Day 132 - and then there were three
Aparima hut —-> Telford campsite 20km
Leon had told me a story last night about having to dethaw his walking boots over his stove one morning after a freezing night camping. If we’d been camping last night I’m sure we’d all be doing that this morning - the ground was frozen solid all around us.
Leon set off at first light and John and I left shortly after. We crunched our way through the tussock, over a swingbridge and towards the light rising over the mountains.
We clambered through the forest all morning and reached Lower Wairaki hut around lunchtime. Leon was already there and we sat outside basking in the small bit of sunshine the hut afforded. The forest is a cold place even when you’re pacing it through the trees.
We climbed steadily uphill for a couple of hours until we were finally out of the forest and onto the Telford tops.
John, Leon and I sat at the top for a while, just soaking it all in. I felt a lot of emotion up here. This was our final point over 1000m in elevation - not only was it stunningly beautiful but we could just about make out the ocean - it really felt like we were walking to the finish line now.
The climb down was just as awesome. Scrambling over the rocky ridgeline and into yet more tussock fields.
Bluff was edging that tiny bit closer…
Our camp for the night was at Telford campsite on the edge of Mt Linton station. It was very basic, some flat-ish patches of land and a long drop. Although the fact it had a long drop actually made it feel quite luxurious.
After all our tents were pitched, Leon made us all the most incredible chocolate mousse. He’d even cooled it by putting the pot in the river for half an hour. I’d really been doing dessert wrong…
All going to plan, tonight would be my last night camping on trail. It felt like it was going to be just as cold as the previous night so I went to sleep as soon as I’d eaten, keen to get the night over with and say thank you goodbye to my tent - I was very ready to have the warmth of huts for the remainder of the journey.
