This morning was so stunning. Jubbie and I got up at 5:30 to go to the toilet, and it was snowing! When the sun came up there was snow everywhere! We spent the first half of the day walking through this magical winter wonderland, made even more special when it snowed on us. The question is, how many photos are too many?
We stopped at Kia Ora Hut for a quick lunch and some emergency foot repairs – one of my little toes is agonisingly sore – then headed off to Windy Ridge Hut. It was cold and raining when we left and we could almost have been tempted to just stay put. But we’re now keen to finish up and not spend days walking in the rain, so we pushed on. We spent the afternoon walking through a beautiful forest. But at some point, we just got over walking on f#$!ing tree roots. It was very hard work and not enjoyable walking. We all kept imagining the torture for poor old Rich trying to run over that. The great thing was that it didn’t really rain too much on us, so we felt pretty lucky.
The first half of today walking through the snow was in my top favourite parts of this trip, and the last part walking through the tree roots was in my bottom favourite.
We were cold and hungry when we arrived at Windy Ridge Hut, so ended up having our dinner before 5pm! We shared a table with a mum and son and another couple and spent a lovely evening chatting. This hut was the first to be renovated, and it’s clear they learned lessons from this reno. There are no amazing views, no individual bunks (they are one long bunk that people lie on next to each other like sardines), and the toilet is pretty shabby. The hut only accommodates 24 people, and arriving after all the people who’d stayed at Kia Ora last night meant there were no beds left (not that we wanted to lie on the same bed with randoms anyway). So Kel and I slept in the kitchen next to the heater, and Jubble slept in a covered outside area. He wins the award for tough – there was a roof and walls, but no windproofing, and it was almost freezing.
Kerry's Hikes 