As it turned out, both huts were filled to capacity so all we could hope for was that there would either be no snorers in our hut or if there were, please let them be quiet ones. Actually, after our experience in Spain, I think I could possibly sleep through any snorer, although I still admire Julia for being able to sleep next to Howard every night.
The “hut master”, a very lanky guy who goes by the name of Ross and has the skinniest but longest legs I’ve ever seen on a guy who doesn’t display them on the catwalks of Europe, gave a talk on what to look out for and expect during tomorrow’s walk. A great storyteller!
Considering what time we’d arrived at the hut yesterday and having sat ‘round for a large part of the day, going to bed by 21:30 hrs was a very acceptable time. I think my bottom was just glad to get a more evenly weight distribution but we didn’t want to go to bed too early for fear of waking up at too un‑Godly and hour. Those fears, however, were totally ungrounded as we didn’t wake up until around 6, 6.30.
I will admit I had an unexpected good night in my little sleeping bag, with my new comfy pillow, even verging on the hot side. Quentin had given me the bottom bunk bed just in case I would take another tumble in the middle of the night, as happened to me before when sleeping in a mummy style sleeping bag.
Breakfast was 2 wraps with salami and cheese, washed down with a cup of tea. With all the morning chores seen to, we were on the trail by 08:00 hrs with the reassurance of Ross that we should be able to keep our feet dry today as no further rain had fallen overnight and the track usually dries out pretty quick once the rain stops. It was a beautiful day for a hike with the sun starting to poke its head out at around 11 o’clock. We decided to forget about an extensive lunch stop and have a nutty bar at the half-way point so we could continue on our merry way without any major stops. Not that we needed the extra time, but hunger or food doesn’t seem to feature large on the calendar when walking, until you stop walking that is.
It was almost as if the timings used in the various brochures were set by us. At 14:00 hrs on the nose, we walked into the Mintaro Hut, having had the pleasure, en route, of having seen the very rare Blue Duck, and many other birds of a feather.
As all the energy consumed with this morning’s frugal breakfast had been more than expended during our 6 hr “tramp”, our first task when arriving at the hut was to throw something together for lunch. Of course, bed selection having taken care of as an absolute first priority. As we’re planning to have a rather luxurious dinner of Thai Green Curry and Rice tonight, we managed to stop eating after a few cream cheese and peanut butter crackers with a nice cup of tea/coffee. With quite a bit of afternoon still left and plenty of daylight hours remaining, as the sun doesn’t set until about 21:30 hrs, we decided to have a quick wonder down to the nearby lake.
Quentin felt brave, after having been sufficiently egged on, and jumped in to a little stream which looked very tempting and clean but was, obviously, and in hind sight, very, very cold. Perhaps a little bit too cold.....
17:00 hrs now and dinner is starting to call out to me.... Probably nothing much exciting happening until bedtime unless the Kea’s decide to show themselves and wreak some havoc.
And they did!
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