Te Anau, South Island, NZ
When I last left you we were headed north out of Invercargill. We camped the first night in a farmer's meadow. Never saw the farmer. Then heading north, the next night I spotted a river and a bridge on a side road and headed over to check it out. Wasn't looking too promising. No flat, grassy spot for tents. Coming back over this rattly wooden bridge, there were 2 trucks waiting there turn parked side by side. So I hopped off Blaze and walked up between them. "Any place to wild camp around here?"
"Your lucky day", one guy responded. "Follow that track."
And we did. So did he, ahead of us. And finally, way down, it curved to the river. Crunchy grass but it would do. And like most of our encounters, "Wouldn't you rather sleep up at the house in a proper bed?" No, we love our tents.
Jake taking a dip to cool off!
Me taking a dip to cool off:))!!!
I think I look good in this official something hat...don't you?
But he did come back later with a bottle of wine and a chair to join us after dinner. "Would you like to borrow my ute to tour around tomorrow?" Really? What we really want to do is go to Te Anau and walk the Kepler Track. "Ok", says Peter. Really?? "Actually, let me see if I can get my Ford Falcon back to loan ya". And he makes a call.
"Let's go get it tonight", he says. "But you girls will have to drive because I've had my license revoked." Hmmm. Ok. (Probably drunken driving because he was knocking off the beers.)
So that's how we got a car to drive the 60 kms out to Te Anau to hike the Kepler. Sweet!!
Peter also offered to cook us breakfast and showed up bright and early to haul our bikes and gear up to his house where it all would be stored. Every time one of us was alone with him, he was hitting on us. A high energy guy. Oh and he carried guns in his truck: a pistol and a rifle. April says she checked the chamber of the pistol and it had no bullets but he sure liked to twirl it around.
By the time we finally hit the road, April was at her wits end from his energy. She broke into tears, poor girl. A nice man. A lonely man. Going through a tough time right now.
Now we were on the road, April driving...on the LEFT. STAY LEFT!!! That was my job. Watch her at all her turns. She did great! I find riding in a car too fast. It makes me nauseous. My eyes can register what it's seeing. Too long on a bike.
A ways down the road, April turns to me and says, "What's Peter's last name?" Damned if I know! And we cracked up. Here we were driving down the road in this guy's car and we didn't know his last name or address. How crazy is that????
This track, one of the Great Walks of NX, is 60 kms (36 miles). There are only 2 bookable campsites on it. But a couple we met on Stewart Island told us about another site that didn't require booking. They also suggested walking it clockwise. So that's what we did. We parked at Rainbow Reach because the DoC (Dept of Conservation) folks said they'd had no burglaries at the parking lots. It was only 5 kms into Shallow Bay to our campsite on the lake. Beautiful. It rained that night and morning. Well, actually all that next day. But the rain was so light and spaced that it felt like we dried between raindrops. This was a bush walk all day. The NZ bush is full of ponga ferns and the trail was like a walk in the park. My only issue was my new Chaco sandals that April had brought for me were rubbing and causing blisters, something I've never experienced with them before. And because my feet were wet, I couldn't put duct tape on the hot spots. I was a hurting dudette. I finally switched to my flip flops. But walked barefoot when I could. Ouch. My flip flops rubbed a sore between my toes. I think the rain making for wet feet was the culprit. But I had 2 more days to hike. Hmmm?
We arrived at Iris Burn Campsite drenched to the bones. The rain had gotten harder before we could make it in. Lovely shelter there with space for cooking and picnic tables under cover and places to hang things to...dry? April came up with the smart idea of erecting our tent under the shelter and carrying it to the site so the inside stayed dry. She started a fad and everyone arriving later did the same thing. We had a great group there that night: Kathryn & Michael from Australia, "Drip Dry" ( I gave him a hiker name when he arrived soaked and drenched with rain) from Ireland, and Roy and Ben from Israel.
The next day was going to be a long one for all of us. 23 kms up and over Mt. Jackson to Brod Bay Campsite for Kathryn & Michael and April & me. The Israeli boys were going further to the car park. "Drip Dry" decided to go back up to the ridge line to see the view before going in the whole other direction and out to the car park we came in from 2 days ago. Oh, to be young!
The views were spectacular! Breathtaking! Beyond words!
That 3rd day was long...long downhill at the end. Oh so hard on the knees. My knees and feet were killing me...just all achy. But the Israeli boys caught up with us after their long lunch break at the hut and they hiked with us to the campground, providing great distraction of how our bodies were feeling:)
We stayed the night at this campground on the shores of Te Anau Lake and hiked out to the closer parking lot in the morning. Our plan was to hitch to the further parking lot (10 kms) and our car. But we didn't think about the fact that in the morning people are arriving not departing. Ok. Dutch that plan. Let's have lunch and then hike to our car. No sooner do we make our sandwiches than I see a woman coming out if the park. Any chance you could give us a lift to Rainbow Reach parking lot? Sure. I was heading there myself! Is that trail magic or what? You have to give up and what you're looking for comes to you!
We were apprehensive about getting back to Peter's and whether we should stay the night as he expected or just pack up and bike away. How was he going to be? We decided we would confront the issue head on and talk about it. But when we arrived, Trish, an ex girlfriend was there and provided a delightful buffer. We thoroughly enjoyed her company and hospitality and Peter was busy elsewhere on the farm most of the time, although hospitably concerned that we had everything we needed. A pleasant contrast to before. So we stayed the night and cycled out showered, laundryed, and restocked to continue north.
Livin' the life,
BagLady
Facebook: Kathryn Mossbrook Zimmerman
