Up at 7, only to find all the keen beans had already stripped the breakfast bar. Luckily Simon had offered to make both our lunches and was able to hold his own in the sandwich making scrum, otherwise I would have had to make do with a lettuce sandwich.
Set off at 8:30ish for the 16 k hike to Pomplona Hut. It’s mostly flat beech forest in the Clinton river valley. It was overcast most of the day and surprisingly chilly. Luckily it had warmed up enough for me to have a swim after lunch in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. The water was warmer than yesterday. Once again I swam in my shorts and bra, much easier than changing into togs. There were two young women freedom campers in sexy bikinis, but I was not envious (although it would make a nice change to be young and buxom). No regrets with my footwear either – my walking sandals were very comfortable and easy to take on and off.
Made it to Pamplona at 2:30, around the middle of the group. Everyone seems to be doing reasonably well with the trail, in spite of the average age being quite senior. I overheard one of the younger members saying to his friend this morning “this isn’t an Ultimate Hike – this is a Ryman Healthcare outing!” Which was quite funny and rather apt.
Someone told Simon a while ago that 15 – 30% deet is all you need in your insect repellent – better tolerated and even more effective than a higher percentage. Unfortunately, this appears to be a damn lie, at least as far as sensitive individuals such as my husband is concerned. He has had several bites today, and all have swollen up to the size of 20 c pieces. There has been much slathering of steroid cream as a result. I didn’t put any insect repellent on today but I expect I’ll need it once we’re over MacKinnons pass tomorrow onto the wet side.
We have been told by our guide today (called Ted – so whenever he speaks to us, we call it a Ted talk) that the rain forecast has been pushed back (presumably by some mysterious meteorological event) by 12 hours. This is good news, because even though it will still rain tomorrow, the torrential rain is likely to come the day after, when our route is flatter and tomorrow’s spectacular views won’t be too badly spoilt. Fingers crossed.