tramping new zealand

I awoke during the night, still feeling sore from my week’s effort and heard some light rain. That was the new forecast and it was gonna get worse in the afternoon.

If I stuck around, it might be a day or two until the rain stopped and the stream went down.

I decided to keep going. Another big day, and I could be home in my own bed.

If Nardoo Creek was too high, I could always plug back up the hill.

Dense mist when I left the bivvy, with not much view of anything from the scenic location. Just the snow poles, which have been recently been made more visible with a 300 mm fluorescent orange capping.

That worked.

It’s a long drop down towards Nardoo Creek, first through tussock and snowgrass, then into mountain beech forest.

The beech was gorgeous with all the colours resplendent in the drizzle.

The first few creek crossings down the bottom were easy enough, with the water level only slightly up. The first crossing around the corner was deeper, and I undid my pack buckles in case ejection was required.

Time for lunch.

At least, then I was down on the river flats, which made travel a lot less up-and-down. Probably 14 crossings by 5 30 pm, and I’d done the last crossing required.

Just as well, as the rain was now coming down steadily.

Suddenly, pop, my calf pinged.

That hurt.

No point in continuing on. Maybe some drugs and a good night’s sleep would allow me to more than hobble.

Did I mention it was wet? Or that my sleeping mat doesn’t always stay up at night?

Early to bed, with no real dinner.

A second ten-hour day.