tramping new zealand

Napoleon Bivvy is small, with just two beds and a narrow gap between them, where a fold-out table serves as the kitchen area. It’s been cut down to 300 mm wide to fit between the mattresses.

The whole place measured around 1800 mm x 2400 mm internally, but at least I could stand up in it. There was a small window at one end and the door opening onto a small porch at the other. No heating. No toilet that I could find. A small water tank.

Few visit. The hut book goes back to 2004, with most years having visit numbers in the single digits. Last year had just four groups, but only three stayed. Most are hunters or DOC associated.

It was mid-week, so hopefully I wouldn’t coincide with anyone else for the night.

It was a beautifully still morning looking across to the Seaward Kaikouras. Oh, so quiet.

I still had a bunch of food, and there was no requirement to hurry onwards. Instead, I spent the day reading two books from the hut library. One was a thriller with a surprise and unlikely ending, and the other a character-filled series of linked short stories from the American Midwest and more my style.

In the afternoon, I walked for 20 minutes back up the track, and this time I could see Tapuae-o-Uenuku fairly close by, away to the southwest

Closer at home, the view of the coast from the back of the hut was a delight from just after sunrise to sunset. Very calm for the whole day.

Relaxation. Just what I needed.