My Achilles tendon has been well-exercised over the past two months. It was a slow start to my rehab, with overnight trips carrying little food, mostly on four-wheel-drive tracks then, after a month, that cranked up to four nights in behind Skippers that led to some confidence the tendon would hold up to a longer Little Adventure.
The area immediately south of Lake Sumner had been on my agenda for a few years, having walked the Hurunui River Valley many times, Jollie Brook, the Poulter River Valley, Cass Saddle, etc.
This would be a decent test, with a lot of walking in big river valleys and a few days, actually hours, of more testing conditions. Just with a heavier pack.
Considering my age, my fitness was as good as I could imagine, and there was a decent weather window. No fronts coming through for the next ten days.
I had grand ambitions: Candlesticks Bivvy, Ant Stream, and 12 days of food aboard.
Despite my tendon not being an issue, my hopes were pared back as reality set in.
Two things.
Bashing up untracked narrow valleys lost its appeal. I seemed to spend a fair amount of the summer knee-deep in river beds.
And changes in landholders’ attitudes over the years, becoming more militant to occasional random adventurers, made me feel quite unwelcome, despite a lack of actual confrontation.
In the end, I was only away on this expedition for seven days, in part thanks to a 32 km final day encompassing 1200 or so metres of climbing.
Time to go home after 75 days away and more than 50 huts visited to add to the tally.
