Seventh week on Te Araroa: km 827-943

Day 43: Arthur’s Pass to wild camp: 17 km

Sometimes when you’re in town it can be challenging to leave. Mostly because there is seemingly no end to the tasks you think you need to get done. We did the typical laundry, shower, resupply tasks. But then we also tackled video posting, emails, making future medical appointments, lining up a place to live when we arrive back in Canada, etc. The morning extended on and we found ourselves checking out at 10 am and then hitching at 10:30 am.

By the time we started really hiking at 11 am we were both feeling anxious. Our original plan today was 35 km, but I think we both knew that wasn’t going to happen now. I was feeling overstimulated from town and Brian was dysregulated. This makes for a very uncomfortable partnership. We struggled to communicate properly or at all. We ended up hiking apart for the first few hours.

The trail on this 4 day section largely follows the river valley. You basically link from one river valley to the next. Today the trail started off on an old 4x4 track, but as we got further up river it became more technical. We then climbed up to Goat’s Pass, which was breathtaking! There were even boardwalks on the trail!

Goats Pass DOC hut

There was a big hut nestled just below the saddle. We pressed on. The next few kilometres were really technical hiking. We dropped down a mostly dry river bed filled with big boulders we had to scramble down. It required a lot of big moves and sure was hard on the knees!! Once we made it down to the next hut the trail got a little bit easier.

We ran into a couple going NOBO who we keep seeing, so that was cool! We had a good little chat about our game plan for the rest of the day. Hike until dusk.

We were gradually dropping down the river valley. I had given up on keeping my feet dry by rock hopping and we forded stream after stream. While Brian was telling me he was about ready to camp, I got distracted while listening to him, slipped on a rock and fell hard down onto my hip and dunked up to my mid torso in water. Everything got soaking wet. I broke into tears, the final straw on a very challenging day for me. I was feeling anxious all day about starting late and it felt like no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do the kilometres fast enough.

After this, we only made it a few hundred metres. I was shaking on my legs and my hip hurt really badly. We set up camp across the stream on a flat spot and got our chores done as quickly as possible and fell asleep very fast.

Day 44: wild camp to Bivvy at Harper’s Saddle: 32 km

We decided to wake up early to try to get a full day of hiking in today. My hip is sore, but it feels like a bruise only and didn’t seem to get worse with walking. So that is great news!!

We finished hiking the Deception River Valley and the trail was pretty straightforward. We did have to ford the river quite a few times, so our feet were wet all day.

We then turned East into the Taramakau River valley and the trail got even cruisier!! Much more nice forest walking with beautiful tall ferns and singing insects.

At the end of the day we finished hiking the Taramakau River and gained Harper Pass at sunset. It was so beautiful!!!

Gaining Harper Pass in the late evening

We dropped down the other side about 20 minutes to the small hut called Harper’s Saddle Bivvy. It was full and so was the tent spot beside it. We had to keep hiking as it got darker and darker. We spotted a nice flat spot and were able to quickly pitch the tent.

I wash my feet every evening and while washing them I noticed I have developed some open wounds on my left foot. Mostly between my toes and along the edges of my toenails. I suspect it’s from having nearly constantly wet feet for days and the soft skin rubs off easily. It didn’t look great and I felt a bit worried about them. I put on some Polysporin and Band-aids on the wounds and slept only on my right side because of my sore hip. Feeling a little bit beat up at the moment.

Day 45: Harper’s Saddle Bivvy to wild camp: 32 km

Another big day of river walking today!! It took my about 45 minutes to bandage up my feet and add Leukotape in an attempt to stop further rubbing today. Brian and I decided we would try as hard as possible to keep our feet dry today.

The Hurunui River valley trail was really nice! There were bridges at the river crossings, which was such a welcome treat to keep the feet dry. Once we were further down the river we ended up on farmland with cattle grazing. Then we walked around the north shore of Lake Sumner and connected into the Kiwi River valley. We were aiming for the Hope Kiwi Lodge, but around 8 pm we spotted a good flat spot to camp and took it. We settled into bed with the distant possums screaming and our twinkly lights glowing.

Day 46: wild camp to Boyle Campsite: 31 km

We were motivated to finish this section today. We bandaged up our feet, yes Brian is developing some wounds now too, and hit the trail by 8 am. We hadn’t made it to the hut last night, so after about 4 km we arrived at Hope Kiwi Lodge and much to our surprise multiple 4x4 vehicles were parked there.

It was a nice hut with lots of people hanging around. We were happy with our private tent spot with our twinkly lights last night though. Definitely more of the vibe we were after at the moment.

Since the trail utilized a well established track from the car park to the hut, 2/3 of our day was very nice cruisy hiking. We never take this for granted!! It is such a treat to get to fall into a cruisy hiking rhythm!

The route then splits off up roughly 10 km of the Boyle River Valley. It was a bit more rugged, with long grass and ferns, some bushwhacking, slightly more difficult wayfinding, and two river fords.

We were VERY careful today to keep our feet dry. We took a couple wide detours around quagmires and hopped over small streams. When it came to our two rivers fords the water was low enough and the flow slow enough to allow us to change into our camp Birkenstock sandals and dry off our feet after. We suspect that the wet feet is the main problem our foot skin is facing right now.

2.5 more kilometres and we made it to Boyle Campsite. It’s a very small loop that can fit approximately 6 cars with little tent spots sprinkled throughout. We found one on the outskirts and set up. Tomorrow morning the Boyle River Outdoor Education Center opens up at 9 am and we’ll be able to pick up our package before attempting to catch a ride into town.

Day 47-50: zero days in Hanmer Springs

We easily caught a ride into the small town of Hanmer Springs. We decided we needed 4 rest days to give our feet time to heal. We mostly spent the time relaxing in our hotel room. We had a kitchenette, so we made all our meals and tried to catch up on some calories. We also finished watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It was a great reset.

See you in next week’s blog post! Thanks so much for reading!

-Story