The four NoBos we were sharing the hut with got an early start to head up over the Waiau Pass. After they left we cooked up some eggs and grits and had a big breakfast before starting out. We got going around 9am (right around when the sandflies were coming out) knowing that we had 27km to go but on relatively easy terrain in comparison to the previous day’s.

The day was similar to the end of yesterday, we were continuing down the valley following along the right side of the river. The views were fantastic the whole way with mountains surrounding us. It was a cloudy day and ended up being quite cold so we kept moving at a good pace.

We took a quick break for lunch right where three valleys collided and after a few sandflies found us we got going again.

It was a long but good day hiking and we were excited to arrive at the hut right before the rain fully hit and early enough in the afternoon to enjoy it. We’ve had it to ourselves for most of the afternoon and two other Americans have just shown up. We each will still end up having our in private room if it stays this way. The hut is great and another new one. It’s serviced so there’s plenty of wood and we’ve started a fire to warm up.