Hump Day
Our route soon took us off the beach and into the bush along an old 4WD track. This cut a path through gentle regenerating forest and we clocked up several more kilometres in great time. This speed came at a cost, both Jakob and I were still feeling the pain from the Kepler, not in any way assisted by the 8 days worth of food we were carrying. The road soon turned from a ‘the rolla could take this’ to a ‘bugger that’ as mud dominated the wheel ruts. A solitary orange triangle was spotted on a tree, suggesting that somewhere in that steep forested hill side behind it there would be a track. I knew this would be where the tramp would really begin. The route climbed steeply, with our altitude having a direct positive relationship with the amount of sweat that was pouring off my face. Worse still, my legs were starting to feel a bit jinky… not a good way to start a week of walking. The pain only intensified as we approached the Hump. Kerry tried to motivate us with a bag of cookies, which in part worked. In the interests of reaching the hut that day, and in some walk-able condition I offloaded my food off on Kerry the mountain goat. Lightened I felt a little better but each step still undermined my confidence in my legs.

When the track’s gradient lessened it was transformed into a mire of shin deep mud. This made for a fun ascent. There were a couple of near face-plants but by some miracle we all avoided that fate. Kerry still not slowed by the counter-weight I had given him decided to get out his trusty silky saw and do a bit of track maintenance whilst we walked. It was a little embarrassing watching him as I hobbled after trying my best to keep up. Jakob, the trooper that he is, didn’t whinge and soldiered on fully ladened behind us. My discomfort began to increase exponentially and I began considering if I had made a terrible mistake. The only distraction was emerging briefly above the bushline and being rewarded with views down the South coast.

This was just a glimpse as we were soon down in the bush and mud again, with one last slog up onto the ‘Hump Ridge’. By this point it was every man for himself. Kerry was wondering what all the fuss was about as I struggled up the hill behind him. On the ridge I collapsed in a heap on my pack, very sure that this had been a big mistake. We called a meeting and several options presented themselves. First option, we could turn around (no one wanted to do that). Second option, we could continue on to Teal Bay Hut and see what happened. Third option, traverse the ridge and stay in Okaka Lodge for the night. The pain in my leg screamed for option three, but the others outvoted me. And so with that I began limping up the hump of humps. Kea circled me like vultures, I shot them glances daring them to try me.
['Sam Harrison']
['Tramp', 'New Zealand', 'Tramping', 'Hiking']