Thursday 26.01.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1587km
• Official kms: 13.5km
• Garmin kms: 14.42km
• Total time: 10:38
• Calories burned: 5015
• Body battery: 6/10 drained from yesterday
• Accommodation: Waitewaiwai hut
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 11

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Today is another big day, I’m expecting it to take 10 hours or so to get to our destination of Waitewaiwai hut. I woke just before 5am, motivation was low though. Leaving about 6:15am

The day started off quite cold & overcast. I had 4 litres of water on me also which added extra weight to my pack. Within the first kilometre or so there was a bit of scrambling up & over ridges some with steep drop offs.

The DOC time to Nichols hut was 4 hours & 5kms so I was expecting that, about 2.5 hours in I stopped for a quick 10 minute break to have a hydration tablet & a protein bar as I had been sweating a lot this morning. After carrying on & having to climb 400 metres elevation to gain Nichols pt 1242 & then dropping nearly 100 metres of elevation I was at Nichols hut in just under the 4 hour mark.

I was so happy that this tank had water & got to work filtering water to refill my bladder & drank 1.5 litres while I was there also. Nici who started after me this morning soon turned up. I sat there for a good 45 minutes in total before getting up & starting again.

Loaded with water again it was a good 300 metre climb with some parts literally climbing to gain Mt Crawford, the highest point on this section of 1462 metres above sea level. I could imagine the views from here would be spectacular, unfortunately the visibility today only allowed you to see 50 metres in front of you. Nici & I sat here for a break for about 30 minutes.

From this point there was only 6km to the hut, it would be undulating with a descent of over 1000 metres, after dropping a few hundred metres we got below the clouds & the view’s opened up.

When the last climb was done at about 1300 metres it was a steep descent of 3km & 1000 metres down. This was hard work & my knees were really struggling but seemed to survive!

I reached the hut just on 5pm there were 4 others at this large 16 bed hut. I said hello, claimed a bed then went straight back down to the river to wash myself & my clothes. Nici was just walking up as I was heading down to the river so she joined me.

Another big day, but I feel fresher & am looking forward to a bit of a sleep-in tomorrow ready for a 9km day that supposedly takes 5-7 hours! The Tararuas don’t disappoint!