TA Day 27: Tuesday 14 January 2025

Lake Tekapo - Coal River / West of Round Hill

Leaving the AirBnB in the morning was really difficult... It was just so nice! We really wouldn't have minded a rest day here (except for the price).

We finally got out of there some time after 10, grabbed a geocache on the way and then it was time for the long, hot walk.

Almost immediately we met Caleb. He was tired, and wasn't really feeling motivated today. He looked like a wreck, to be honest. We hoped he would feel better and more motivated soon.

Considering the long, hot, dusty gravel road that we had ahead of us, and the cars passing by at high speed, leaving us in clouds of dust - we didn't feel too motivated either.

We kept looking at Barry's tracking all day. He had a bit of a head start and most of the day he was about 30-40 minutes in front of us, but just before we stopped to eat, he was only 10 minutes ahead.

When we finally left the road, we realised a bit too late that we were out of water, and that water here was scarce. If we would have known, we could've filled our water bottles just before leaving the road... But we didn't.

So we kept pushing on, and it took us around 7 km before we finally had water again, and then we immediately stopped for dinner.

Now we weren't too far away from our goal today - Coal River. This was where Barry's tracking stopped, so we guessed that's where he camped. On our way down, we saw the most perfect camp spot! On a "table" above the cliff going down to the water.

From here we could see both Barry and Rose's tent, and also the tent of the third hiker. A tent we didn't recognise. But a hiker named Jan had contacted us earlier that day, so we guessed that it might be him. Or maybe a SOBO?

It was nice to be able to see them, but still have full privacy from our little spot, looking down at them from above.

Here in the tent Lukas had his last chocolate chip cookie which he dipped in milk 😋 Just as the rain started falling...

It was nice to be able to see them, but still have full privacy from our little spot, looking down at them from above.

Here in the tent Lukas had his last chocolate chip cookie which he dipped in milk 😋 Just as the rain started falling...

Today's:

Distance: 31.12 km

Ascent: 680 m

Descent: 287 m

Tent nights: 18/27

Weather: Sunny and hot, some drizzle once we were in the tent