Rakaia River to Rangitata River

• Start: @ km 2245.5
• End: @ km 2255
• Hiked: 9.5 km

It was so nice to sleep in; especially in a cozy bed, in our charming little pod while the rain drizzled down outside. We took nice warm morning showers, something we can’t remember doing on this trip. We then enjoyed breakfast number one in our pod before checking out... at 9:30.

Mathias went for a beard trim and hair cut before we headed to Prima Cafe for coffee and breakfast number two. The cafe was just as cute as can be. It was grandparents’ garage sale/thrift store meets coffee shop. We enjoyed our breakfast treats, with Kirby who showed up just after we’d arrived, while Leah did her best not to buy the many items calling her name (she was successful, thanks to Mathias’s reasoning... and slight judgement). We also ran in to Claire (always a treat) and Mariko (a lovely girl from Japan) whom we got to say ‘see ya later’ to as they were taking zero day.

We (Kirby included) met Wayne, the driver of the shuttle we had arranged to take us to the start of the trailhead, at noon-ish. The weather had improved significantly and it was becoming a beautiful day. We arrived around 1:30 and off we went.

The trail was a wonderful surprise: it was so straightforward and easy. We had a gradual 700m-ish incline and made great time. About 3km in, we ran in to Alex (German) and Miriam (A girl from Finland, who speaks Swedish and lives in England.) We had heard about A-Frame Hut, and although it was only 9.5km from where we started, we really wanted to stay there. We knew it only had three beds and therefore also knew there was a chance we wouldn’t get two of them (or all of them.. as we were hoping to have the place to ourselves). Many people we had been hiking with for the past days had stayed behind in Methven, but then there were always the NOBOs (north-bounders) to consider.

We made it to the hut and found that we were the first ones. Yay! We snacked with Kirby, Alex and Miriam before they headed off towards the next hut. We had the whole hut to ourselves for a good 15-20minutes until three NOBOs turned up. They were super nice, three Canadian university students, but we were still a bit bummed. We are sure they were too as two of them had to pitch their tents. But all in all, it was still great, and as we said, they were lovely. 

We ate dinner outside, bundled up in our down jackets and under Leah’s sleeping bag, taking in the surrounding mountains lit up by the sun. What a view. 

• Start: @ km 2255
• End: @ km 2283
• Hiked: 28 km

When we got out of bed, it was still dark outside and we got to observe the starry sky above. It was beautiful. Mathias lit a candle in the hut which gave us such a cosy feeling while we enjoyed our coffee and breakfast in the hut we wished we could pack up and take with us.

Unfortunately, Mathias’s morning after that was not great. He felt nauseous and his foot was still bothering him quite a bit. He still wanted to trudge ahead so we made our way to Comyns Hut, where Kirby, Alex and Miriam had headed the night before. We were happy to find them all enjoying their breakfast. It was quite chilly and they were going to take their time before heading out. We moved forward.

The next few hours consisted of 63 river crossings! The first 28 crossings were freezing; our feet were so cold it was hard to walk. The sun was up, but the sun's rays were not yet reaching us. We took a mini break just to try to get feeling back in our toes.

Soon the sun’s warmth arrived and the next 35 river crossings were a piece of cake. We had nice views, which we could now better enjoy. We walked through a couple of tall grassy fields before making our way to the saddle. We enjoyed a lengthy lunch on the saddle surrounded by mountain views.

From the saddle we made our way across the scree, which was quite stable and easy. Then it was a bunch of downhill, but luckily not to steep. As it was quite a chill and easy-ish trek, too drama free in fact, nature decided to throw us a little curveball with some plants referred to as 'Spaniards'-eek. We've already experienced many sharp plants along our TA journey; gorse, blackberry bushes, and a wide variety of other spikey blacks and bushes, but Spaniards were a whole new kind of spike. These plants have spiky leaves like swords that will poke you through your clothes. Ouch! We only had a few encounters and learned quickly to avoid them. At times the ground became quite uneven and we really had to watch where we were placing our feet as often times there were holes leading to hidden streams below.

Eventually the track turned into a 4WD track (which on the TA could really mean anything, but in this case it was an easy track). We arrived at Manuka Hut sometime before 5pm and had some time to relax. The hut was quite dark, but very cute and cozy. It reminded Leah of her Tamarack summer camp days. Kirby and Miriam arrived shortly after us. They both entered the menthol smelling hut as we had been giving ourselves Anti-Flamme massages. Miriam spoke about the stretching routines she has now reintroduced into her daily life. We all agreed that this was good, important and needed to become part of our daily routines as well (we've been quite slack). Miriam didn't want to have a long day the following day so said farewell to us, closed the door to the hut, and headed off to do a few more kilometers.

