21km Day : 993km Total
18 February 2015
-42.788273, 171.603483

The hiking this morning was almost entirely on flat trail along the Taramakau River.  It included a lot of walking on stone beds some of which were large enough that I had to be careful not to turn an ankle, but not difficult walking for the most part.  It also included a couple of knee deep river crossings.

Orange Lichen-Covered Rocks

I reached Kiwi Hut around 10am, but the short side trail toward the hut required walking through a deep muddy water hole, which I didn’t feel necessary to cross just to put my name in the log book.  As I was leaving the hut area I saw a quad bike approaching from the west, which turned out to be a deer hunter.  He had shot a deer earlier and was returning with the bike to haul it away.  We had a few words about the weather and the sandflies and then went on our separate ways.

At the Otira River I started down the marked “Flood Trail” that lead to Morrison’s Footbridge.  But it soon became apparent how terrible this trail was with a lot of sidling up and down and crawling over and under fallen trees.  I soon decided to turn around and ended up crossing the Otira and walking the final 3km to the footbridge over the rocky plain along the river.

Otira River

I actually reached the road end of the footbridge without crossing the bridge since I did a wet boot crossing of the river an hour earlier.  I stopped here to change my socks and prepare for the 6km (not included in the above totals) road walk to the Otira Hotel. 

As I was sitting at the base of the bridge a passenger train passed by and I noticed that almost everyone on the train was staring out the windows and taking pictures.  I turned to see what they were looking at and realized it was simply the beauty of the mountain scenes all around me.  After walking in such scenery for so long I have become somewhat jaded to it.  This simple observation of the tourists on the train made me stop for the next 10 minutes and just take in the beauty.

Morrison Footbridge

The Otira Hotel is a unique icon.  With the decor of the place it could easily have been 1950.  With the walls covered with historical photos of the region and the restaurant, lounge and rooms filled with antiques, it is a rare treasure.  Sam checked me in and also acted as my cook (making me a whitebait burger), server and bartender.  And also arranged for a shuttle to take me in to Arthur’s Pass tomorrow morning.  The best service I ever had, all from this one marvelous person.