tramping new zealand

The rain ceased during the night but the wind kept up, meant the tent was just about dry.

Man, that wind, she sure blew.

I woke early and managed to listen to the forecasts. Seems it’s a good day to come down from the mountains, storms are brewing.

I was feeling the chill so before hopping out the tent I added my soft shell to my thick woollen hoodie and two wool singlets I’d slept in to keep warm. Soon I added my raincoat over the top for wind protection, five layers now. I looked around for my second thick beanie and found I’d slept in that as well, I must’ve been both cold and tired last night.

I had to drop the tent real quick to stop the solitary pole being tied in a knot, did I mention it was blowing?

After about an hour of walking I’d finally warmed up sufficiently to strip off to a solitary singlet and raincoat. My overtrou and gaiters kept me from turning into a pincushion due to the thick on the ground aciphyllas, ie, speargrass, bare legs would be lacerated.

The track is not as well marked for this section but today I just plodded on, not a lot of zip until I reached the shores of Lake Ohau and cooked up some dinner for lunch. That seemed to help and I marched around the shores until after 6 pm when finding a sheltered campsite became a concern.

Tomorrow, for a change, the weather forecast is for severe gales around here, I’m about 15km of easy, flat walking to Twizel village where I can stock up on some supplies and head off towards Tekapo.

Wow, that means around 70 km of flat travel ahead.

That’s gunna be a different style of walking for a few days. Since I left Arrowtown 11 days ago it’s been entirely up-and-down.