tramping new zealand

Lake Mason is, in fact, two lakes with a metre or so difference in height and a narrow strip of land between.

I overlooked the smaller and lower lake while having breakfast while packing up.

Slowly the day clouded over, but it remained still. I followed a few roading easements while crossing the South Hurunui River upstream from Stoney Creek. I’ve put in plenty of training to follow rivers over the years, but it did seem to go on for a while. Maybe six hours in total movement for the day. It worked out to be another 20-odd kilometre day.

The first third was the easiest, on four-wheel-drive tracks that were little used. On grass meandering across the countryside.

The second third was on a well-used track that was generally beaten flat.

The last third was mainly in a dry river bed, with concentration required on where to place my steps.

The track stopped abruptly, and then it was only 100 m from the newly painted and very bright orange hut.

The main river was dry, and I was concerned it would be a trek of some distance to get to a flowing tributary, but just behind the hat was a rivulet that was filtered through gravel in a slow trickle, so I was able to replenish the nightly supply. I’m carrying a 1-litre foldable bottle, as well as a 3-litre of the same type. Together, that’s enough for both dinner and breakfast.

I cut up the long lengths of wood that covered the floor into more manageable sizes, and it was still not yet 4 pm.

In the end, I went down to the river to check the view ahead. It seemed the trapping track over the 300 m high Roche Pass started about 1 km up the valley, but today, I trusted my map reading instincts and will sort that out tomorrow.

I didn’t get to the Lake Mason Hut until around 8 pm last night, then was woken in the middle of the night by a screeching possum, so I was feeling physically tired after a big week of averaging almost 29K steps a day. I’ll need a better sleep tonight to rest for another big day, if I’m getting to Bull Creek Hut tomorrow.

Time for dinner.