Fifth week on Te Araroa: km 486-697

Day 29: Tin Hut to Lake Ohau Lodge: 40 km

Knowing we had a massive day today we were up at 5 am and gone by 7 am. Our first 8 km were on a road through the farmland. We were fortunate enough to pass by the farmers. They have merino sheep in the mountains and they told us a lot about their jobs. I was super interested. They told us they use their DJI drone to herd their sheep and then their shepherd dogs once the sheep are closer. Super cool!!

We were focussed to get to our major river crossing before it got too late in the morning. We knew this was important because when we looked up into the high mountains they still had snow on them. As the sun heats the snow it melts and then the river levels can often rise. We passed by 10-15 SOBOs who crossed in the morning and they told us they only got to knee depth, which was reassuring.

Brian enroute to Ahuriri River.

We crossed the Ahuriri River at 9:30 am and the depth was only about knee deep and the strength of the flow wasn’t too bad. We felt safe walking through.

Approaching the Ahuriri River.

The next 20 km were a long gradual climb up a river valley to a broad saddle. The climb was gradual enough that it felt really manageable. It was so nice after such a tough river valley yesterday! The views were expansive! The sun was shining and we were finally feeling in the groove!

We reached the saddle around 4 pm which meant we were done 30 km in 9 hours! It is so cool to see how our bodies and minds are strengthening the longer we are on trail.

Brian in front of Lake Ohau, before our final descent to the lodge.

The descent was a really nice trail through the forest. We were getting tired and definitely found it challenging to keep ourselves from tripping. The final few kms were descending down some fields to Lake Ohau. It was beyond beautiful!!! I cannot get over the colour of the lakes here!

Selfie with Lake Ohau.

We reached the road running along the lakeshore and turned left to do an extra 3 kms to get to the Lake Ohau Lodge where we had a private room booked. We arrived at 8 pm, checked in, showered, and then headed to the pub. They made us toasties, which really hit the spot!!

It was hilarious how exhausted we both were. It took all my effort to brush my teeth once back at the room. And then I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Day 30: Lake Ohau Lodge to Twizel: 35 km

For some strange reason we thought we only had 25 km to hike to Twizel, but we were wrong. We started off the day doing the 3 km road walk back to the trail. Then the trail continued along the road for about 10 km. It was a stunning view of Lake Ohau with a very strong wind. We crossed paths with many cyclist on the Alps to Ocean route who were pedalling against a very strong headwind. It looked tough.

The route then connects into the bike path and we were on this for most of the way into Twizel. We both listened to podcasts and just tried our best to get the kilometres done. Our legs were tired from yesterday, but the terrain was mostly flat and easy.

We made it into Twizel around 7 pm and went straight to the grocery store for a resupply and to buy dinner to make at our lodging. We were staying at Mountain Chalets Motel because they were more affordable. They looked cute but they were dated and not the most clean.

We sat together huddled around my phone watching Lord of the Rings and ate a ton of food. Including 2 ice creams each.

Day 31: Twizel to Pylon Campsite: 22 km

We slept in and checked out just in time at 10 am. The route today continued to follow the bike path. It was flat and easy. We caught our first glimpses of Aoraki, Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. It is stunning!!

Statue of a Himalayan Tahr, an animal introduced to New Zealand as game.

Aoraki Mount Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain.

We had a fun day staring at the epic peak and cruising through the easy hiking. We set up at the campsite by an old water trough. We are in the middle of a dark sky reserve now, so we decided to wake up at 3 am tomorrow to see if we can hike with the stars.

Day 32: Pylon campsite to Lake Tekapo: 33 km

It was cloudy at 3 am, so we slept until 5 am. Then we were off, motivated to get to town for food!!

Today was along an old farm track for a bit and then back to the Alps to Ocean bike path which ran along a canal. Usually I can find something interesting about every day on trail, but I found today extremely boring. There was very little to look at because the clouds were covering the peaks.

I listened to an audiobook and just tried to get into a good rhythm. I became so exhausted at one point that I lied down on my poncho and fell asleep with raindrops landing on me.

Wild roses helped keep things interesting today.

Our trail friend whizzed by on a bike and for a moment I was jealous. But, with perseverance and grit we made it to town!! We stayed at Tailor Made Backpackers, which was an okay hostel, but the only thing close to affordable.

Laundry, shower, and then out for dinner. Then we had to get our resupply for the next section. It was a lot and we were both exhausted!! This is a very busy town with tourists too, which made it feel very overwhelming!

