St. Arnaud - John Tait hut

Vi mødtes en sidste gang med dem, vi havde været undervejs med i Richmond den seneste uge, da et canadisk par tog et andet sted hen uden for ruten. Vi havde derfor en farvelmorgenmad med pandekagetårn! Vi havde joket med de andre om, at vi ville tage en vandtaxi de første 9 km og derfra gå, da det ellers ville blive en lang dag.

Da vi kom ned til søen, kunne Svea og jeg ikke stå for muligheden, da vi så, at de 9 km ville have været langs søbredden, men i skov. Vi bookede os derfor på den næste vandtaxi, hvilket var dagens gode beslutning, eftersom resten af dagen stod på meget sol.

Da vi begyndte at vandre, kunne jeg godt mærke, at pandekagetårn og pizzarester til morgenmad ikke var min vante morgenmad. Det vendte sig derfor kort tid efter i maven, men til stor lettelse!

Trods at vi skippede nogle kilometer om morgenen, blev det alligevel en lang dag i skov og langs flodbredden. Det var derfor en lettelse, da vi endelig ankom til John Tait-hytten.

Første dag af de kommende syv dage på Waiau Pass-stien var nu overstået, og de kommende dage skulle vise sig at blive nogle af de hidtil smukkeste på turen.

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We met one last time with those we had been hiking with in Richmond over the past week, as a Canadian couple was heading somewhere else off the route. We therefore had a farewell breakfast with a pancake tower! We had joked with the others that we would take a water taxi for the first 9 km and then walk, as it would otherwise be a very long day.

When we reached the lake, Svea and I couldn’t resist the opportunity when we realized that the 9 km would have been along the lakeshore, but through forest. We therefore booked seats on the next water taxi, which turned out to be the best decision of the day, as the rest of the day was very sunny.

When we started hiking, I could tell that a pancake tower and leftover pizza for breakfast was not my usual morning meal. My stomach reacted shortly after, but fortunately it was more of a relief than a problem!

Even though we skipped a few kilometers in the morning, it still turned into a long day through forest and along the riverbank. It was therefore a relief when we finally arrived at John Tait Hut.

The first day of the upcoming seven days on the Waiau Pass Track was now over, and the coming days would turn out to be some of the most beautiful of the journey so far.Read more