Day 101 - the roar

Boyle Village —-> Hope Kiwi lodge 27km

My bag filled with treats for the next section and back with my favourite walking partner l was in high spirits this morning.

That was soon dashed when we saw the state of the track leaving Boyle. Overgrown with matagorui and the spikest ferns imaginable, we battled through the trail trying not to rip any of our clothing.

It was one of the coldest mornings we’d had on trail, made worse by having to cross the Boyle river half an hour after setting off. Wet feet seemed inevitable for the rest of the day.

Once the sun appeared over the mountains we perked up a bit but continued to bush bash and clamber over the almost derelict Tui track. Did everyone else doing the TA just skip this bit!? Was that why it wasn’t broken in?!

By midday we’d reached the forest and the track improved no end. We were surrounded by birdsong and had fantails flying in to say hello as we turned every corner.

Emerging from the forest we spotted Half Hopeway hut and popped in for a nosy. It was pretty grim so we were glad to have time to push on to the next hut. Looking at the intentions book we saw that Annie and Grant had been there for lunch today…! We hadn’t anticipated to see them again after leaving them in the Richmonds so I was stoked to see their names. Unless they were planning on camping we’d have friends for the night at the next hut.

The walk into Hope Kiwi Lodge was flat and relaxing, across a swingbridge and then through the tussocks along a lovely well trodden trail.

We arrived just before 5pm to find Grant outside hanging up some clothes. A look of utter confusion turned to joy as he watched us come through the hut gate. “Annie, you’re right it is them!” he shouted and Annie came bursting through the front door!

Because of the eye incident, we were tracking 3-4 days behind where we should have been since we last left them, so they, like us, hadn’t expected to see us again. We had a great evening catching up on trail stories from the last couple of weeks. We learnt of their days in the Richmonds and their escape route out to get Andy to a doctor - his condition hadn’t improved and he sought urgent medical attention when getting out. Thankfully he’s now much better and back on trail chasing racing to finish before he heads back to work.

Just as the light started to fade, we heard the deer roar for the first time. Had Grant not been there to explain, I would have thought a pack of lions was on the loose in the NZ bush. It was incredible. We went to sleep next to the window so we could listen out for the stags and got excited about our next few days walking with Grant and Annie.