Day 33: Lake Tekapo to Camp Stream Hut: 34 km

We both struggled to get going this morning. I think the deep thru hiker fatigue is starting to set in. We will plan to take a zero after this 6 day section.

We left town around 10 am after getting a coffee. The trail followed the road for 13 km before we arrived at a hiking path that veered into the mountains.

We expected rain in the forecast and as we climbed up, it became to sprinkle. And then once we were on the ridge it was pouring down rain with strong winds. Our ponchos were getting flapped around like crazy! I started to jog to get out of the worst of it.

Dropping down the other side to the river valley below provided relief from the wind. It was muddy and at one point I slipped and fell. I was alright though. We pushed the last 10 km hard without breaks because we would get too cold when we stopped.

Camp Stream Hut after a big summer rain.

We arrived at the rustic Camp Stream Hut around 6 pm and 3 hikers were already there. We grabbed 2 of the 3 remaining bunks and delicately tried to get changed without getter everyone wet. It’s a small hut. We had some nice chats with our fellow hikers and the rain subsided. I had to tape 3 holes in the roof above my bunk where it was leaking.

Entryway to Camp Stream Hut

Let’s just say that the nasal spray I got from the pharmacist is very much needed when I stay in these huts!!

Day 34: Camp Stream Hut to Crooked Spur Hut: 30 km

It SNOWED last night! I was so cold and my legs were so achy all night, it was the worst sleep!! The rain turned to snow in the early morning. It dusted everything in this beautiful layer!

Snow covering the ground when we woke up at Camp Stream Hut.

It took a bit of extra time to get going since we were both cold, but when we got moving we felt way better. We had a big climb up to the 1,929 m tall Stag Saddle. We were walking on the fresh snow for a good hour of the climb up! This was the TA high point! Epic!!!

Snow dusted mountains.

We dropped down the other side to a couple huts with lots of SOBOs hanging out in the sun and drying their gear out. We felt good and kept dropping down the river valley.

We spotted some wild Tahr, which are from the Himalayan mountains. They look a bit like mountain goats. Adorable and majestic. Hunting these animals is an important way to prevent overgrazing and deterioration of the environment, since they have no natural predators here.

We wanted to continue to get as close to the Rangitata River as possible for a morning crossing tomorrow, so we pushed all the way to Crooked Spur Hut. We pitched the tent so we could cuddle for warmth tonight and get a good sleep!

Day 35: Crooked Spur Hut to wild camp: 30 km

Today was the day of the big river crossing! The Rangitata River is a large braided river that changes every season. To cross it requires experience, knowledge, and the right information. For this reason, it is not included in the official TA route. Brian and I are attempting to have a continuous foot path the length of the entire country, so we thought if we could ford the river we should try.

Brian and I have a lot of river crossing experience and knowledge, with many rivers like the Rangitata that are a braided floodplain. We checked the flow rate daily and tracked the weather. All information was pointing to the possibility of a safe crossing. So, we decided to attempt it.

We set out early from camp and made the 10 km down into the Bush Stream valley where we had to cross the fast flowing Bush Stream countless times. We reached the Rangitata flood plain at 10 am and finally reached the first river braid at 11:30 am. We prepped our packs with everything electronic sealed in Ziplock bags and then started our crossing.

Crossing the Bush Stream in the early morning.

Brian mid-crossing of the Rangitata River. This was one of the straightforward and low flowing river braids.

In total, we crossed 32 braids of the river. Some ankle deep, most knee deep, and one mid thigh deep on me (I’m 5’8”). The water was moving swiftly at times, but never stronger than I felt comfortable with. There was a bushy patch of land we had to push through that felt harder than most of the river braid crossings. We kept our pace up and we were able to make it across the final braid 50 minutes after we started. It was the most rewarding feeling to make it across safely! The entire crossing of the river valley took us 2 hours with approaches on either side, but the actual time crossing the water was only 50 minutes.

Looking back at the distant Rangitata River Valley.

We took a long lunch break at the trailhead on the other side of the river before continuing on. We went another 12 km through the rolling grassy hills to a nice little wild camp spot by a stream.

Our Durston X-Mid 2 Pro tent setup at camp.

We added fairy lights to our tent for sunset and evening ambience.

Thank you so much for reading!! I will see you in next week’s blog post where we will pick the story back up again right where we left off!

-Story