tramping new zealand

Some people get away early for their holidays, but I’m not in that category.

When you are leaving for a month or more, there’s always plenty to do. My mess from the North Island was still on the living room floor, having been washed and dried. I hadn’t actually packed it away, as I had planned to leave just a few days later.

I finally left after 11 am and headed over the hills to Havelock. A lone TA walker had decided not to do the road walking section, and I took her to Anakiwa, which I hadn’t been back to since my own hike, now almost 11 years before.

Then I scooted back to Linkwater towards Mount Stokes. Another hitchhiker presented herself, and I took her around to Cow Bay.

The wiggly-woggly road took a long while, and I didn’t get to the start of the Mount Stokes track until 3 pm and headed up the hill 15 minutes later. The DOC sign suggested five hours, but two hikers returned to their car as I was leaving, saying it had taken them six hours. They clarified they were 81.

I didn’t need to go right to the top, which was in the clouds anyway, and instead intended to visit a hut up there that is just 15 minutes off the track, and I discovered involves some crashing through leatherwood.

It took a bit over two hours to the hut, which I eventually found, but with daylight going to disappear, I didn’t stay long.

Then two hours back down. Fortunately, it was still light, so I didn’t need my head torch.

I’d planned to go back to a DOC campsite on the Picton Road, but it was truly dark by the time I got to Portage, so I thought that Cow Bay campsite would do.

I’m carrying a big two-person tent for car camping and quickly had that up, so it didn’t take long to slide into my newly washed sleeping bag.

I would deal with the windy road in the morning, before it was closed for daytime roadworks.