tramping new zealand

At some stage in the night I was welcomed by heavy rain, real heavy.

Oh, maybe I should have scuttled out a day earlier, or maybe the rain would pass.

Later, in the gloomy daylight the rain was just drenching drizzle, seemed like being right up in the clouds with the mist around, there was none that big view at the back of Mount Arthur I’d had the previous evening.

The weather forecast was cooler, plenty of rain on the way, better make tracks early.

By the time brekkie was finished, ie, my last muesli bar and some coffee, the drizzle was mizzle and it was time to hightail it. Nothing edible left in my pack now.

I had anticipated going via Mount Arthur Hut but plans like that can be changed to suit the conditions, I was taking the through-the-forest option.

At Flora Hut, man I was travelling quickly, finally, helped with a fully manicured track, more or less, on the flat, well, flatish, I ran into a new hut warden who said there had been two cars in the car park, 30 minutes away, one his, the other one owned by a couple intent on making Nelson as soon as possible. They would be long gone when I arrived.

At Flora Saddle and down to the car park not so far away the mist was a dense fog.

Now just the one car vaguely visible not so far away.

The rain was now coming down.

Oh, just the 11 km drop from the 1000 m of the car park to get to a busy road. Who would be coming up here on a fully wet Monday afternoon?

It was now 2 pm.

Suddenly a figure mysteriously loomed out the murk, oh, my car is just 500 m down the road, want a lift?

The Graham Valley Road has been closed three times in the preceding couple of years for months at a time due to a humungous slip. That night there was 60 mm of rain in the comparative dry of Nelson and the slip, err, slipped massively once again.

All in all I was lucky to make it out.

Now for a week or two of recovery before I head off again to explore the southern half of Kahurangi.

There is still a bit more of this summer to go.