19 Feb, rain, 10km from Glendhu Camp, ascent 518m

The strong wind overnight made the tent shiver but it stood up to it well.

Opening my fly this morning I had neighbours who had set up next to me on both sides. They were noisy in their set-up late last night but I did get a good sleep.

Heavy rain was forecasted for 9:00am and so I woke up early and moved my gear into the barbeque covered area nearby to keep my tent dry before any rain fell.

I set out at 8:45 leaving the camp through a fence rather than walk back a kilometer to the entrance to the camp. The guides written for us are not always accurate on this type of detail.

The Motutapu track started at the end of a 3.5 km road walk, out the camp and up a gravel road. The weather up in the Fern Valley didn’t look too good. It was already raining as I walked out from the camp.

The track went through scrubland and grassy flats following Fern Burn high up at it’s source. By now it had rained in steady showers.

These unusual gates are more like a door and not on the ground, they are to keep cattle in and rabbits out

The track then followed steep sidlings through an old forest of mountain beech, both silver and red beech.

The hut appeared beyond a high climb over tussock, grass and rocky boulders.

The rain fell heavily just after I arrived at the hut. My pack was soaked, the rain cover and my pack had a hole in the bottom from Richmond Ranges rock. Somehow the rain got through my rubbish bag lining.

A short pleasant days walk, lots of uphill that didn’t phase me today. The rest yesterday made the difference in energy to climb these steepish uphill sections.

Laura was at the hut having a zero day so I had company. Around 5:00pm Clo + Sien and Nick + Ginny turned up so six TA walkers in the 12 bunk hut tonight. Two other girls arrived from Wanaka for the night also. We had a fun few hours of chatter and cooking our dinners.

Sien has continued drawing the huts, here she is just finishing up.

An early night for the entire hut. Overnight the possums played with the poles and rocks left outside on the deck chewing on the handles and dropping the laundry rocks off the balcony. Laundry rocks are used to weigh down clothing drying and are often lined up along the balastrade. Juvenile possums play with them at night.