19 Jan. Only a 12km, 500m climb, 4.5 hour day. The altitude was lower and the track followed valley sides with many creek crossings. Not the long distance views of previous days but different and interesting country none the less.
It was going to be longer day, going on to St Arnaud, but Stefan was ahead and hadn’t registered in the Redhills hut log book when I arrived. So when Holger arrived later and hadn’t seen him on the track, I alerted the police. The police control search and rescue and are an emergency service (dial 111). I was concerned that Stefan may have had a fall on some of the steep sections. Luckily Redhills Hut has mobile signal about 10 mins walk above the hut. Eventually I managed to contact him via mobile. He was off the hills and had met up with Robert. Worries over and search and rescue cancelled.
As it was 16:00 by then, I decided to stay the night at Redhills Hut. Willem from Sydney arrived, another ICU nurse. He is travelling fast. Oceane soon followed. They both like my collapsible bucket for washing 😊 .
Later evening arrivals were Troy and Jordan, Nicolas, who has caught up with me again, and Ruben from the Netherlands. The latter two guys are travelling really fast, doing every km of the trail by foot. Purists in the TA trail jargon.
Nearly all the TA walkers use two walking poles and I had been using one pole over rough ground. Sometimes poles get in the way, so today I didn’t use a pole as an experiment. It seemed easier as the mind has only two legs to consider for balance, whereas with poles it complicates that mental assessment, especially in the rough ground where pole placing is often not as secure as you think. Anyway, I don’t expect to convert any two pole walkers as they reckon it saves their knees and there will be times when an extra point of ground contact will be useful.
The Interconnected View 
Yes different views but still fantastic.
It seems like you have “rent a crowd” on the trip but with the way you talk about them they seem like a good team to have around.
Good that Stephan is ok!!
I don’t normally use poles but found them great in Nepal, especially on the uphill. Arms acted as extra legs and used them to pull me up.
Keep up the great work!!
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Hi Richard.. loving the blog! And the amazing photos.. are you still on track – whats your ETA for Queenstown?
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Hi Mark, currently running to schedule. Looking like arriving Queenstown 7 Mar, but there is a lot of weather between now and then!
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OMG you are carrying a collapsible bucket?!?
Loving the posts 🙂
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Life’s little comforts. Anyone can rough it. 😊
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Sounds like a bit of drama with Stefan going AWOL. Glad he is alright.
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The photos are amazing! Looks like you are having a great time 🙂
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Hi Richard, great to see you’re doing so well. Audrey forwarded me your blog details. This Summer we walked Palmerston North to Levin and the ankle held up well. Then we filled in a section up North (Russell Forest) Helena Bay, Russell, Paihia. Now looking at a 4 day walk on Waitangi Day.
We’re hosting TA walkers in Welly at the moment and have started thinking about our walk at the end of the year. The big decision – NOBO or SOBO. All the best for the rest of your walk. Stay safe! Lois
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