Congratulations, you've made it through the week!

We have acquired: New boots/shoes A top up on food And Vaughan's hiking pole fixed With our old boots mailed back to New Plymouth for future use :) We are getting a bus back out to where we left the trail yesterday, to get started again tomorrow morning. It is still 5 or 6 days to Hanmer Springs, so you can look forward to more updates, and photos, then.

February 27 Goat Pass Hut to Morrison Footbridge... to Christchurch KM 2169 Distance: 14km  Elevation: ascent 0m, descent 760m Steps: 25,000 Time: 8:15am - 5:00pm We woke up early this morning, but all three of us (Vaughan, Eliza and Linsey) were waiting for someone else to make the first move to get out of bed. It was COLD at the hut, at the top of the pass, last night! And a look outdoors, where it was cloudy and foggy pretty much down to the roof of the hut, did not make us want to rush to put on our wet socks and shoes, and head into what we assumed would be a very cold river.  But we finally got moving (and into those shoes and socks) (and raincoats, to help keep us warm in the wind) and got on the trail. The track today consisted of three parts: Very hard Hard Easy "Very hard" was the first three km, which took us three hours to traverse. This was down a steep, bouldery river, where we were climbing up and over boulders, only to let ourselves down the other side. (Darla

February 26 Bealey Hut to Goat Pass Hut KM 2183 Distance: 20km  Elevation: ascent 649m, descent 309m Steps: 33,400 Time: 7:50am - 4:00pm This morning's walk consisted of 4km on a road and 5km along a grassy, scrubby, featureless river flat. Aside from crossing the mighty Waimakariri River,  and this photo of me using a rope (add that to the list of types of conveyance we've encountered on the TA), there was nothing of interest so let's just move on. The remainder of today's section was in Arthur's Pass, through the Mingha River valley up to the hut at Goat Pass. This is the same Goat Pass used for running section of the famous Coast to Coast adventure race and we saw more than 20 runners on the track doing in 1 day what we're doing in 2. To be fair, they're not lugging massive backpacks. The scenery is just beautiful, and looking up and down these river valleys just takes your breath away. The other thing that takes your b

February 25 Hamilton Hut to Bealey Hut KM 2203 Distance: 14km  Elevation: ascent 681m, descent 841m Steps: 31,000 Time: 7:40am - 4:00pm We started off the day in great spirits, knowing we had a beautiful hike in front of us. Just a 10 minute walk or so from the hut, there was a side trip to a tarn, that was absolutely worth it! The climb up to the tarn also had some views of the river valley that the Hamilton Hut lies in: From there, we continued up the Harper River toward Lagoon Saddle. Now, when I say "up the river", I mean exactly that. Most people (including the other three that stayed at Hamilton Hut last night) take the track. But Vaughan, Linsey and I decided that we would stream bash our way directly up the river. And wow was that fun!  All the way until we got to a waterfall, and had to climb up a steep slope about 30 metres to rejoin the track. We had lunch soon afterward, with still a couple of kilometers to go to the

February 24 Harper Campsite to Hamilton Hut KM 2217 Distance: 20km  Elevation: ascent 262m, descent 64m Steps: 30,000 Time: 7:50am - 2:30pm Packing our wet tent this morning our thoughts turned to the hut we were aiming for later that day, the Hamilton Hilton, as promised in our trail notes. Both of us had a really good night's sleep (plus the afternoon nap the day  before) which we attribute in part to our immune response to our booster shot. After a hearty breakfast of coffee and porridge (i.e., every breakfast so far) we set off into the cool morning air admiring the mist covered mountain tops. Mt Ada shrouded in clouds and mist Our journey today was entirely following the Harper Valley upstream, and within 90 minutes our shoes were saturated. It was to be another day of river crossings, but we're gaining confidence with these now that we've done so many. Today the water depth was up to our knees in places, but it's quite unlikely we would get swept away