A little while after Miriam's departure, Leah gathered the water bottles to go gather water from the stream; however, when she went to open the door she could not get out. "What is wrong with me," she announced. "Why can't I figure out how to open this door?". Kirby then came to help her out, only to realize that she too could not open the door. Why (you might be wondering)? Because when Miriam left, she accidentally (?) locked the door from the outside. Shit. Well, at least we can jump out of the windows; nope, the windows don't open. Hmmm. I wouldn't say that we panicked, but there were definitely a few moments of worry. Would we have to wait until tomorrow for someone to show up and let us out?

But then, Mathias became MacGyver(ish). He got out his Swiss Army Knife (Leah believes they should now sponsor him) and used the screwdriver to take the door off the hinges. Freedom. After our jail break, we were able to better celebrate our 100th day on the TA and were glad Kirby was there to celebrate with us. Our 100th day ended with a beautiful cotton candy sky.

Side note: We have now given Miriam the trail name 'The Sheriff" and can't wait to tell her the story.

Just a few extra pictures of the hut. It’s surprising how nice the huts can be in their age and with their rough vintage outside looks.

• Start: @ km 2283
• End: @ km 2315
• Hiked: 32 km 

Last night Mathias got some much needed better sleep. Unfortunately Leah's sleep was sabotaged: she had dreamed that Mathias lost one of his earplugs and thought it really happened. So after that every time she moved she was worried about waking him up, even though he was happily ear-plugged-up and in a deep sleep next to her.

We had some nice breakfast and coffee with Kirby and then left for our long way to the carpark. Fortunately the day didn't have many river crossings, so our feet were mostly dry and the path was quite easy, mostly along old farm tracks with just a few steeper bits, and those had nice switchbacks to make them easy going as well. As we had to be at the carpark at 5pm, we still had to push it a little and besides a longer lunch break, didn't waste too much time.

Because it was easy going and there were no cars, it was a perfect day to listen to music and podcasts. We haven't done this a lot on this trip yet, but today certainly tried to make up for it and had earplugs in for most of the day. It was really nice to get this distraction while walking to the beautiful, empty scenery with beautiful mountains in the backdrop.

The last hour before getting to the carpark was very windy and we were happy that the wind was coming from the side of the cliff we walked along so we didn't have to be afraid of being blown off the edge. A short climb down from the higher flat, brought us to the level of the carpark and we arrived there around 4:30 pm.

Wayne was a little early, so we didn't have to wait long for our ride into Geraldine. With us were Kirby and as a surprise to us also Annouk and her visiting friend. Wayne even had some fresh fruit for us: Apples and Pineapple, that made us very happy. The ride took almost one and a half hours until we stopped at the Backpackers in Geraldine and checked in. People at the backpacker (Paulette and Craig and cats: Bobby the receptionist, Mr. Possum and Midget) were lovely and welcoming. They had towels and body wash for us and offered us free laundry. A lovely common area with couches, tables and games made it feel like home.

We quickly went into town (a 15 minute walk) and enjoyed burgers, fries and fried mac&cheese balls with Kirby. After a short break in the supermarket our plan was netflix and ice cream, but due to the very slow internet it ended up being mostly ice cream and a little youtube.

We woke up without an alarm around 8 am and stayed in bed for a little longer. We decided to do laundry before heading into town to get food. As the machine was currently in use, this task ended up to take almost until 11:30 am, locking us into our room, as we never have enough clothes to wear while we do laundry.

We had a nice late breakfast at Cafe Verde, surrounded by lots of flowers and plants and a desert at the Running Duck where we met Kirby. She was very excited about us using the restaurant‘s bathroom. You had to go out and around the building and enter the bathroom with a code. Inside the bathroom was a disco ball, laser lights, music playing and all the walls were covered in old LP covers and records. Fun. 

After the extended breakfast we went to Barkers; a company doing jams, syrups and juices and all kind of things with fruit. This was kind of a factory store here and you could taste all kinds of things for free, which we took full advantage of. Yummy. After a short stop at the library to write on the blog we came back and had afternoon coffee and treats here. Eating, eating, eating. We know. 

We did the restocking for the next days and also bought some things for a fun cheese night at the backpackers; a fun idea of Anouk’s. We all met up in the lovely living room and shared some tasty snacks like cheese, salad, crackers, bread, jams and wine. Such a nice evening.