Day 99 - flat land

Waiau hut —-> Anne hut 26km

The chilly dawn air was a stark contrast to the inside of the hut this morning. With seven of us in the hut and the fire going, it had been a toasty night with a couple of others taking their sleeping bags out onto the porch in the middle of the night, choosing the near freezing temperatures over the hotness of the hut.

Today was just walking. No mountains or peaks to conquer. No tricksy terrain to navigate. Just a walk through the valley across the flats. I was weirdly looking forward to it, craving the monotony and not having to think about where my feet were stepping all the time.

There was the odd forest section,

and a few relatively easy river crossings.

By mid morning I was already half way to Anne hut,

and by 2pm the hut was in sight, just in time for the clouds to roll in and the rain to start.

The forecast has been for fairly heavy rain which didn’t quite materialise, making me question whether I should have carried on further, but as soon as I’d got the fire going there wasn’t a chance I was going anywhere.

Anne hut could sleep 20 people but no one else showed up so I had it all to myself. It was actually quite creepy as there were some questionable creeks and bangs during the night but my earplugs soon sent me off to sleep.