tramping new zealand

A somewhat brighter day with some sun and small patches of blue sky early on. The wind wasn’t so blustery.

This was supposed to be another rainy day, but the weather doesn’t always follow predictions. That meant I’d planned another day around the hut.

Despite it officially being summer, I ate breakfast in my sleeping bag, wearing a wool T-shirt, a wool hoody, and an alpine feather jacket. And a beanie in lieu of hair.

If the weather held, I thought I’d head down the hill for some track cutting. There are still some sections where you push through the beach regeneration.

As it turned out, the morning was panel beating the fire to get the throat lower. I cleaned the floor and cut some wood for the wood shed.

It was afternoon before I cut my way down to the little creek that wasn’t far away and after 6 pm when I made it back up the hill. As is my want, I did a thorough job rather than an easy trim where I would cut twice as far, but at least weary people can now enjoy unimpeded travel as they stagger up the hill. It certainly seemed much easier without the close shrubbery on the way back.

Despite my efforts, when I got back to the hut, I found I’d only done 2,200 steps for the day, well short of my minimum 5,000. That was an unbroken sequence for more than a year. That had me taking short steps on a not very long walk, going up and down for a long while to get over the magic threshold.

Yippee!