Day 142: Greenstone hut to Carey’s hut

Tuesday 04.04.2023

Te Araroa kilometres done: 2751.5
Official kms: 27.5km
Garmin kms: 28.57km
Total time: 7:58
Calories burned: 3354
Body battery: 8/10
Accommodation: Careys hut
Tent nights tally: 18
Zero days had so far: 28

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Track me live here:

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The door into our room was like a revolving door last night. It seemed to open & close multiple times with people coming in & out, not quietly either.

This prompted me to get out of bed just after 5am. I was packed & ready to go before 7am, since it’s daylight savings it’s nice & light at this time.

The first 2km climbed steadily through the bush until reaching the open boggy area.

I chose to take what’s known as the Bullet track as it’s apparently the lesser of two evils. The trail on the other side of the river goes through bush that has a bit of windfall or so I have been told.

The next 5km was quite technical to stay out of the mud, rock hopping & picking good foot placement. I also noticed my left shoe was starting to come apart on the inside of the foot & a hole had formed.

The last few kilometres to Taipo hut were fairly straightforward although the last 500 metres was in some fairly high tussock.

What an amazing looking hut, 4 beds but the bed are doubles! There were 11 people here last night. 8 in the hut & 3 tenting. I stopped for a quick break then started walking again. It was 10km to here & its 12km to the next hut where I decided I will stop for lunch.

This next section was a lot better but still had some occasional boggy bits to negotiate. About halfway through this section my shoes small hole had turned into a good gaping 8cm hole. I will need to sew this later.

When I reached Boundary hut for lunch, Marko, Nici & Jake were sitting there having their lunch. They had come from the previous hut but had a late start. I sat & chatted with them before they started to take off. They are heading another 16km to the Mavora lakes campground. I only have another 6km to go to end my day.

It was a fast 6km on a 4wd track, reaching the hut before 3am. It’s a beautiful spot right next to the lake so i took the opportunity to get in and wash myself. Hung clothes to dry, sewed my shoes & then just relax for the evening.