18/11/21, Day 38, 16km, Total 1084km
Elevation Gain: 1084, Loss: 798
A hard day with lots of climbing.
Slept in and left at 8.30 thinking it would be an easy day. It wasn’t.
From Middy Hut climbed for 3.5 hours to get to Rocks hut. An awesome hut with flush toilets.
It took until 5 to get to Browning Hut and by then I’d had enough. Only an hour to Hacket Hut but not up for that today.
Noticed when I got to Browning Hut that my sandals were missing. Bugger. They are not expensive but are really good to wear at night especially if my shoes get wet during the day. They were attached to the outside of my pack exactly as they have been for the last month. Not sure why they fell off today.
Ah, I’ve worked it out. With 7 days food in my pack there is not enough space for the long sleeve top I wear each morning. So I’ve been attaching it to the outside the same as my tent and sandles. The trouble was that each time I took my pack off I couldn’t see what was happening with the sandles because of the top. At least I can fit the top inside my pack now.
Also the stitching is coming undone at the top attachment point for the shoulder straps on my pack. Should be easy to fix but somehow I’ve misplaced my dental floss which is ideal for fixing such things.
Apart from that everything is going well.
There is a Canadian guy, Max, in the hut tonight. He is tripping around the South Island and doing a few hikes.
A lot of climbing to do tomorrow. Seems a shame to have climbed 1000m today then lost it all.
Last time I will see the Pelorous River this trip 
A view at last 
Another view 
Resting place for tonight 
Nice new mattresses 
The damage to my pack 
