it was that bad at first, but it just seemed like it would never end. We started getting glimpses of the ocean. What a site.
The clouds started moving in and I was getting chilled from the sweat and the cool wind. It was very good when I finally made the top. There is a summit walk but it was fogged and uphill so I decided not to do it. The hut is brand new and very nice. It also has quite the view, below, of the ocean.
As soon as I got here I put hot water on for hot chocolate. So far I have had that and hot soup and I still feel cold. They have a gas stove to warm up the dining area, but it doesn't seem to put out much heat.
This track was only open last year. A bunch of individual people had the land and there have been a lot of volunteers helping with this place.
I had dinner and hung out in the dining area with everyone. I was finally getting warm. The wind was really howling out there. I am glad to be spending the night in the hut. I have a bunkroom all to myself.
March 17, 2003
The warden reminded me that it is St. Patrick's Day today. I lose all sense of days out here.
The day looked to be promising as far as weather. I could see the sunrays trying to break through. The summit didn't look fogged in either. I ate and packed up. We were all ready so we hiked out, first to the side trail to the summit loop. We were told that there were some neat rock formations. If it is clear enough you can see Stewart Island and other islands, but it wasn't that clear. The rock formations were neat. They look like rocks were just dropped and scattered here and there on top.
The beginning of the trail was more boardwalk, a lot of steps. I can't believe the work that they put into this trail. I asked the hut warden how much of the trail is boardwalk. He told me it was 6-8 miles of boardwalk. The trail is only 33 miles long.
Once we were done with the boardwalk, the trail was all mud. It got quite tiring walking through it because my feet would be sucked in. We crossed over some old viaducts. Fortunately they were refurbished, so they were safe to walk on.
We stopped for lunch. I wanted to stay in, lay in the sun, and air out my feet. Everyone was ready to go. They told me there was a beach at this hut so I jumped up and I was on the trail in no time. The last stretch of trail was flat, but very tiring. It was an old railroad track. Some ties were still there so you had to watch your step for those and for the stakes that were sticking up. I could hear the roar of the waves. We couldn't see anything. The trail was quite dark because it was like a tree tunnel. The sound of the waves was a nice sound.
The last stretch seemed to take forever. The total time we hiked and had lunch was about 7 hours. The hut is very nice. I have my own room again. The hut is on top of a cliff and you can look down at the beach and ocean.
We all went down to the beach. AnnMarie and I were the only ones to get our feet wet. We actually went up to our thigh, but the waves got us wetter. We were like little kids jumping in and out of the waves, laughing and screaming. The undertow was pretty strong, so we had to be careful. The water was a little numbing, but I thought it might be good for my feet.
