1808 - 1835 Middy Hut
Although it was forecast to rain we were greeted by blue sky in the morning. It did cloud over later but that just makes for good walking weather.
First there was 13kms of road to get to the trail head. It was nice road though. Metalled with farms along the side and occasional views of the Pelorus River. Someone had made up a sort of set piece of old farm equipment beside the road. It is one of those places where you start looking for land for sale just in case you run into money.
After the end of the road we walked through Beech and Rimu forest for an hour until Emerald pool where we sat down for a break and got my first reminder of how many sandflies are in the South Island. (Really. As I write this there are roughly two hundred on the outside of my tent.)
The next break was at Captains Hut, where we think some scenes from The Hobbit were filmed, and then onwards to Middy Hut. When we got there there was a New Zealand guy who had run out of smokes so I gave him mine. It's a thing I do where if I can't get tobacco, I don't need it.
Tomorrow morning consists of rising 700m over 3km which we were thinking of doing today but we have already walked far enough. Long may the slack packing continue!
Hindsight
- Take sand-fly repellent.
Middy Hut Map
