Te Araroa, Day 108

Today is Tuesday, and we had planned to tackle a mountain section over 4-5 days. However, the weather forecast predicts heavy rain on Saturday, so we'll need to condense the hike to 3 days and walk to Wanaka on the fourth day to avoid getting caught in the rain.

Since the initial part of the mountain section appears easier, we aim to cover as much ground as possible today to make subsequent days smoother.

The first leg spans 3 km along a road by Lake Ohau, followed by a trail that leads us up for 3 km to the actual trail that starts with a climb through a forest.
The climb continues above the tree line until we reach a saddle at around 1400m. Then it descends again. The terrain becomes very uneven and it takes time to descend.  I always have to watch out for markers, to find the direction to go. They are not always easily visible since the tusdock is very high searching for the next marker, to know the direction to go. Besides finding my way through tusdock, there are rock slides to traverse and streams to cross.

Around midday I find X on a break and I join for a good lunch. He quickly disappears again and I am continuing my walk through the up and downs of the valley. There will be a difficult river crossing at the end of this valley before the next section. 

It is about 5:30 p.m when I get to that river. X is waiting on the other side signaling me where to cross. The current is strong in the first half but then it gets even stronger and the water deeper. The water reaches the upper end of my thighs now. I can hardly hold myself in that river. I put all my weight on my feet and both poles. The challenging part is always the next step. As soon as I lift a leg, the current tries to push it away from me. I need all my energy to not fall and to put the foot down again a bit further towards the shore. 
I eventually make it across, thankful for solid ground.
We did around 28 km so far.

There is a private hut about 12 km from here. We want to try to make it there. We are ascending again but we can use mostly a 4 wheel drive road. Before we get there we have to climb up an almost 90 degree "wall", A sandy, rocky thing, with thorn bushes. It is no fun. 
I am tired.
We stick together for those last 12 km now. After a while we see many cows on that road with their calves. Some of them are pregnant. We can't walk around because on the left side it goes up steeply and on the right side there are steep drops. Both sides are covered with thorn bushes. And cows are there too. While approaching I talk to them in a calm voice. At least that is my intention. Most of them run ahead, and for the next kilometers, we pass cows cautiously, hoping that they won't feel the need to protect their calves by lashing out at us.
Dawn comes. It is getting darker and darker and we are waiting for that hut to appear. Then, finally, at 9:30 p.m. we see the outlines. We reach there in the last moment. In the next moment there is complete darkness around us. Only the moon gives some light.

Using our headlamps now we quietly prepare dinner outside as well as everything else we need to do, to get ready for a good sleep, to avoid disturbing the sleeping couple inside. 

Reflecting on the exhausting yet rewarding day, I finally climb into the upper bunk bed and drift off to sleep, surprised by my own resilience over the 40 km journey.