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Rangitata River to Lake Tekapo

Te Araroa - days 103 to 105

By Nature Is Calling

March 5^th, 2020

Day 103 - Rangitata River to Royal Hut

Start: alternative to trail from forest creek track carpark
End: @ km 2340
Hiked: ~ 23 km?!

It rained throughout the night and was still sprinkling when we woke up. Paulette, one of the lovely owners of the backpackers, had baked apple muffins late last night and they were waiting for the guests in the kitchen with a cute note inviting us to help ourselves. What a treat!

We packed up and headed out early-ish. We were meeting Wayne for the shuttle at 8:15 and we still had to do some last minute grocery shopping and grab another treat at the Running Duck. The woman working at the checkout counter got a kick out of our morning purchases: two cans (yes, cans) of wine, a chocolate bar and toothbrushes.

Leah had really been looking forward to ordering a ‘Kick in the Nuts’; a milkshake made up of peanut butter, two shots of coffee, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. It did not disappoint! Other TA family shuffled in and soon we filled a large table. Wayne arrived and off we went. Leah absentmindedly left her poles behind and lucky for her and wonderful human ran out to the van with her poles before we drove away. Thank you. 🙏

The rain continued as Wayne drove us toward the starting point. During this time a decision had to be made: official trail or flood track. There was no way of knowing how high (or strong) the river would be until we were actually standing next to it. Mathias would have been keen to chance it, but Leah was opting for the flood track and Mathias said he’d go along with her choice. Kirby opted for this option as well. We all started hiking at 10:30am.

The alternate route began with the task of getting on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Once over (or through) we made our way through grassland, heading towards the river. The walk along the river bed was long! Because we were taking an alternative route, we didn’t have the support of the trail notes. We could use GPS, but we didn’t even have the area downloaded, so weren’t quite sure where to go. Mathias was feeling quite stressed about the situation. And then... we saw the sign (literally, there was a sign with the track name).

The track led us steeply up the mountain. At first it was well marked, but then we came to a point where there were no markers in sight. Leah spotted some bright pink ribbons and decided to follow them. Unfortunately, the ribbons did not lead us to the path. Fortunately, they led us to embark on an adventure through chin high tussock. Eventually, Kirby spotted a marker and after a 30min detour we were back on track.

The track remained quite steep. There was lots of sidling followed by the endless stairway to heaven in drizzle and fog. And then we reached the saddle. There was time for a 30sec ‘yay!’ before continuing on.

After the saddle the track was more easy going. We arrived at the Royal Hut a couple of hours earlier than expected and were thrilled to find many free beds. There were two people already in the hut and they were surprised to see us; Lucy (a French girl) and Richard (a Kiwi). The hut was cute but freezing. We cooked our dinners and Kirby shared her dessert in celebration of our hiking success: an oat bat from Barkers (This is love).

It was our coldest night on the TA so far. There was a fire place, but sadly no wood. But no worries, we bundled up in our snuggies, got into our sleeping bags and passed out for the night.

Day 104 - Royal Hut to Richmond Track Start

Start: @ km 2340
End: @ km 2360
Hiked: 20 km

We had a good night’s sleep in our dark and freezing hut, but when it was time to emerge from our toasty sleeping bags progress was slow... especially for everyone not named Mathias. Mathias got up and prepared coffee for us. And... he brought Leah her coffee in bed. ❤️ And made tea for Kirby as well, who was making less progress than Leah.

Shit got really real when it was time to put on our cold as wet socks that had not in anyway dried from yesterday’s trek. The wheels in Mathias’s head were spinning as he tried to think of a way to make this more bearable. His first idea: heat them up in our cooker. But the reality of burning them to bits was real... so he kept on thinking. Second idea: boil rocks from outside in the cooker, then place hot coal-like rocks in socks- genius. It totally made life better.

