tramping new zealand

As expected, it rained in the night, and I could hear it clearly on the corrugated steel roof.

In the morning, it was gloomy with thick mist that persisted for several hours. Thick cloud prevailed throughout the day, accompanied by intermittent showers and occasional heavy rain. The forecast had been for it to clear in the afternoon, but that hadn’t happened by 4 30 pm.

At least the next few days were supposed to be clear and cold. I could confirm the cold aspect had arrived, and I spent much of the day in my sleeping bag with my puffer jacket on with the hood up, as well as my beanie.

At almost 1300 m, it certainly felt cool, even in mid-summer.

I thought I was carrying my usual extra food for this additional day, but I wasn’t. I had to split my rations to see me through two nights instead of one.

Early on, I heard barking dogs about 500 m away from the hut, but they may just have been departing from a private hut. No chorus later in the day.

I spent most of the day reading a book: Richard Burton‘s 1853 recounting of his subterfuge trip to Medina disguised as a Pathan doctor. He is both descriptively hilarious at times and a great storyteller. Talk about dedicated, he got himself circumcised, as infidels were killed if discovered. It is reported he could speak more than 20 languages fluently, including Pathan, Hindi, and Arabic, at least well enough to be considered a native speaker. He also memorised many parts of the Koran in Arabic, of course, and had an acute eye for what was going on around him.

A perfect adventure to read about on a cold, wet, pit day.