Day 96: Subs, Burgers & Sunburns
January 14, 2020
Kilometers: 2281.4-2313.7
Manuka Hut to Geraldine Holiday Park
When I woke up at 6:40 Janina, Tracey and the German hiker, who I’ve come to learn is named Diddy, we’re all gone. I got Team Belgium up and we were out at 7:15. I gave the stray dog a quick peanut butter snack before leaving.
We walked away from the hut and back into the big open dry basin. Right over the mountains next to the hut we were leaving was a strange dark blue color.
We climbed up a small hill and descended back down to another 4WD track. The walking was quick as we made our way through the tussock landscape.
After just over an hour and a half of walking we arrived at a gravel road. A few farmers passed us on large farm machinery. The gravel road looked like it was headed to nowhere.
We eventually got to the start of the Clearwater track. I stopped to wait for the others and have a snack. We were only stopped for about 15 minutes. We didn’t need much break because the walking was so flat and easy.
We then started walking back into the tussock. The next 10kms climbed 300 meters to a saddle, so the uphill was basically not even noticeable. When we got close to the saddle large snow covered mountains came into view in the distance.
When we reached the saddle we had already walked 22km and it was 11:15. With only 11km left and the shuttle pickup not until 5, I took another break even though I wasn’t tired. I snacked while soaking in the views of the lakes, open tussock, mountains and the Rangitata River.
I descended off the saddle and back towards more flatland. The last 11kms flew by just like the first 22. The track took us towards the mountains and Rangitata River.
The photos above are not the Rangitata, they are just a tributary to it. The Rangitata can be seen in the very background of the pic up against the mountains. It is another large braided river that is dangerous to cross in any conditions.
I walked down to the parking lot where we’d be picked up. It was 1:30, which meant we averaged faster than 6kph today and also that we had at least 3 hours to wait until the pickup.
Those three hours were filled with tanning, card games and eating. Just before 4:30 our ride arrived and we eagerly hopped in. It was an hour and a half to the town of Geraldine.
When we got to town it was almost 6. Everything in the town closed at 8 so we had to be quick. We all first went to subway. I put down a chicken bacon ranch footlong in seconds. Then the three of us guys walked over to a cafe, which was supposed to have the best burger in town. It was probably the best burger we’ve had so far in New Zealand. That with a side of fries and I was finally completely full, the first time I physically couldn’t eat any more since the Sunday BBQ in St Arnaud.
We followed up the subs and burgers with a beer. We didn’t have anywhere to drink it so we just did it on a bench on Main Street. We weren’t too worried about considering we’ve seen about 2 police officers in this country in the last 96 days.
Next we trotted over to the grocery store for our resupply. We only need food for three days and two nights before reaching Lake Takepo so it didn’t take too long. We headed back to the holiday park campsite to pack our food up.
While showering I realized my tanning sesh earlier was more of a skin burning sesh. My whole upper body, upper legs, and calves are all bright red. After showering I went to the TV room to relax before bed. Tomorrow we get a shuttle back to the trail at 8.