Day 96 - back on trail
Nelson ——> West Sabine hut 102km drive + water taxi + 15km walk
Josh’s Plantar fasciitis problem had been exacerbated by the speed walking we’d had to do to make the water taxi in time a few days back. He needed to rest for a while so we made plans for just me to get back on trail in the short term. I would finish the Nelson Lakes section and then he would meet me in 4 days time in Boyle, hopefully feeling much better and ready to get going again.
Getting back on trail proved tricky - there was no way I was going to walk the same section of trail for a third time to get back to where I’d left off. Instead, I’d arranged a lift to Lake Rotoroa, where I’d get a water taxi across the lake to Sabine hut, and then walk up to West Sabine hut - one hut on from Upper Travers hut where we’d walked out from. I’d miss out on the hike over Travers Saddle, but hey ho.
A shuttle picked me up from Nelson and raced towards the lakes to make it in time for my water taxi. We were not on time, actually about half an hour late, but wonderfully the water taxi and the fisherpeople who’d also booked it waited for me. After a delightful but cold thirty minutes across Lake Rotoroa, I was at Sabine hut, now 5 hours walk away from West Sabine hut and the offical TA trail.
The walk was a great intro back to trail after a few days off - relatively flat and like all the trail in the Nelson Lakes, easy to follow with minimal obstacles. It followed the river back up into the valley towards the looming mountains in the distance.
Lots of cute toadstools were popping up.
The final forest path into the hut was quite idyllic and after a little under 5 hours, Sabine hut appeared through the trees.
I crossed a very sturdy swingbridge to access the hut and walked in to find it already half full.
I took a bunk up on the top and settled into the evening, chatting to the other hut-goers, most of whom were, as before, doing the Travers-Sabine circuit.
I learnt a new card game from a guy from Essex called Cambio which was very fun, I made sure to write down the rules so I wouldn’t forget. I went to sleep with earplugs in, in an attempt to drown out the two snorers who were already fog-horning by 8.30pm.
