MONDAY 11th APRIL  
My dreams were smoothly shattered by what sounded like Rambo weilding a flame thrower outside my tent but when I poked my hear out into the world a huge hot air balloon passed about 10m above me and there were more in formation. Someone had told me the day before that there was a balloon festival going on but it had soon slipped the tatty net that is my brainpan. It was quite a nice way to be woken up, certainly more soothing than possoums bouncing off the walls of my tent anyway. When I had packed up I caught a ride with the campsite owner in search of some new boots. The first store only had really swanky Italian, hand stitched boot for around $500 but the guy directed me down the road to the paupers store! After trying on a few pairs we realised they didn't have have my size and I left empty footed. It looked like I would have to stick with my old faithfuls until the bitter sweet end.
 
After making use of the libraries free internet (result!) I thumbed my way down to Otaki, the next town down the line which was level to where Te Matawai hut was in the Tararua's. Itwas a long wait for a lift but eventually a long haired biker geezer in his hot rod took me in. He was returning home from a Harley Davidson convention or 'basically just a big piss up", he corrected. Remembering my biker buddy Russell Cuff, I mentioned the name and the guy, by chance knew him. "There ain't many people with a Harley I don't know", he followed.
 
From Otaki I walked down gorge rd the 18km to get to Otaki forks where all the tracks start from. I was planning to ask the ranger down there about the dangers of doing the Southern Crossing seeing that there was rain forecast for the next few days. I was knackered when I got there. My pack, fully stocked for the next 3-4 days, weighed more than normal and I really felt it in the sticky heat of what had turned into a real beauty of a day. In such situations I, or more accurately my stomach, has to make up as many excuses to eat just so I can lighted the load. Passing the ranger I asked him about the crossing and he reaconed the weather would hold for a day at least and that it would make for a spectacular walk over the range. If it was another scorcher like today it would be perfect. Taking me back to the track start, the ranger said there were some terraces on the ridge where I could pitch up and before I stomped on I left my route intentions with him and promised I would contact him when I got out. He had seemed very nonchalant about the crossings dangers and he also said that, whereby I thought it was a three day walk, it could easily be done in two. It was all good news and I was filled with a new confidence for the days ahead rather than the reticent anticipation that I had felt until now. My shoes were going to hold, the weather was going to be great and all would be perfect.
 
The sun had dipped out from the bottom of the gorge but it was still warming the ridge that I was heading up. Expending the last of my energy in a full force hill climb I puffed my way upwards chasing the sun as it retreated away from me. Forcing myself on and on, I stormed up the ridge towards the light. When I eventually reached the sun I just collapsed on top of my rucksac in turtle position and even though I only got about a minute of rays, I had got to them and that was enough. It would be dark soon so I found a perfect camp spot, erected my green goddess and threw my dinner on the boil. When night drew in the blinking and slowly awakening stars emerged from their eternal game of hide and seek and where the sun had dipped I turned to see a new moon also dipping behind the hills. The spot I had found myself was incredibly beautiful and as the fading daylight shed shed the surrounding hill of their form I stood in the peace and quiet and stared up into the stratosphere. I was at peace.

TUESDAY 12th APRIL - RAINBOW WARRIER
It was a beautiful morning after and I was up and away early as if the weather was going to pack in I wanted to get as far as I could before it did. Field hut was about an hour up through the bush and I stopped for a quick snack break before marching on. Not far after I broke the bushes cover and the views stretched out below me as I climbed higher into the alpine tussock. Although there was clouds massed on the Eastern slopes the sun was out and it was a fine day for mountain walking. I was back in the altitude grasses and it was a great feeling to be high above the surrounding lands sharing the clouds domain. I had left the Te Araroa trail at Otaki Forks and
would not be joining it again as its route headed down to Wellington and I was forging on to the Cape which lay on a separate peninsular. I was on my own, cut free from the safety of a planned route and at the mercy of my own finger on map route finding.

The track was rocky and rutted and at times it rolled through small gullies where I found myself a dwarf in the shadow of the grasses leaning over me. The exposed parts of the track were quite windy and as the cold air wicked away my sweat it got a bit chilly. It wasn’t exposed for long and soon I was climbing a steep ridge towards the first proper summit. On tipping over the top my views expanded in a huge arc, stretching far and wide all along the Western flanks of the range. For the first time I could see the capital city of Wellington blinking by the Southern seas and beyond it the silhouetted peaks of the top of the South island. It felt as if I was walking along the
spine of the range and I had clear views to the West and to the East the moist sea air being pushed up the mountain slopes condensed as it rose up to the peaks. The scene was dramatic and I was taken back to the tumbling clouds on the Tongariro Crossing as they cart-wheeled above me.

Kime hut was perched at the bottom of a tarn filled bowl and approaching it from above it looked lonely and exposed. Exploring it I discovered it didn’t have a fire and I was instantly glad I was striving on for the next hut. I stayed for lunch and on perusing the log book, spotted Brian and Trish’s entry from earlier this year. It was almost like bumping into old friends when you found people you knew in the hut book and you could reminisce over the years passed just by flicking the pages.

