tramping new zealand

Kreig left early and I had much of the day to myself. A leisurely breakfast with a round or two of coffee.

A truly splendid sunrise.

Around lunchtime I moved off for a visit to the Christmas Village Hunters Hut. It’s about 40 minutes back along the track and a few minutes drop down to the coast. A six-bunk hut had been built in 2017, so it had in fact been there when I last visited. I just hadn’t noticed it while looking at the old New Zealand Forest Service hut that has subsequently been demolished.

On return, I had some new company, and later two more. With some enthusiasm from the others we got the fire going, helped by me having purloined a couple of lumps of coal from hunters hut.

One of the team had a Japanese folding saw and proceeded to slice up the loads of wood I’ve liberated from the beach. Some rata and rimu soon had the hut toasty enough, ie, you could no longer produce plumes of breath inside. A cosy night for once.

That will dry out some wet clothes as the rain had been persistent drizzle at least since just after I returned to shelter. The other four weren’t so lucky.

Hopefully, this is the next front passing through and tomorrow will not be so damp.

Always that hope.