From Greenstone Hut to Careys Hut
Hiking time: 09:20a.m.-06:20p.m.
Daily/Total distance: 28km /1016km +67km on side trails (247.5 hitched/skipped, 84 biked)
Steps: 39343
Weather: overcast then sunny from noon onwards

This morning I got up at around 8am and had another lazy start to the day. It really shows that autumn is approaching, as the sun rises later and sets earlier. If I would continue to head of at 8am like I did at the start of this trip I would walk in the dark. So lazy mornings it is. It is also considerably colder now, which has me moving very slowly in the mornings:)

By 9:20am I set of for the next section of the TA. The weather update in the morning proclaimed a fine day ahead. The path lead away from the hut on the rise, looking into the valley that I walked through yesterday. After about 30min I had to clamber down into the valley through and back up on the other side.

On the other side the path continued through open country, with bushland and wetlands throughout. Sometimes the orange markers were difficult to spot between the bushes, but overall the track was easy enough to follow. There were a few areas though, were there was very spongy wet ground to walk upon, and even with the utmost care, my feet were soon wet again.

The walk through the bush and wetland was intermingled with short sections through young forests.

After noon though the sun was shining, and there were no more forests to walk through. It was now open tussock, with wide views. At 1pm I reached Taupo Hut. And though I do not like to stop for long breaks, as this brings me out of my tramping flow, I had to stop and fix my shoes a little bit, as one of the holes was growing, and I didn’t want to end up with ripped shoes so close to the finish.

Considering that I have now spent 2 months walking in my shoes, through fast and slow rivers, rocky boulder fields, muddy paths, spinaird grass, thistle, gorse bush, thick bush, etc, I am surprised by how little the shoes are damaged. There is one hole on the right shoe which is between where the laces are attached. This wont become a problem, as it the material between doesn’t have to hold much. The only problematic one is a bigger hole by my big left toe, which is slowly growing while I am walking. Luckily enough, it has been a few days since I have been in town, and I was able to use 2 dental floss pieces from my rubbish bag.

Finished with the shoe and a small lunch I made a small potty break and off I was for the next stretch. Shoes good as new and hopefully holding for another 300km. So I set off 45min later. Immediately behind the hut was a swing bridge crossing over the small river. At least my feet are able to continue drying.

The path continued on for long stretches through the open. I didn’t see to many markers, but the path on the ground was clear to follow. In general the weather as well as the views of the surroundings were very nice.

At some point, there was a fence going through the field, which had some barbed wire as well as some normal wire. There was no step to climb over it, and I had to take my pack off to crawl underneath it.

Towards the second half of my walk through this valley I started singing out loud to my favourite tunes. After I got tired of this I moved on to some gold old classic Disney songs. This didn’t last long though, and soon I was singing aloud and dancing/running to intros from tv series from my childhood. Some good old gummybears, Wickie, etc. That was a lot of fun, especially knowing that there was noone surrounding me. Finally, I also sang out loud to my favourite hometown Karneval songs.

At around 5pm I saw Boundary Hut in the distance. Through before reaching it, I had to walk around a bend of the river to reach the swing bridge across it. This last part around the river was through very tall grass, which was reaching up to my chest. I cannot imagine walking through here if I was 20cm shorter.

I made a short stop at Boundary Hut to sign the hut book and have a small chat with the British guy, who was already preparing dinner before I set off for another 6km to the next hut. I somehow didn’t feel like the day was over for me yet.

From Boundary Hut onwards the track follows a 4W track between the hills and the lakes coming up. This made it easier terrain to walk in for the remaining distance. Though there was some elevation to cover, which resulted in the 6k taking nearly the 2h suggested.

Soon, once I was further up I had my first view of the Northern Mavora Lake, and it was very nice. Somewhere down by the side of the lake will be my home for the night.

Coming upon the lake it started getting windier and also a bit chilli. I was really glad I didn’t have to much further to go. All along the side of the lake I kept a look out for possible campstpots, just in case the hut is infested with mice or rats, or if it should already be full. There were a few spots along the way, but upon reaching the hut at 6:20pm I was really glad to find it empty and being able to sleep inside. I could have pushed onwards for the next 2h, and I would have reached the camp sites by the lake just with sundown, but those I would have to pay for and it would be less comfortable.

I was glad to reach the hut and to dump all my things inside on the table. The wind started picking up more outside and it is nice to have sturdy walls to protect me. I prepared my bed, changed into my clean and dry clothes and put the other clothes outside to maybe dry a bit in the fading evening sun.

While I was watching a movie and having dinner, I saw another person join me at the hut at around 8pm, just arriving before it got really dark. He was a guy from Israel, who is also walking the TA. He had done a very long day, coming all the way from Queenstown that morning. We chatted a bit but soon got ready for bed as it was dark outside and we were both tired from the long day behind us.

While lying in bed and listening to an audiobook, I could hear the scratching and scrambling of mice throughout the hut. I had already seen one in the fireplace before I made dinner, but now they were moving about more. It really got to me, and I got up multiple times to check that my food as well as my things are still mice free.