To connect from Nelson Lakes to the St. James, we climbed to Blue Lake Hut - next to what Kiwis claim to be the clearest and freshest water in the world. It is also incredibly cold, always between 3 and 8 degrees Celcius throughout the year. I took a quick dip and was mildly worried about giving myself a heart attack.
From Blue Lake Hut we had an awesome day to hike up and over Waiau Pass - at over 1800 meters the second highest point on the Te Araroa- which was super steep and fun. From there we dropped into the Waiau River Valley and walked a few miles to a camp spot called Caroline Creek Bivvy. There was a small herd of wild horses not far from where we camped.
The day following Waiau Pass I passed the 2000km mark of this journey. This is a good milestone as I'll only have 54km to walk after reaching 3000km.
So, after walking yesterday morning and reaching route 7, we (I'm walking with Arne and a Belgian friend of his who's walking two sections with us) ate the rest of our food and then walked to the side of the road and stuck the left thumbs out to try to get a ride 50km east to Hanmer Springs for a rest day and resupply. After 40 minutes of no luck Arne mentioned there's a town 70km west on the same road. "Oh yah, Reefton!" I exclaimed and with a bound I crossed the street and 20 seconds or so later the first car to drive west pulled right over and, though he only had room for one, I had to go for it. Arne and Wouter arrived in Reefton two hours after I did.
Next up is eating and relaxing in Reefton today and then hitching back to the trailhead to camp out this evening to begin the walk to Arthur's pass tomorrow morning. Reefton is a bit of a one horse town.
Pictures Include:
The Travers River
Blue Lake
View of Lake Constance from Waiau Pass
Me in the valley before ascending to Waiau Pass
The Waiau River Valley
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