Day 110 - early morning school run
Methven —-> Commyns hut
48km bus + 16km walk
We got back on trail this morning with the local school bus. A bus left Methven at 6am every weekday to pick up all the kids who live out on the rural stations. The bus driver takes walkers on the way down and drops them at the trailhead before picking the kids up. Win win.
It meant a very early start and we were at the trailhead just after 7am. We hadn’t had breakfast yet so we parked up in a field and got the porridge on the boil.
With the Rakaia river now behind us, we set off up into the valley.
Gradually climbing up hill, we were following an old farm track when we heard the a thunder of hooves heading towards us. We just about ducked into the bushes in time as the herd of cows trampled past.
We stayed in the bushes for a while waiting for them to get far enough past. Josh stuck his head out to see if the coast was clear, but a group spotted him and they all stopped immediately, transfixed on this creature in the bushes.
When they eventually carried on and the farmer and his dogs had followed behind, we emerged and carried on up the hill.
Not five minutes later we came across a small group of cows who had clearly been left behind. They freaked out that we were there and scarpered off back up the track. With steep edges off the side of the track they had no where else to go except the same direction we were going. We walked them back into the valley for the next half an hour.
The views all the way up to the top of the saddle were stunning - the rolling tussock feeling very different to anywhere in NZ we’d been to date.
The farm track finally reached its peak some 670m in elevation later and we carried on along a gentle descent through the grassy valley.
We poked our head into another A frame hut…
…and continued down through the valley where the track joined up with Turtons stream.
Commyns hut came into view just as our stomachs cried out for lunch.
With the next hut too far away to reach before dark we settled in, had an afternoon nap and Josh went on a walk with his other girlfriend.
