Top Wairoa Hut - Hunters Hut

Jeg havde fortsat migræne om morgenen og sov derfor længere, hvilket passede fint, da det styrtregnede. Svea og jeg gik derfor først afsted ved 9-tiden. Stien var egentlig god at gå på, men desværre regnede det ret så meget, og det var meget overskyet, så vi kunne ikke se mere end 15 meter foran os. Da vi gik langs toppen, var sigtbarheden endnu dårligere, og det blæste og regnede meget, så vi var godt gennemblødte og kolde.

Heldigvis stoppede regnen kort, og vi nåede at blive lidt tørre og varme igen, inden vi skulle krydse en flod. Derefter gik det 15 minutter op ad, inden vi ankom til Hunters Hut, hvor de andre allerede havde varmet hytten op, så vi kunne få tørret alle vores ting.

Siden vi startede om morgenen havde vi set frem til at få vores dehydrerede chokoladepudding, når vi kom frem, og den smagte meget bedre end forventet. Den fik 10/10 på madskalaen på turen indtil videre.
Senere om aftenen stod den på nytårsmenuen med et andet dehydreret måltid, som bestod af vildgryde med kartoffelmos.

Om aftenen begyndte det at blæse og regne endnu mere. Vi håbede på, at det ville stoppe, men i løbet af natten blev vejret meget værre, og om morgenen stormede det stadig. Vi konkluderede derfor, at det ikke var sikkert at gå videre, da floden, vi skulle krydse mod næste hytte, var steget meget, og sigtbarheden var meget dårlig.

Vi blev derfor alle (syv personer) en ekstra dag i hytten, hvor vi fik tiden til at gå med mange lure, lavede hjemmelavede terninger, så vi kunne spille yatzy, lavede statistik over alle, der havde overnattet i hytten i 2025, og hvilket land de kom fra. Derudover så vi frem til hvert måltid og snakkede meget om mad!

Med denne ekstra “hytte-dag” blev det dog også meget klart for mange af os, at vi ikke havde mad nok til flere dårlige vejrdage, og at vi derfor skulle gå mere end planlagt de resterende to dage. Min madrationering bestod derfor blandt andet af varm kakao med en smule couscous i, en yderst interessant blanding. Det blev derfor en anderledes nytårsaften, men en meget afslappende én af slagsen og uforglemmelig!

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I still had a migraine in the morning and therefore slept in, which worked out well since it was pouring with rain. Svea and I didn’t set off until around 9 a.m. The trail itself was fairly easy to walk, but unfortunately it was raining heavily and very overcast, so we couldn’t see more than about 15 metres ahead of us. When we walked along the ridge, visibility was even worse, and with strong wind and heavy rain, we became thoroughly soaked and cold.

Luckily, the rain stopped briefly, and we managed to dry off and warm up a bit before having to cross a river. After that, it was another 15 minutes uphill before we reached Hunters Hut, where the others had already warmed up the hut so we could dry all our gear.

Ever since we started in the morning, we had been looking forward to having our dehydrated chocolate pudding upon arrival, and it tasted far better than expected. It earned a 10/10 on the trip’s food scale so far.
Later in the evening, the New Year’s menu consisted of another dehydrated meal: a game stew with mashed potatoes.

In the evening, the wind picked up and the rain intensified even more. We hoped it would stop, but during the night the weather worsened significantly, and by morning it was still storming. We therefore concluded that it wasn’t safe to continue, as the river we needed to cross to reach the next hut had risen considerably and visibility was very poor.

As a result, all of us (seven people) stayed an extra day in the hut. We passed the time with lots of naps, made homemade dice so we could play Yahtzee, and created statistics of everyone who had stayed in the hut in 2025 and which countries they came from. We also found ourselves looking forward to every meal and talked a lot about food!

With this extra “hut day,” it became very clear to many of us that we didn’t have enough food for several more days of bad weather, and that we would have to walk more than planned over the remaining two days. My food rationing therefore included hot cocoa with a bit of couscous mixed in an extremely interesting combination. It turned out to be a very different New Year’s, but a very relaxing one, and an unforgettable experience.Baca lagi