Hands down one of my favorite days on our roadtrip post semester, with the OG trash squad: Prina, George, Nati and myself. We added this hike to our itinerary since we saw someone post an amazing photo on Instagram (thx Billy). We had to get up early in order to assure our bunks at this remote hut, since it works as a first-come first-serve and we couldn’t be bothered to do it as a day hike.
Arrived at the track, we are welcomed by some weirdly looking chickens, that we then learnt by a fellow kiwi at the summit, are called “wekas”. We have all our snax as well as our delicious “ramen” (instant noodle soup) ready, and finally start the hike. The beginning was quite enjoyable, felt like walking through a jungle since this track is not maintained by DOC anymore. However, the more we made our way through the forest, the steeper it got. I’m not saying like little baby steps, no no, we had to legit pull ourselves up with the help of tree roots, rocks, George’s cheer boosts, you name it. I’m not going to lie, it was one of the most challenging/hard hikes I’ve done, probs in my life (I’m not that athletic, so yeah sorry not sorry), but definitely the one I enjoyed the most when arriving at the top.
Nati pointed to a little orange dot (wasn’t wearing my glasses so it was blurry for me) followed with the word “hut”. I couldn’t be more relieved. I think it categorises as one of the best feeling while hiking. After eating some delicious hummus & spinach wraps (literally in 2 min), we went for a small walk, which Nati continued on her own, George went back to the hut to stretch and Prina and I decided to lie and talk in the tussock. Two hours later, Prina and I woke up from our accidental nap (11/12 spot for a nap though) to return to the hut. Bed time was nearing and there was one technical problem, 5 people (another tramper got there before us) but 4 beds. So as a great friend I decided to sacrifice myself and sleep in the same bed as Prina (like it was the first time lol). Hope you didn’t mind the cuddles.
I’m writing this in Australia, now separated from these fabulous friends that I miss already. •