• TA Day 68
• Te Matawai Hut to Nicholls Hut – 15km in 8 hrs 40 mins
• 1,486 metres of elevation gain

It dawned a crisp and stunning morning! There was no wind, and no warm up either as just 20 metres down the track the mud bath began. The big peak we were climbing Pukematawai loomed large before us. Mist hung in the valleys, as we pushed up through tussock and scrub dripping with dew. Excitingly there was mobile reception here and there, and Pieter kindly took some photos of me.

It’s funny how something looks so far away or so high, but you always seem to get there faster than you think. Last night’s hut was already a tiny red speck in the distance. Before we knew it we were all up sitting next to the highpoint of Pukematawai (1432m). The DOC sign at the top said 6-7 hours to the hut we were aiming for. The sign at the bottom an hour back had said 6 hours… Perhaps the sign times were starting to unravel. Standard speed in the Tararuas seems to be 2km/h at the quickest. It sure is slow travel!!! It doesn’t even seem worth checking how many kilometres away things are.

Then it was down and along the undulating ridge, scrambling here and there, with some exposure like the morning climb too. It felt like the iconic little orange Dracrophyllum Hut would never appear as Pieter and I went well past our hourly breaks trying to get there. Finally we made it and Stephen was there of course so it as nice to chat together while hungrily getting lunch down. Like yesterday it was feeling like a huge calorie-burning day. The little shelter was cute and very well stocked. I had somehow vastly underestimated my toilet paper requirements and how long a remnant of a roll would last. Miraculously, someone had left a plush half a roll! There were even three bottles of spray and wipe too. I thanked the tramping gods for the toilet paper and wondered if I should leave something useful in a hut to repay them. A stag had been rising almost constantly while we were walking along the ridge, barking occasionally too. I knew hunters came here but I now had a lot of respect for them clambering up and down these sheer slopes and staying in tiny huts like this.

Onwards we went, hoping it would be more like three hours than four to go. After more walking through the eerie trees laden with lichen, we popped out above the bush line to find a really hairy detour around a slip. It was more like rock climbing or clinging! At least I hadn’t missed an alternative like yesterday. Photographic proof I survived, with sketchiness sadly not visible:

Today I slipped over and ended up sitting in mud a few times, and acquired a few scrapes too. There’s nothing like the feeling of inadvertently ending up mid-calf deep in mud after mistaking it for solid ground! Very grateful for the big gaiters as there’s not really any way to wash mud off up here.

Arriving at some rock cairns which I vaguely remembered from the notes, it really didn’t seem like the track would career off down a ridge but Pieter confirmed it did. What we were looking at straight ahead was the peak Kelleher. Stephen told us later he went on a detour up here because it just seemed that was where the track headed. Dropping down into the bush, travel was slightly faster (1.5 km in an hour!). The time seemed to fly by, and after two more hourly breaks I was really hoping we’d be at the hut in another hour. There was a climb of at least 200m vertical ahead, and we slogged it out with leaden legs before coming out above the tree line again and climbing Nichols (1242m). The track up was so narrow with sheer deep offs on what seemed like all sides that I couldn’t see how a hut would be on the other side. But from the top it finally came into view!

Nichols Hut (which I’ll take as probably as close to a hut named after me as I’ll get) is a small cosy 6 bunker with a nice fireplace. Chief fire maker Stephen seemed enthusiastic about our prospects for a decent fire after last night’s wet wood disappointment. There were an interesting array of food items – peanut butter, tomato sauce, rice, salt and pepper, plenty of oil… We had a go at cooking some rice, which we later decided to try and turn into rice pudding using a strawberry and banana milkshake mix I had spare. Results were patchy, Pieter unexpectedly was a fan, Stephen definitely not, while I was lukewarm but felt it was edible at least.

After several freezing nights it’s a real novelty to be warm. Tomorrow we have to go up and over Mt Crawford, and along the tops for probably about 3 hours. The weather forecast seems unclear with MetService earlier today saying gales in exposed places but Garmin saying gusting to 17-25km/h in the morning. Wind chill and the ability to stay upright are the main concerns and why high wind would mean we may need to stay another night in this hut. Fingers crossed it will be calm or only light winds. We’re going to get up at 6am anyway to try and be away by 7:30.