It’s never a super early start when we have to break camp, but even at 9am neither of us wanted porridge. So I had coffee and the two remaining buckwheat pancakes and then we set off through the Hobbit forest, following the 4WD track. We stopped for a very early lunch at 10am. Today it is buckwheat crackers with cream cheese and more of the leftover salad. Then we left the shelter of the forest and were out in the hot sun until we reached Carey’s hut. Lunch stop number 2.

Arga stove and hot water cylinder at Carey’s hut.

Another couple of hours along the 4WD track brought us to Boundary hut. We really enjoyed the famous river swimming hole and were just settling in when people started arriving. A family of three from Ngarawahia, cyclist David (an Auckland lawyer) and a group of six, making a total of 12 at a hut that had been empty for days. Unfortunately the toilet was far from empty. A consequence of this hut being at the end of a 4WD track.

Dinner that night was an enjoyable leek risotto with peas and cashew nuts. There was much talk of the relative benefits of various dehydrated brands going on around us. I rather hoped that my scheduled chia seed pudding would not take effect the following morning…

Arriving at Boundary hut.
Sun on the mountains in the morning.
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