February 23 Methven to Harper Campsite KM 2236 Distance: 22km  Elevation: flat Steps: 31,000 Time: 8:15am - 2:00pm We set out this morning by getting a ride with the owner of the Methven Camping Site, who drove us up not only to the true start of the track, but another 7km onward, saving us just a little bit more road walking. Not that today was anything but  roadwalking, but it was still at least an hour saved off of our journey.  It wasn't just the two of us in the vehicle either - we have continued our tramily (is it a trail family? or a tramping family? who knows!) with Linsey, having thoroughly enjoyed our time together over the last section, and really appreciated the moral support we all needed to get through that last river reach. Nigel was also a possible until the very last minute, but he had to make the hard choice to go into Christchurch to deal with some Real World chores and duties for a few days. I have no doubt we will run across him again, given the way

February 21 Comyn's Hut to Glenrock Station to Methven KM 2275, and diversion Distance: 16km  Elevation: 453m ascent, 846m descent Steps: 27,000 Time: 8:00am - 12:30pm The morning dawned clear but cool as the Comyns Hut bunks spilled their sleepy occupants into the confined space at around 7pm. Several toilet visits had already been made and the clangy doorhandle and rustling sleeping bags meant that no one (save maybe the early-20-something young man) was still asleep. The two of us and Linsey had a 1pm appointment with leg 1 of our transport around the Rakaia River, and an estimated 5 hours to get to the pick up destination. Coffee and porridge was cooked and scoffed, gear jammed into packs, and feet squished into still-cold and -wet shoes/boots before stepping into the crepuscular world outside the hut. Dry boots/shoes wouldn't have remained that way for long as we were soon into knee-high dewy grass and tussock, with a stream crossing filling our footwear for go

February 20 Double Hut to Comyn's Hut KM 2281 Distance: 16km  Elevation: 765m ascent, 783m descent Steps: 28,000 Time: 8:00am - 4:30pm We all woke up leisurely this morning, none of us even having been woken up by heavy rain or anything. So we were pretty hopeful about the state of the river that we would be crossing today. The day dawned clear and bright, with beautiful views across the valley.   The track took us through shoulder-high tussock, with spaniard (the spiky plant we've written about before that will just stab you and poke holes in you!), matagouri, and thistle all vying for which plant would tear up your legs the most. But once we got above the main tussock, the views were just spectacular. There were even a couple of sidles along gravel slips, that were intimidating to look at, but very solid under foot. (You can see Vaughan just starting to cross, from left to right) We had lunch right at the top, with lovely views into both va

February 19 Geraldine to KM 2310 to Double Hut KM 2297 Distance: 13km  Elevation: flat Steps: 25,000 Time: 12:55pm - 4:30pm *bonus content at the end. Today was another half day of walking. Our lift around the Rangitata River was only able to get us to the track at 1pm, so that limited our options a bit. Also, there is a front of weather, including heavy rain and snow above 1500m, coming through tonight. While we waited for the ride, we managed to attend both the Geraldine Farmers' Market, and a craft fair, happening within a few blocks of each other. Knowing we would have to carry anything we bought helped us not spend any money, though. Unfortunately, the crepes truck that is usually at the farmers' market was not there, so we "had" to go to the Running Duck cafe for breakfast. Eliza had boring but yummy eggs on toast, but Vaughan had pork and beans. Now, especially for the American audience, this is not what you expect. It was the sort of beans you're thinking

February 18 Unnamed campsite to Geraldine KM 2329 ish Distance: 5km Elevation: flat Steps: 7,000 Time: 8:00am - 9:10am This morning we just had to walk the last couple of KM to the road for a pick up and ride into Geraldine. The Forest River feeds in to the Rangitata River,  which is not cross able on foot (and is not actually part of the TA). So in to town we go, for rest and resupply, and to divert to a road bridge. Tomorrow we get a ride back out to KM 2315 (Yes we are skipping about 20km of trail), so we can get to a hut tonight, as it's meant to be rainy and snowy at high altitude (we will not be at high altitude). It's about 3 days for us to get to the Rakaia River, where we will have to do the same sort of diversion, into Methven. We have all of our supplies so it will be a quick stop, and from there 5 days to Arthur's Pass! So if you don't hear from us for about a week, you can look forward to those two sections of updates all at once :) Our ride up