days 5 and 6

---

day 5: long harry to east ruggedy 9.5km
i climbed steadily again this morning to a quick descent and another steep climb....and again and again, though the second two felt more gentle. i spent much of my day on the coast. i crossed a rocky coastline beneath a huge cliff face. wave pummelled the rocks and as they crashed the ocean's smell had more strength. though the day was cloudy they were high and i could still see the south island's fiordland. i felt like a little kid rock hopping on a day too cold for swimming. i departed the coast and made a quick ascent to a lookout near the top of a mountain. i quickly perched myself on the tallest rock outcropping and sat to take in the view. rom there i could see the south island in the distance with a long thin band of light stretching over it as if igniting the land. directly in front of me stood putara (rugged) point....a tall standing craggy outcropping of orange rock neighbored by the rugged islands hazy green in the distance. beyond putara lay the beautiful wide bay of west ruggedy beach (which i will cross tomorrow). the curling sea looked gentle from up there leaving a white lip of foam on the sands, but i could hear them crashing and knew there was a raging sea below. just below me was east ruggedy beach with orange sand dunes standing tall before the beach met the ocean. thick stands of short trees bordered the dunes. i watched the clouds covet the peaks of the ruggedy mountains and decided to head back to the trail.

i descended to the dunes of east ruggedy beach where i was warned about quicksand. the only place where i encountered any soft sand was at the stream crossing....i sunk to my knees every step. i traversed the dunes (in hiking boots and with 5 days of food on my back it made me sweat) and soon after arrived at the hut.

five days down, five to go. my body is tired, but ready to push on. the distances aren't long each day, but the hiking is difficult and often slow going.

day 6: east ruggedy to hellfire pass 14km
last night unexpected company arrived. 2 israeli boys soaked and speaking of misery on the trail. i humored them though i am having the time of my life out here. we all went to bed early as we knew we had a long day ahead.

we were on the trail at the same time today, but i pulled ahead as they stopped to get water. oh, the water in the hut had mossie larvae in it....yuck. i drank from a stream. i didn't see or hear them for the rest of the day. i crossed west ruggedy beach....another most unbelievable and undisturbed stretch of sand. the waves rolled in sets onto the beach with no wind yet to strengthen them. the sun cut through the rolling water giving the effect of breaking glass as they tickled the shoreline. a long stretch of pale orange sang lay out before me uninterrupted only by large smoothed black boulders of all shapes. water and sand taking years to massage out the rough edges on them. after that the easy bit was over. i crossed two big hills today. the last 2km of trail were unbelievably muddy....mud thick and deep or thin and deep....always smelly and never avoidable. straight mud uphill....i love it!! i found myself grunting a lot attempting to get both my foot and boot out of spots. my boots had to have been at least a few pounds heavier with the amount of mud stuck to them. after 6 hours of mud and fallen trees i arrived at the hut. the coast is far below, rocky most generally, but i am sitting on sand dunes 200m above.

i am looking out onto an open sea greyishblue with wind sweeping across its surface creating ripples for the sun to do its magic. down the coastline rock formations make more disturbance and the sun plays them into millions of crystals dancing in the sea. the waves i can hear as if my ear were close to a chonche shell....steady and distant. i can see them gathering strength and being tipped by the wind long before they reach the beach. there is no horizon, simply a bleeding together of sea and sky in the far distance. a low lying carpet of green, the tops of trees, is below me on either side....coveting and rolling with the hills.

---