A Dangerous Business

Date: 24th February 2024

Start: Kiwi Burn Hut (km 2777.4)

End: Lower Princhester Hut (km 2811.9)

Distance Travelled: 13.4 km walked + 21.4 km hitched (34.5 km total)

Total Distance Completed: 2658.4 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: cardigan by Taylor Swift

Hours Spent Waiting Out the Rain: 4

I never learnt what the deal was with those two late arrivals last night, all I know is they’re not hikers thanks to the clues they’d left behind. A mostly drunk bottle of Jameson, proper saucepan, salt and pepper shakers, fresh fruit everywhere, a whole roll of aluminum foil, and the girl had fake nails. Did I also mention that for some unknown reason they’d taken down our hung up food bags and left them on the floor? They’re very lucky no mice visited us in the night because you can be sure all 8 of us proper hikers would be giving them a properly good interrogation and education right now. Instead, Alan got his things packed and offered his bed for them to sleep on, both likely feeling the effects of all that whiskey they’d drunk.

Right, let’s get to the walking. Callum and I walked back to the trail and followed his map towards where the angler access track should be. This would involve a crossing of the Mararoa River, but I’ve done plenty of them by now so how hard can it be. Very, as it turns out. Presumably the river is deeper and stronger here than at the actual crossing point downstream. Midway through the water was up to my waist and I was having a hard time moving through it. Callum had to wade back in and act as a break to help get me across. Unbeknownst to me, this crossing would have further ramifications later on today.

We found the track and followed a fenceline to the gravel road leading from the Mavora Lakes campsite. The rain wasn’t scheduled until later this morning so if it comes to it and I can’t get a hitch, I’d like to get as much walking done in the dry as I possibly can. That shouldn’t be too hard, the road was dead flat.

As I walked I started wondering how far along the road/track the other three had camped. They’re all pretty fast but if they went through the same trail as I did I doubt they could’ve gotten that far down the farm track. A few cars past me around this time, none of whom had space for me. That was until a local already carrying a French hiker to Te Anau stopped to give me a ride. That was a lot easier than I anticipated, I only walked 7 km. He dropped me off on SH94 where it intersects the gravel road leading to the Takitimu Track. At the junction was a coffee cart and a store selling wool clothing. Grabbing a coffee and a pie, I settled onto one of the benches and got eating.

No sooner had I finished the pie when the heavens opened and the rain arrived. I retreated to the balcony of the store to finish off my coffee. I got chatting with a Swiss bikepacking couple who were heading up to Christchurch who then proceeded to leave whilst it was still raining. Mind boggling if you ask me. What was more perplexing was the sight of Sophie and Sam arriving after hitching from Te Anau. Based on their Instagram feeds I thought they were miles ahead, yet here they were. They were also planning on starting the same track today, but certainly not in these conditions. It was getting quite cold outside so the owners of the coffee cart (who also run the clothing store) opened up a room for us to hunker down in, even getting a fire going. I got chatting with the two of them about what they’d gone through since we last met (which must’ve been at Hanmer Springs) and what their plans were for the next section.

With the rain having around and only 6 km further to walk I saw no reason to leave just yet. In a break in the rain I ordered a cheese scone and a hot chocolate for lunch and then noticed the selfie camera on my phone was covered in condensation. Flipping it over, the main cameras were also fogged up. Remember how I said the water during the river crossing came up to my waist? Yep, my phone was in my pocket and I guess some had gotten inside and fogged up the camera lenses and also messed with the Bluetooth which would no longer turn on. Not great but could’ve been a lot worse.

The rain finally eased off by 2pm, prompting the three of us to pack up and hit the road again. Sam and Sophie liked my plan of only going to the first hut and would join me tonight. Speaking of which, where were Matt, Melly, and Oli? I still hadn’t seen them pass through. Did they skip by here without stopping? Surely not, Matt for sure wouldn’t pass by a coffee cart without getting his beloved Americano. Did they go through here before I arrived? That’d be crazy. Hopefully they’d be at the hut to explain everything.

The road to Lower Princhester Hut was nothing extraordinary, just your classic gravel road past paddocks. A couple showers hosed us down through the next hour and a bit, with the forest and hut coming into view in a short amount of time.

And what do you know, the trio were already there, along with Till. To summarise their last couple days, they’d exited the Mavora Walkway at the bottom of South Mavora (missing out of the fun obstacle course) and walked the entire road to where it meets the official trail south of Kiwi Burn Hut, backtracking slightly to camp. Then leaving at 6:30am (keep in mind sunrise was at 7:15), they’d bolted along the road to arrive at the coffee cart at 9:30, reaching the hut an hour later just before the rain arrived. Madness if you ask me, but I was glad to see them again.

A NOBO hiker named Vlad from Czechia showed up later that afternoon and gave us a rundown of what to expect over the next few days. In short, slow, boggy, muddy, hilly. It’s like we’re back in Northland. I also got an insight on what the other three had been planning since I last saw them. More rain was coming on the 27th and ideally they wanted to be through this section before it hit. Therefore, they wanted to do two crazy long days instead of three short ones like I had intended and then rest on the day the rain would hit. That’s exactly what I was hoping to avoid, ridiculously long days. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to lean into it, my primary reason being I now only had a handful more days to spend with these guys so I might as well stick with them. Yes, it might suck having to walk for 10+ hours for two days straight, but at least there was a rest day waiting at the end of it. With that all sorted and dinner consumed, I set an early alarm so give myself the best chance of being ready to go at sunrise.

Hopefully my camera dries out.