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We woke up at 5:45 a.m. (before the roosters) and quickly dismantled our camp. We left a Cadbury bar and a note as additional payment for the kids for last night's paua. We hit the road at about 6:20 and headed to Nugget Point. We parked the car and walked the short tramp up to the lighthouse. We watched the sunrise while hearing and seeing seals on the rocks and grass below. It was Stan's wife Shona's birthday, and we called her on the cell and sang to her.
Back at the van we prepared muesli, yoghurt, and tea for the road. We reached the town of Alexandra at around 11:30. We stopped in several photo shops to see about downloading our digital pictures. In the first, they told us it would take an hour (they were short-staffed due to the holiday). We didn't have that much time and headed down the road to another camera shop. They were willing to do it, but their card reader and USB cable weren't compatible with our camera. They could print them out but not burn them to CD. We were impressed at how much they tried to help, though. Alexandra was a very quaint, friendly town. Stan bought some groceries while we were checking out the camera shops. We then met up at a coffee shop. Craig got a small steak and cheese meat pie. I got a small spicy beef and kumara meat pie. I had a chocolate milk and Craig and I had chocolate chip cookies. We ate outside on a picnic table on the sidewalk. The sun was warm and the day was fine. We left Alexandra and I wrote in the journal while we were on the road. When I said I was caught up Stan said that he’d have to drive faster - to make more things happen for me to write. We drove to Ohau and parked the van at a ski cabin near the trailhead. We ate a lunch of leftover hangi food and paua. We did the dishes, gathered our gear, and before we knew it was 4:15 and we were heading off into the hills for our second overnight tramp. This was not my finest hour in terms of hiking. I had been suffering from van-induced narcolepsy for the majority of the 6-hour drive, and I think that the many days of constant activity and early rising was catching up with me. Because of the time, we knew we'd have to do some hiking in the dark. I was feeling a bit lightheaded and overheated. Stan and Craig were concerned about me, and were very supportive. I decided to press on, just put one foot in front of the other and see how far we got. We had tents so we could basically camp anywhere if need be. I was bringing up the rear and struggling to keep up. Stan, great motivator that he is, encouraged me to take the lead and set the pace. It is a whole different experience mentally to be setting the pace rather than bringing up the rear, and it made a tremendous difference in my performance. We hiked across a pasture (where there were tremendous views of Mt. Cook over Lake Ohau; it was crystal clear and the waning sunlight and looked fantastic!) and into a beech forest. We followed the river and eventually crossed some rockslides. Scree was visible. I started to feel much better. We tried to hike without torchlight for as long as possible, letting our eyes get used to the darkness. I let Stan take the lead here, though, as I wasn't sure where I was going. It finally got dark enough that dusk and our hiking poles weren't enough to guarantee safe passage over the rocks, so we turned on our torches. At 7:15 we reached camp. Hiking NZ has a concession with DOC whereby they were able to install a small pit toilet (out in the middle of nowhere that consisted of a toilet seat on a wooden box), create campsites, and have a fire pit. On the way to the campsites, Stan showed us how to locate the toilet. Then we headed further upstream and set up our tents. By this time I really needed to visit the loo, but I was very much afraid that I wouldn't be able to find it (or to find my way back) using only my torch and my pathetic sense of direction. Stan walked me down there and taught me some tricks (such as if you step on spongy ground covered in twigs, you've lost the track, and told me how to find my way back to the campsite based on following the sound of the river, turning at a particular dip in the trail, etc.) It was very bizarre to be sitting on a loo in total darkness in the middle of the forest, hearing only the roar of the river. I really worked hard to hone my orienteering skills on the way back to the campsite. I impressed myself by making it back relatively easily. Stan prepared dinner of pasta alfredo with cauliflower, broccoli, and mushrooms (we left out the bacon). We ate dinner by candlelight after Craig and I gathered some meager firewood. Dinner was delicious. Stan and Craig started a campfire. We sat by the fire, planning tomorrow's activities. Suddenly I got very tired, and almost feel asleep sitting there. We took a look at the stars but I had totally had it. Stan was laughing at my quasi-catatonic state and we decided that I should go to bed. It was around 10:30. Tonight Stan did sleep outside, in his sleeping bag under his fly (which he attached to some nearby trees). |
 Nugget Point Lighthouse  Nugget Point Lighthouse  Mount Cook  Stan and Steph hiking in the dark 
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