Wednesday 25.01.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1573.5km
• Official kms: 12.5km
• Garmin kms: 14.02km
• Total time: 9:55
• Calories burned: 4863
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Dracophyllum hut
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 11

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Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

It was an early start this morning, I left just after 6am. Nici was about 20 minutes behind me. The main reason for the early start is the fact that water is scarce up here due to the large volume of Te Araroa walkers this year. The water tanks can’t keep up with the amount of use from everyone. So I wanted to get as much done before the sun worked it’s magic.

The day started with a 140 metre climb in a short distance but the views were amazing, you could see down to Levin & across to Palmerston North with the coast in between.

I managed to get to Te Matawai hut by around 9am & I caught up with Emma & the crew from Greater Wellington Backcountry network who have just spent the last 5 day’s painting the hut inside & out, what an amazing job. These guys volunteer their time for the upkeep of the huts & if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have these amazing resources preserved the way they are.

After leaving Te Matawai it was a good climb of 500 metres of elevation to get to todays high point of 1400 metres above sea level. The views here were spectacular, you could see all around & Kapiti island also, we sat & ate lunch admiring the views.

From here it was only 6km to Dracophyllum hut a cozy 2 bed biv. It took 3 hours to get there though as it was a hard slog of undulation. I also managed to lose the track at one point & started my tracking to reconnect. I found the trail not too long after.

It was such a hot & strenuous day that I drank 750ml before I started, 1.5litres from the tank at Te Matawai hut & my 3 litre bladder of water. I was beyond thirsty when I reached Dracophyllum hut & was luck that water was drizzling out of the tank when I turned it on. We managed to get & filter another 10 litres out of the tank by tipping it as much as we could (it’s wired down) & then scooping water from the inside after removing the dead bird.

Today my total ascent gain was 1472 metres, it was a hard day & I was glad to get to the hut at 4pm. Tomorrow is another fairly big day with about 1000 metres of ascent & 1600 metres of descent. I plan to start at 6am again to get some distance done before the sun gets me.