After we started the sun soon came out and we warmed up quiet quickly. The trek to Stag Saddle (the highest point on the TA) was lovely. A TA hiker from previous days had created a 3x3sqm flat area (absent of sharp rocks) with a 30m rock wall around it for wind shelter. He had slept there on the saddle. Today when we arrived we celebrated within the ‘walls’ with wraps and wine.

After filling our bellies and partaking in photo shoot sessions, we headed off over a scree field to the ridge line. The ridge line track was filled with beautiful views of lake Tekapo and sights of Mt. Cook (but which one was Mt. Cook?) ;-) The whole ridge line walk was pure magic, a definite highlight on the TA.

On the way down, we stopped at Camp Stream Hut; a cute, private hut with heaps of firewood. We were tempted to stay, but knew if we covered a few more kilometers today our future selves would thank us. We ended up pushing forward two more hours, thanks to Kirby who was the voice of reason (We wanted to go on another hour, but it would have gotten dark and cold and it would have sucked... thanks, Kirby).

We pitched our tents in a beautiful spot surrounded by mountains. We invited ourselves to Kirby’s plot of land (about 10 meters from our own) for dinner, and enjoyed the evening by sharing stories of our lives outside of the trail. The temperature dropped and we retreated to our tents where we could snuggle up in our sleeping bags and fall asleep.

Day 105 - Richmond Track Start to Lake Tekapo

Start: @ km 2360
End: @ km 2378.5
Hiked: 18.5 km
Skipped: 10.5 km

Chilly mornings can keep you in your sleeping bags just a little bit longer. It was so cosy inside our tent, so we enjoyed our breakfast from within.

Once we got going, we warmed up and got to enjoy beautiful views. The track was pretty straightforward, so we could actually take our eyes away from the ground from time to time.

The trail eventually led us on a steep climb down to a car park where we enjoyed our lunch with Kirby, Ilona and Richard. There was one car in the lot and we wondered if perhaps the owner would arrive and be heading into town... and by ‘wondered’ Leah meant ‘hoped’. As it turns out, the owner arrived just when we had finished our lunch. He only had space for two. Ilona and Richard did not want to hitch. We (Mathias) were not fully prepared to hitch either, so Kirby went ahead.

We began the day’s portion of road walking which wasn’t too bad (as there were no cars). We had been walking for a little over an hour when we heard a vehicle coming from behind. Hmmm... we could continue on the road for the next two-three hours or we could try to hitch into town where we could get a head start on al the admin (laundry, restock, shower, eating...); we stuck out our thumbs and let the universe decide. A pickup truck filled with three guys stopped and told us to hop in the back. They were just going a very short distance up the street... But then apparently their plans changed, because they ended up driving into Lake Tekapo. Yay!

We arrived at the YHA and were thrilled to be there. It was actually really nice, and right on the water! Kirby, who had arrived earlier, already had drinks waiting for us; beer and bubbly. She’s the sweetest.

But before we could cheers to another section well done, it was shower time! Mathias, being more motivated, was the first to head to the showers...Leah was laying on the ground in the room with no plans of moving anytime soon. A few minutes after Mathias left, the fire alarm went off. We were the only two to leave the building. When we re-entered the building (after walking around to the main entrance), the guy at reception said, “oh yeah, we’re just testing the alarms.” This could have been useful information when we checked in... but all good. People in NZ seem so chilled out... it’s sometimes a reminder of how tightly wound the rest of us can be. The next hour involved many fire alarms. We were soon squeaky clean and ready to enjoy drinks.

Heading to the grocery with a bit of a buzz was a new experience or us on the trail. Did we buy too much? Definitely. Was it going to give us heavier than needed packs for the next few days? Absolutely.

Back at the hostel, we finished the birthday song we had been writing for Claire and were about to record it when the fourth occupant of our 4-bed dorm room entered. His name was Stuart, he was from Indonesia, he had just returned from skydiving (a gift he had given himself for his birthday), he was adorable and would soon become the videographer of our birthday video.

Then it was off to dinner: burgers and beers (and wine). Richard joined us for dinner as well and we all had good chats. A nice end to an already good day.