Hurunui High Country Walk, Day 3

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What a night we had in our hut and tents. The wind blew and it poured down. It was an interesting way to start the day running around outside in our gummies, boots and rain coats endevouring to have breakfast and pack up without getting too wet into the bargain. However, the rain did not let up so we set off in all our rain gear - some more adequate than others. At least the wind had dropped so the chill factor wasn't too bad. Walking in the forested areas also provided some protection. We eventually came to a lagoon called the Blue Lagoon which wasn't blue. Once apon a time it had been but vegetation drainage had changed the colour of the water. From the lagoon onwards the track widened and some walking was on station vehicle tracks. The rain eventually eased and the latter part of the walk was quite pleasant over farmland of river flats grazed by cattle and sheep. It was quite slushy underfoot and because some of the party were not completely dry we decided to walk directly to the end of the track without any stops for food or drink. This part of the track would be a beautiful walk on a sunny day but we're thankful that we only had to walk in the wet for half a day of the whole trip.

We arrived back at the Cook House early in the afternoon to find that Mandy had tea, coffee and hugh peanut brownies waiting for us. A perfect way to end the walk. We gathered together all our belongings, paid our fees, said our goodbyes and headed off to Hanmer Springs to have a nice hot loll in the mineral baths and stay over in a holiday house until tomorrow.

We all agreed that we had had a wonderful walk despite the weather not being perfect. The sevice was excellent and each of the huts better than we had experienced on other walks. We had certainly had fun and enjoyed each others company. We would recommend the trip to others considering such a walk.

The stay-over at Hanmer was excellent. It was quite luxurious after our more rustic experience. The following day we headed back to Nelson with a stop at Maruia for lunch. It appeared that there had been a lot of flooding in the Lewis Pass area the day before with the Pass being closed for a while and much cleaning up happening with roading machinery. I guess we were lucky that the passing storm affecting a lot of the country had left us pretty much unscathed.

A good trip. Thanks to those who came and made it enjoyable

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Photos

By the lagoon
In our rain gear near the not so blue lagoon

Over a style in animal country
The open river flats and valleys are productively farmed with sheep and beef.

The Glencoe River
The river level is well up compared to the gentleness two days ago.

The end of the track
The last part of the track leading down to the Cookhouse where we started two days before