Day 110: Arthur's Pass to Bealey Hut (2173-2183)

Sunday, March 19

We woke at 6 am to catch our InterCity bus to Arthur's Pass. As we packed up, I had a really hard time fitting my food bag in my backpack. Some stuff had to go in the outside pockets. The longest section, by far, was the Richmond Ranges, but I keep eating and packing more and more food for each day.

After making breakfast, we walked to the transportation centre to catch the bus. I think tracks the scenic train that travels this route got damaged by the earthquake earlier in the summer because the driver had a running commentary the entire time and told us the train would be running next week.

It was a beautiful drive. He pointed out places where movie scenes were shot. One was a Lord of the Rings scene where hobbits were chased. Another was a fight scene location from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The farmer took out all his fencing for the shots and put it back in when they were done filming.

We passed a lake called Moana. Sam was sleeping and missed how excited Lauren and I were to learn that Moana means ocean. The Maori had named the lake Moana because they thought it was the ocean or didn't have a word for lake. I can't remember which but I think it's the former. It was a big lake.

After a few hours of driving we made it to Arthur's Pass. We went to the visitors center to ask about the weather and river crossings. They said we should be good until Wednesday. Then we went to the store and got postcards and stamps and ate snacks for lunch. I would have bought food at the cafe, but my food bag needed to shrink.

After getting food in our bellies we started walking. It was six kilometers of road walking to get to the official TA trail, and then the TA was about a 10 kilometer road walk to Bealey Hut.

Shortly after getting on the TA section of the road walk, we arrived at Greyneys Shelter. I saw some hikers that looked like they could be TAers, so I asked. They had just finished a short trip in Arthur's Pass and were waiting for their ride.

Sam saw a sign next to the shelter for a sensory walk and really wanted to try it. It had something to do with replicating a historic thing, but I can't quite recall what it was. We took off our packs and tried it.

You had to hang on to a rope with your eyes closed and use the rope to follow the trail. I cheated once, but Sam and Lauren didn't. We all walked back with our eyes open. When we returned to our backpacks, one of the hikers offered us his stick he had used as a hiking pole. We all had hiking poles but thanked him for the offer.

So far we had listened to quite a few chapters of Malala's book. It was too loud on the road to listen, but we had been impressed with how well she knew all her parents' history and life story. We took turns telling each other everything we knew about our dads and their families. Moms would be next.

As we were walking, two Kiwis from Christchurch offered us a ride. We didn't have far to go, but the road was really scary to walk on with its high speed limit and no shoulder. The directions on the map made it sound like there was a trail to the side somewhere, but we never noticed it. We gladly accepted the ride.

They drove a van they had put huge speakers into. I sat in a bean bag chair as Sam and Lauren sat on the bench seat. The guys blasted their music. It was pretty fun!

They dropped us off at the parking lot that I thought was closest to Bealey Hut. I was off by a kilometer and a half, but that meant only a 20 minute walk or so, and the shoulder was a little better here. There was grass we could walk in. Before there were lots of trees along the road so we couldn't walk on the side.

Once we made it to the right carpark, it was only a 10 minute walk to the hut. We arrived around 4. Sara and Sonya, the sisters from Germany, were at the hut.

It was a little early for dinner, so Lauren and Sam and I listened to a chapter of Malala. I think we spent half the chapter walking down the trail a bit before turning around to return to the hut, and half sitting and listening to it. After that, we filtered water, got our bunks ready, and made dinner.

Sara and Sonya had heard there were mice in the cabin, so we rearranged the furniture (a table and chairs) and hung all our packs.

Sam, Lauren and I watched an episode of the West Wing on my phone after we made sure Sara and Sonya wouldn't mind us quietly listening.

When it was over we checked out the amazing sunset. It was so orange and pink! After staring at it for a bit, we all got ready for bed and watched a West Wing before finally going to sleep.