tramping new zealand

Having overexercised the previous week, it seemed like Christchurch would be a good place to sort out my gear and resupply on some fresh food.

I patched seven holes in my sleeping mat, but even though the patches stopped the air, it still lost its mattress aspect as other places started leaking. I now had two $400 lightweight sleeping mats that leaked.

Fortunately, I was also carrying an old Thermorest mat that had never leaked, used for cycle touring, but it wasn’t exactly lightweight. On the other hand, it could roll up almost compactly. I bought it along for car camping and it had stayed aloft, actually for 10 days.

Might as well carry that instead.

I went to Godley Head for some oxygen, then thought I’d catch a ferry to Quail Island. I got stuck behind an electric bus that had to reverse and managed to miss the ferry by seconds. I was polite and waiting for a chance to ask a guy on one of the two waiting ferries, and as he indicated the other one, it removed itself from the wharf. $40 saved for the moment, but I’d be back.

The next day, I wandered into Packhorse Hut as the weather was turning cold and found myself in low cloud. The return to the car was wet, but I drove around to look at another hut, just off the road. Then I drove over the narrow Port Levy Road, most of which is one-way and, of course, all gravel.

At the ridge, I had the plan to visit Rod Donald Hut, but it was super windy and rain started to drive in as I started walking the 50 minutes to the hut.

After five minutes, it was hailing and looking like snow would arrive any minute. Despite being in my wet weather gear, the sensible decision was to abandon the attempt.

Hypothermia was about to set in. Not quite summer, like -20° C from the day before.