Te Araroa – Day 41

by

Red Hills Hut to St. Arnaud

12.5 miles

Mile 1202.6

It had rained during the night, and was still drizzling as I made my way down the trail, glad I’d slept in the warm hut.

I had one final climb before a gentle decent to a 4wd road that led me out of Mt Richmond Forest.

After a short road walk I arrived at the small village of St. Arnaud. Nestled next to Lake Nelson Nation Park, there were heaps of backpackers around.

First, I swung by the Alpine Lodge to check had they’d received my resupply package, which they had. Woot! I ended up booking a room for the night, but couldn’t check in for a couple hours, so I headed over to the cafe to grab some lunch.

I sat on the patio uploading blogs while picking at my chicken tikka salad. It was yummy.

At 2:00 PM I was given my room key, headed to my room to get organized. Once I packed my resupply, I showered and did some laundry.

While pulling my clothes from the dryer I noticed a rip in the ass of my shorts…noooo! I’ve rocked the same pair of shorts for the Arizona Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Greater Patagonian Trail and now they finally died on the Te Araroa. I’ve gone through countless shoes, socks and shirts, but my shorts have always remained a constant. This was a sad day guys. I guess after nearly 7000 miles I’ve gotten my money’s worth, but they’ll still be missed. RIP.

Once I’d finished mourning my shorts, I picked up a takeaway pizza from the hotel restaurant, which I promptly polished off in my room. I’m not sure if I ate it too fast or what, but about five minutes later I threw it all up…so that sucked.

Fortunately I still had a pint of ice cream, which I felt fine after eating. Not sure what the deal was with the pizza…

Cheers!

9 thoughts on “Te Araroa – Day 41”

  1. That’s too bad about the shorts, but they had a really long life, 7k miles is a really long lifespan for any trail clothes, may they RIP. I’m glad the ice cream went better than the pizza :), but keep tabs on any symptoms of giardia, but hopefully it was just a one-off bad pizza event. May you have great weather and amazing views this week!

  2. As always, just amazing pictures and writing! Only have one question. Who was that guy with the beard? 🤔 Keep up the great work, and remember to stop and soak it all up every once in a while!

  3. Austin,
    Sorry to hear about the pants. I like the R.I.P. story, the abbreviation and word work both ways! Q. Replace or repair?
    I read an article in the Guardian (UK) about fires in New Zealand – not being familiar with NZ geography – is this near you?
    I extracted all the text from the article dated Feb 9. (see below)

    Enjoying your photos, keep on trekking.

    John

    New Zealand wildfires set to worsen as thousands flee
    Week-long blaze engulfs 2,300ha on South Island, leading to largest aerial firefight in country’s history
    Strong winds are expected to fan forest fires that have been burning for a week through New Zealand’s South Island, forcing thousands of people from their homes.
    Early on Sunday, 155 firefighters were battling the blaze on the ground with air support from 23 helicopters and three fixed wing planes, making it the largest aerial firefight on record in New Zealand.
    A helicopters dumps water on a fire near Nelson, New Zealand.
    Up to 3,000 people have been forced to leave the Wakefield and Pigeon Valley areas, the civil defence controller, Roger Ball, told a news conference on Saturday. More people were likely to be forced from their homes on Sunday.
    The Pigeon Valley fire covers 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) with a 25 km (15 mile) perimeter, NZ Civil Defence said on its website. No deaths have been reported and only one home destroyed as of Sunday.
    “There is some concern about predicted high winds this afternoon, which are expected to test the control lines,” the agency said.
    The New Zealand Red Cross communications manager Ellie van Baaren said evacuees were tired and frustrated.
    Floods, fire and drought: Australia, a country in the grip of extreme weather bingo
    “When you have to leave your home and in some cases your livestock and animals and you don’t know what’s become of them, and you’re staying with friends and family, then it’s an uncertain situation for everybody,” she said.
    Much of the affected area south of Nelson was used for forestry but it also has many small farms. Some livestock has also been moved to safety.
    Fires started on Monday and Tuesday and quickly spread. On Wednesday, authorities declared a state of emergency.

    • I was close to the fire a few days ago, but I’m moving away from it now. There was a good amount of smoke in the Richmond Range.

  4. Hey Austin, I’ve really enjoyed following your hike through the North Island as we’ve been walking the TA on the South Island. Great to see you’re here now too. Your photos are bringing back lots of great memories. If you catch us before we make it to Bluff (you probably will), stop & say hi. You’ll see us in the intensions book as “Justin & Silvi”.

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