Woke to a glorious morning, about 2 hours of down hill before we stopped for breakfast on a rock by the river in the valley. Next challenge was about 5 rock slides each about 300 meters wide. Found a cute little hut but decided to move on, just a little too small for us. Wrote our intentions in the book and carried on.


Rest of day was long n hot and included about 20 river crossings. Last stretch was about 8km in blazing sun with no water. It was about 5.30 when we got to a stream and a well deserved bath (hair and clothes wash day)

2 more days to Hanmer (not that we are counting😳). Heading for Boyle river hut was a cruisey walk with slight ups n downs through long valleys and beech forests. A lot of the area was quite swampy so muddy feet in-between river crossings.

Arrived at hut about 5pm to nobody but the sandflies, Bindi set about cleaning and sweeping the hut while I prepared the dregs of the pack to resemble some sort of dinner.
Final day only 14km to Boyle River carpark where we got a hitch straight away to Hanmer Springs. Luxury!
So far we holding up pretty well, 19 days on trail, feet still in good shape. I once said the 3 stages you go through are the mind, body and soul. Well my head slipped into the old ways pretty quick as I’ve done so many miles before. Bindi, hmmm, he thought he was on a pub crawl to Bluff! It has taken this time to get his head around the hard work involved in this crawl, he is now under no illusion. Body wise, we are now what I would call trail fit, however we both take extra care on down hills and roll out out feet and muscles at the end of the day. Age requires extra care if we are to complete this journey injury free! 👍
I love that little hut with the helpful “fire exit” sign (on the only door!) 🤣
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Impressive stuff. Thanks for mentioning you are taking care of your bodies. I get muscle spasms just reading about it. Those ice baths are probably keeping you safe. Thanks for sharing. Stay well the both of you xxx
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I hope you have found yourselves a warm spot with this cold front about to hit the South Island.
Safe walking guys xx
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