tramping new zealand

Snow!! Maybe 150 mm or so.

Would have been a great opportunity for testing my four-season tent, but . . .

Handy to have a hut.

The water tank tap was frozen in the morning but not unexpected, so I got to work on plenty of fluffy snow to melt.

Very windy once again, so it seems sensible that this is my last day of this particular escapade. Neither the resident kea nor the weka were observed early on. They have more sense than to be out and about.

With little food in my pack, getting away doesn’t take too long. Just sliding on some wet-ish clothes, and striding down the track while avoiding the snow-laden tree and fern branches.

It’s amazing how I squeezed in this trip between the bad weather events.

Raining heavily the day before I set off, and some of the morning I left even. A few cloudless days in my tent. Once the rain came I stayed in huts with only the wet day climbing from Whariwharangi to Awapoto Hut to dampen my spirits. A wet rest day, then sunny along Evans Ridge, one of my favourite days walking around Nelson.

The snow of last night, and the slow cruise back down the hill.

The Coastal Track is now extraordinarily well-manicured, with the minor exceptions north of Totaranui.

Come to the conclusion it’s not for me. Camping at Anapai or Mutton Cove in summer might appeal, but a busy track and campsites are not really my thing.

Plenty of others would disagree. I’ll be heading somewhere else for the summer.