A Dangerous Business

Date: 26th January 2024

Start: Windy Point (km 2098.4)

End: Hope Kiwi Lodge (km 2113.8)

Distance Travelled: 16.1 km

Total Distance Completed: 1951.5 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Hear The Cry by P&W Collective

Consequences of Hiker Hunger: a stupidly heavy pack and sore joints

One rest day was not enough. All I wanted to do was curl up in my comfy bed for an hour longer and then watch my skin get super wrinkly at the thermal pools all day. But no, I came over here to walk, so I must. Not before a pancake breakfast generously put on by Dutch hiker Anna enjoyed by a good portion of the hostel’s TA population.

Melly, Sean, and her friends came around a little later to mop up the remaining pancakes and transport Oli and myself to the start of the next section of trail to Arthur’s Pass. Matt needed another day in Hanmer to give his feet enough time to heal and his father would be taking the bus back to Christchurch and from there a flight back to Melbourne. The other hikers would try their luck with hitching.

Arriving at Windy Point I set off by myself. Melly and company would walk into the first hut and then come back out, Oli also deciding to join them. Considering they’re all German-speaking, I worried I’d feel a bit left out of I stuck with them, much in the same way as I felt sharing Blackbridge Rd campsite all the way back at Puketi Forest with Team France. A sturdy swingbridge took me over the Boyle River and into Lake Sumner Forest Park.

Before I entered the Richmond’s and Nelson Lakes sections, I had a general idea about what sort of terrain and trail conditions I would face in them. For the next 6-7 days, I’m walking in the dark, not really knowing what to expect in terms of what sort of pace I should set. Starting off seemed easy enough, a wide flat gravel path taking me deeper into the park and further away from the relaxing thermal pools of Hanmer that I was still craving.

The weight of the excessive amount of groceries I’d bought in Hanmer (and the fudge) was testing out my shoulders and hips a lot. I genuinely think I’ve got more food for this section than I did starting the Richmond’s. At least the terrain is flatter here, only a couple small hills to traverse as I followed the Hope River upstream.

With that said, I had to take my first break after only 45 minutes. It’s nice knowing I won’t starve, but I didn’t need to have a feast every night. Important lessons learnt the hard way, I suppose. Shortly after I left I heard a familiar voice. It wasn’t Melly or Oli, no this voice was British. Toby! I haven’t seen him since we had fish and chips together in Paihia, always seeing his name a few days ahead of us in every hut book I came across. It might have stayed that way, had his shoes not imploded on the trip out here. With the poor weather forecast, he’s heading back out to Christchurch to get a new pair of shoes.

Despite the huge weight on my back, I was still making good time and soon reached a clearing containing the first hut.

It’s a basic hut, although despite its size it only has 6 bunks. It could’ve easily fit 8, maybe 10 bunks with how much unused floor space it had. Team Deutsch arrived soon after (must be nice only carrying day packs) and parked themselves on a fallen tree outside the hut. Apart from the excessive floor space, there was your typical metal bench with one of Bevan’s chocolate bars that sadly a mouse had claimed. Not entirely sure how it’ll pay it forward, last time I checked mice can’t buy chocolate. On the back wall was also a nice drawing of the trail.

Saying goodbye to most of Team Deutsch, I assumed there would be three of us continuing to Hope Kiwi Lodge. Only two of us would continue our journey today. Oli was going to stay back and wait for Matt to catch up tomorrow and support him as best he can. This left Melly and I to continue as a duo, climbing up and over a small but very tiring hill into flat grassy plains holding the odd cow or two.

Short but frequent pauses were par for the course today, the desire to relieve our bodies of the great weight they were carrying always present as our feet kept us going. Although it felt slow, we were still making good time and I soon spotted the hut just ahead. However, our arrival was delayed by the most pointless turn away from the hut. I still don’t know why the trail in plain view of our destination just veered away, adding a few hundred very unnecessary metres. My confusion and mild frustration was short lived, and I soon locked eyes with the hut again, this time with the path leading right to the front door.

Hope Kiwi Lodge has to be up there as one of the nicest huts I’ve come across so far. A large communal dining area with two separate sleeping quarters and large windows with which to stare at the surrounding hills. Yet again, the hut was pretty empty when Melly and I arrived but slowly filled up over the course of the afternoon.

Weather-wise, the last few days have been really good. That looks set to change tomorrow. Metservice put up rain watches for this region and orange warnings for Arthur’s Pass. This rain could have consequence further down the trail depending on how much rain falls and how full the rivers get. Potentially, we might be looking at having to wait out a day either here or at a hut further down the trail. For now, we’re planning to sleep in and wait for the rain to pass over and have a shorter day to the next hut only 18 km away. This also means that the two boys behind us don’t fall too far behind as it would be good if we can all be together for the big rivers on the other side of Harper Pass. It sucks that we won’t know what conditions are like until we get there, our only good source of information is if any we run into any NOBO’s along the way who can give us some pointers. All we can do is walk and see what we find along the way.