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!