Comyn's Hut to A Frame Hut. Just over two hours.
We could've very easily made it to civilisation if we'd wanted to, but it was only Friday and our ride to Methven wasn't going to happen till Saturday.
Methven is becoming a place of legend amongst our "group". It's not on the trail but is an important restocking point for "starving" trail walkers.
It has hamburgers apparently. This entitles it to a Six Star Rating in the TeA Traveller's Association Handbook, 2015 Nobo Edition.
No mean feat.
But back to our day...
The trek to the next hut would have taken less than two hours if we hadn't have come across Michael.
As he walked towards us we couldn't tell what we were looking at.
He was walking VERY slowly and was gesticulating wildly but in slow motion. His pack was enormous and his head gear...unusual.
Michael is an ex-Liverpool, now out of Sydney, TeA section walker who is in his second year of walking the trail. He is also a yoga instructor and self-proclaimed founding member and president of the International Slow Walkers Society.
His strange gestures were a new yoga move he is developing - something to open the chest for better breathing.
At a guess Michael is between 65 and 75 years of age and is a male of Caucasian appearance and medium build. Like most trail males he is unshaven. He would stand at a height of about 186.6cm if he wasn't stooped over his Magellan GPS unit trying to figure out how the hell to make it work.
WARNING: If you are considering taking up walking in New Zealand's Nether Regions - and don't want to get lost...don't buy yourself a Magellan GPS - buy yourself a Garmin - they work well and are comparatively easy to use.
A GPS should be able to tell you where you are and give that information to you in standard NZ grid map coordinates WITH EASE.
When Michael started describing the problems he was having with his GPS we knew he was attempting to drive a Magellan. How did we know? The nightmare he was having was almost the same nightmare we'd had a couple of years earlier.
Here's our story: Lost Lake
We got a refund...Michael is still probably wandering around stooped over his fading screen thinking that he's probably too old to learn how to operate it.
He's not...but will be by the time he figures out how to set his hopeless machine to work in New Zealand - an essential requirement when walking Te Araroa.
Whiona tried her best to help Michael out but really needed a dark room and a table. The two of them tried to replicate these conditions by stooping over the tiny screen in the mid-day sun while I held an umbrella over them.
We looked ridiculous.
Half an hour after we met him we all gave up. Michael stumbled on with only our suggestion that he ask for a refund to help him.
Fiona still feels bad that she couldn't help...but...following him was a random bunch of bright eyed, young and hopefully highly intelligent foreigners with time on their hands at the end of the day. If Michael was lucky, they might have been able to sort him out.
Here's hoping.
We wandered on to A Frame - a 70s classic.
Three beds. A bench. Two windows. Particle board flooring.
What more could we wish for?
Good company.
This arrived in the form of two charming nobos, Nico and Lucy from France. Yes...that made four in a hut designed for three...but that's why they invented floors.
We could've very easily made it to civilisation if we'd wanted to, but it was only Friday and our ride to Methven wasn't going to happen till Saturday.
Methven is becoming a place of legend amongst our "group". It's not on the trail but is an important restocking point for "starving" trail walkers.
It has hamburgers apparently. This entitles it to a Six Star Rating in the TeA Traveller's Association Handbook, 2015 Nobo Edition.
No mean feat.
But back to our day...
The trek to the next hut would have taken less than two hours if we hadn't have come across Michael.
As he walked towards us we couldn't tell what we were looking at.
He was walking VERY slowly and was gesticulating wildly but in slow motion. His pack was enormous and his head gear...unusual.
Michael is an ex-Liverpool, now out of Sydney, TeA section walker who is in his second year of walking the trail. He is also a yoga instructor and self-proclaimed founding member and president of the International Slow Walkers Society.
His strange gestures were a new yoga move he is developing - something to open the chest for better breathing.
At a guess Michael is between 65 and 75 years of age and is a male of Caucasian appearance and medium build. Like most trail males he is unshaven. He would stand at a height of about 186.6cm if he wasn't stooped over his Magellan GPS unit trying to figure out how the hell to make it work.
WARNING: If you are considering taking up walking in New Zealand's Nether Regions - and don't want to get lost...don't buy yourself a Magellan GPS - buy yourself a Garmin - they work well and are comparatively easy to use.
A GPS should be able to tell you where you are and give that information to you in standard NZ grid map coordinates WITH EASE.
When Michael started describing the problems he was having with his GPS we knew he was attempting to drive a Magellan. How did we know? The nightmare he was having was almost the same nightmare we'd had a couple of years earlier.
Here's our story: Lost Lake
We got a refund...Michael is still probably wandering around stooped over his fading screen thinking that he's probably too old to learn how to operate it.
He's not...but will be by the time he figures out how to set his hopeless machine to work in New Zealand - an essential requirement when walking Te Araroa.
Whiona tried her best to help Michael out but really needed a dark room and a table. The two of them tried to replicate these conditions by stooping over the tiny screen in the mid-day sun while I held an umbrella over them.
We looked ridiculous.
Half an hour after we met him we all gave up. Michael stumbled on with only our suggestion that he ask for a refund to help him.
Fiona still feels bad that she couldn't help...but...following him was a random bunch of bright eyed, young and hopefully highly intelligent foreigners with time on their hands at the end of the day. If Michael was lucky, they might have been able to sort him out.
Here's hoping.
We wandered on to A Frame - a 70s classic.
Three beds. A bench. Two windows. Particle board flooring.
What more could we wish for?
Good company.
This arrived in the form of two charming nobos, Nico and Lucy from France. Yes...that made four in a hut designed for three...but that's why they invented floors.