I left my own scribble before I left the confines of the hut to face the feared and fabled ‘Southern Crossing.’ After climbing up out of the bowl I could see Mt Hector , the first and highest peak that I would conquer while scaling the needle ridge that bridged the row of peaks. It was amazing reaching the top and seeing the rest of the range steaming beneath me. There was a wooden cross commemorating Tararua trampers lost during the war and I sat beneath it and fired off a few texts proclaiming myself, “The King of The World!” The steep sided ridge I was following arced out beneath me as, basked in sun on its Western slopes and covered to the East. The bank of cloud just hung next to it like a static ghost waiting to pass over into a higher realm. It was a stunning walk along the ridge towards the cloud but sadly I couldn’t give my full attention to the views as I was busy avoiding the deep mud patches that had formed in the ruts where the water couldn’t drain. Several times I immersed my boots and I had to push hard with both my poles to retrieve my gloopy foot from the bog.

As I neared the bank of cloud I could make out the curve of a white rainbow and when I got over the next peak I was greeted by one of the post amazing sights I have even witnessed. Staring down into the cloud I saw a circular rainbow with my own silhouette in the centre. The sun behind me had superimposed this surreal sight and as I stared down , my multi-colored aura glowed back at me from the mist. Strangely enough I had heard of this phenomena before only recently from a girl who, upon descending into Wellington, looked out of the plane window to see a similar sight. It was a heavenly image in front of me and I snapped off about a hundred photos in an attempt to capture some of the wonder but I knew as the shutter clicked that the images would fall short. It was like looking down upon a celestial angel of myself looking back at me from another world. A portal into a dimension of bliss and wonder that invited me to dive in. An apparition of the divine or just my camp alter ego’s reflection. Although I seem to be able only to
summon religious imagery to describe what I saw it was a profoundly spiritual experience as something naturally occurring and as beautiful as this surely indicated some kind of divine design. Some kind of sense to the chaos of our existence that can only be grasped at by our feeble minds when witnessing such miracles.

I floated the rest of the way after I dragged myself away from my rainbow self. I actually saw it again a bit later on and it was greeted by the same awe and believing disbelief. The crossing had been a mystical experience in every sense. Whereas the day before it was looking as if I wasn’t even going to tread it, the gods conspired and gave me a celestial escort to see me safely over. First the cheery DOC ranger, then the beautiful weather and finally the crossing itself. It was as if my destiny was etched into this sequence of events, the elements of fate coming together to guide me through my journey on the best possible route, a route that would reveal its purpose
only through what I gained from the experiences it gave me.

WEDNESDAY 13th APRIL - THE BUBBLE BREAKS
The wind had started in the night and by daybreak it had been joined by its partner in crime, rain. I lay in bed for an hour hoping the squall might pass but it seemed pretty entrenched so I got up and put on a brew. After a couple of cups I packed up, put on my full waterproof gear and readied myself for a wet descent. Until now I hadn’t even used my waterproof trousers but the time had now come to justify carrying them 1,700km’s.

Today’s track would be a long one but the ranger had told me it wasn’t dangerous in bad weather. I was thankful the bad weather had held off until today and given the fabled day yesterday I kind of knew it was coming. I was way up in the clouds for most of the day and even when it wasn’t raining, which wasn’t much, the dripping bush filled in for its absence. Wanting to get the descent over with I stomped along at an accelerated pace, only stopping briefly for lunch until I got too cold and had to get moving to warm myself up. The wind had a biting cold edge to it when it broke through the trees and all I could do to stop my fingers going numb was to speed up
and hope the blood would filter through.

By the time I came down from the ridge I had been following, the clouds had lifted a bit and I could see into the valley where the track ended. Until then my mind and body had just been locked into the relentless rhythm of placing my next step and I had pushed on with only the though of reaching the end driving me forward. When I finally did hit the road end I checked my phone and counted six hours since stepping out of the shelter of Alpha hut. Walking towards the main road I decided that I was going to hitch down to Upper Hutt and find a hostel for the night. Just before I reached the main road two old guys pulled over in their van and picked me up without me even putting my finger out. I didn’t know where I was going but just as we entered town I spied a hostel by the road and got them to drop me off.

Taking off my soggy boots and socks I got myself a bunk, booked myself in for the evening meal and headed for the hot shower tap. Clean and defrosted, I threw on some clean dry clothes, chucked all my wet and dirty ones in the wash and headed down the hill to the nearest shop to restock my travel larder. I planned to carry on in the morning and I just wanted to get everything sorted before flopping by the wood burner in a lazy boy and vegetating. Carrol, the manageress, had cooked a beef casserole with an apricot and custard pudding. The home cooked meal was desperately needed and I gobbled it greedily like I hadn’t eaten for weeks. The weather was looking up according to the forecast. Three days of sun for my last three days. Thank you for pretty weathergirls!

Altitude Sickness		Bull's Eye

The Dividing Ridge		Rainbow Me

mmmmmmmmap		Rainbow Halo

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