Day 29: Black rock Station to Comyns Hut

16.5km, 6 hours.

We started out in Methven today and ended up getting a shuttle up to Glenrock station this morning at 7 am. It was just the easiest option with 5 of us. I don't think many people drive along the road to be able to hitchhike in the morning. I think I saw one farm vehicle the entire hour drive.

We had the most amazing dinner last night. We stayed at Alpennlodge a quaint chalet style house run by a Swiss man, there were skis and pictures of snowy mountains all on the walls. We had the entire house to ourselves with a big wooden kitchen and dining table. All of us craving healthy home cooked meals we all decided to cook dinner together. It was Conny, David and Ivan ('ghost') and myself. It was so much fun preparing and cooking together like we were friends in someone's home. We settled on roast vegies. Sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, red onions, capscicum and brocolli and garlic, a green salad with feta and a lemon yoghurt sauce and then we all cooked our own meat and steak with bacon. Oh my goodness I was in heaven. David had promised in Hanmer Springs after a few drinks that at some point he would coom Kaiserschmarrne; an Austrian dessert kind of like a thick fluffy pancake that you scramble up and have with a plum or apple sauce. We hadn't seen David for a while when in the goat hut book he put in the comments section to us: 'kaisermarrn in methven!'.

We finished with some tim tam slams and had a few beers and wine.

When the shuttle dropped us off and we were about to start hiking, Ivan remembered he had hard boiled a dozen eggs and did not want to carry them so we were all forced to eat multiple hard boiled eggs before starting. Ridiculous!

Again today a new section and a different type of landscape yet again. I'm back in my element. Back up in the alpine rolling steep hills. Brown and gray rocky mountains with bronze tussocky grass all around. The mountains around are really rocky and you can tell in winter this would just be completely covered in snow. we're just followed the valley up, but it was quite a steep climb this morning up to the saddle. We were all walking up concentrating headphones in when a helicopter came flying up and over above us. Gave me a good fright!

We stopped at A-frame hut for a snack break and ended up hanging out in there for a good hour and a half..man we had some good laughs. While also doing pull up attempts on the a frame bar across the centre of the hut. Shared comparison hiker stories about worst toilet issues and then a few jokes in there for fun. 'What is a pirates favourite letter?' You'd think it would be Rrrr but his first love is the C....

We continue on climbing up the valley and came down to a stream with bush around it . I look down and see Ivan quickly scuttle backwards. He'd run into wild pigs. He said he heard snorting over his music and looked up to see A little piglet running at him and then the mumma pig was not too far behind. They headed down the valley and we all got out of there. They were so cute, all grey with quite a bit of hair.

The five of us are kind of stuck (but not stuck, they're really good company) together for the next few days Just because of the transport to logistic arrangements with the shuttle at the Rangitata river so there's not many long days because we've committed to a A shuttle And so we've got three days essentially to get there.

So we're just cruising. We're staying in Comyns Hut tonight. As we saw it in the distance it looked like this awful old tin hut like a few we had past. The ones you don't know if you'd make it out alive. But surprisingly it's actually quite cute inside. So much writing on the walls and wooden table from groups of people 40 years ago it's been amusing to read.

We arrived at the hut at 2pm had lunch and then I wandered down to the river to have a wash but of course as soon as I get there the sun goes and it was so cold so I headed back to the hut grabbed a mattress and took it outside around the back of the hut where it was more sheltered from the wind. Its so relaxing being able to lie there and look up at the mountains. The sun came out, I made myself a coffee, put music on and then I fell fast asleep. One of those naps where you crash hard.

I've laid there all afternoon and we just lounged around and chatted. We all decided to carry in a couple of cans of beer we had left over so we had them chilling in the stream all afternoon so we could have a pre dinner beer in the sun admiring the views. Looking up at the mountains and deciding where we'd ski or run down the scree.

Make it known here that David said if he wins a Nobel prize I can either have the option of being thanked personally 'id like to thank everyone and Renay' or part of the million dollar prize money. I've taken the money option.

As we sat inside eating dinner staring at the fire place we all thought just what could have been if we'd caught one of the pigs. We could have had rotisserie pork. This is what we think of with food these days. Conversations are generally 8 times out of 10 about food. And the best part of the day was David (pyshics PhD) explaining to us simply how a microwave works. Why the plate spins and why there is mesh on the glass.

Again the weather is perfect considering in Methven when we left it was low cloud and looked like a dreary day. Conny mentioned a saying in Austria: Wenn Engel reisen, wird sich das Wetter weisen.

When angels are on the move, the weather is fine.

After dinner the four of us were chatting outside and we look up the valley and see a hiker coming down. We had a visitor but who was it to be...

It ended up being a Japanese guy, Taku. Now his food set up is one to be desired. Out of his pack he took out bags of dehydrated shitaki mushrooms, dehy veggies and all sorts of other dehydrated things. Then proceeds to maticulously prepare a sushi roll with rice. We all just watched on in awe and jealously.

Back outside again brushing our teeth and we notice someone else coming towards the hut. It was Sam! The Aussie guy I had met briefly in Hanmer and met up with at Goat Hut. When we hitched in to Arthur's Pass together We basically ate everything possibly there before he continued on and I stayed there. I was not expecting to see him for a while if at all so it was a nice surprise seeing a familiar face.

Bed time is usually about 9pm for me and even though it's still light outside that is no problem for me to sleep any more. I don't even need something over my eyes, I just get into my quilt and crash hard.

Ren X