38 km total 2739 km
10 hours
After a good night on the large two person mattresses from the hut, I crossed the river with the swing bridge back to the swampy track. The track makes my progress quite slow but then I can spend more time enjoying the landscape. I walk accross a couple of falcons who don’t seem to appreciate my company. I walk on and after some fight against the tussock and some overgrown grass I reach the old boundary hut. After a small break the track follows a 4WD track to North Mavora Lake. Most of it is more or less destroyed because some vehicle seem to enjoy driving of track, causing a massive erosion on the hills nearby. I have lunch at Careys hut and walk further along the lake to the campsite. From there I decide to walk a little bit further so that I will only another day to get to Te Anau instead of two. The track follows the edge of the river and then the bank of South Mavora Lake. At the end of that lake a less used trail follows the side of the river further down after a few kilometers it starts to rain lightly. I find a nice clearing right after a river on my map and decide that it will my place to sleep tonight. I fill up my bottles and have a wash in the river then pitch my tent on a nice flat spot. The rain goes on but I am happy to stay in my new and hopeful waterproof tent. I am happy for the nice walk today and although my cracked feet hurt a little, I am feeling great. And because I am faster than planned this mean also more food available.
