5 Feb. It sounded like a night of heavy rain, but on a 08:30 river recce with Fred, we found the level has dropped overnight by a metre. It was still an impassable cloudy torrent, but fortunately it was going down. Back to the hut for breakfast and another morning in close confinement. Everyone is upbeat and in good humour. It is a good group to be stuck with. Demelza is a qualified osteopath and has been sorting people’s aches and pains. She is also very creative with flowers (see below).
Checked the river again at 12:30 with Fred and Thomas. The water level was still dropping, but flows were fast and cloudy with no clear view of the bottom. With at least a 5 hour walk out, we weren’t going anywhere this afternoon, so another night in the hut. Most were getting down to their last couple of days of food, so everyone was hoping for good conditions tomorrow.
The sun appeared in the afternoon for the first time in days. Some solar energy for recharging. 😊 Removed three days of face stubble so feeling a little fresher.
At 17:30, Jonathan from France arrived having walked from Hurunui No 3 Hut. 14 of us now waiting for the rivers. Finished off a dehy pasta pack for dinner.
There’s an expectation that we will get across the rivers tomorrow so the hut has an end of term atmosphere: glad to be going but sad to split up good company.
The Interconnected View 