For the first time in 1200 kilometers, I'm walking alone. Marie didn't feel like carrying 10 days worth of food (reasonable) and I don't want to leave the mountains halfway to resupply in town.

So we'll split up for now and reunite later, which I'm already looking forward to. In the meantime, it's also exciting to have the freedom to choose my destination for the day impulsively, and push further if I feel like it.

Today has been a long and rainy day, with lots of elevation gain and beautiful bush. Reward at the end of the day: a spacious hut with the luxury of a FLUSH TOILET! A much appreciated rarity in the mountains.

What a day! Long, great, challenging. I started with surprisingly nice weather, overcast but not IN the clouds (so I still had some views). The trail was beautiful and I moved quickly. By 2 pm I arrived at the hut that I was planning to stay in. I had some food and wondered... Should I go further?

I decided so, even though I knew rain was probably coming and I would be doing a rough section with some narrow ledges along high cliffs.

... And yup, not much later torrential rain started and yup, it was tough going and a little sketchy at times indeed. But after many river crossings, steep climbs, fallen trees, creepy ledges, wasp encounters, slippery roots and other obstacles I finally arrived, proud and alive, at the next hut by 7.

It was nice to see some familiar faces inside, and luckily there was a bunk left for me. I quickly made some dinner, warmed up by the smoky fire and crawled into my sleeping bag at sunset.

It kept raining and raining, so the rivers kept rising and rising, and now... I'm stuck in the hut. Together with the 4 other friendly hikers that are taken hostage by the weather, we spent the day bumming around, reading, looking out of the window and trying not to eat all our food.

Luckily, the weather for tomorrow looks better and hopefully the river level will drop overnight. 

The last kilometers of the Richmond Ranges! But not the easiest ones, with 3 long ascents and lots of switchbacks before finally reaching the highway. One good old roadwalk later I'm back in civilisation, which I celebrate with a pie and L&P. Dinner is a huge and tasty pizza with friends, a good way to end my 100th day on trail! 🥳

Hey, a day with torrential rain again! A good excuse to have a rest day in St Arnaud. I move from the shitty sandfly campsite I stayed at to the fancy lodge in town, an excellent decision with the 40 millimetres of water that's being dumped on us by the clouds. We watch the rain come down from the spa pool, followed by another large pizza at the restaurant. Life is good! 

The actual TA route is a stroll along the lake, but I opt for a mountain alternative, climbing up high and then following a ridgeline. Despite the weather forecast being great, I find myself in rain and dark clouds again. But every now and then, the sun peaks through and reveals an incredible view. All in all it's a pretty nice hike, but what makes it really worth the effort it is the incredible lake where I pitch my tent for the night. 💕

Woop woop! Finally making some distance on the South Island. Walked a marathon today, because it was 'flattish'. Except for the 1000 meters elevation gain and drop. Most of it hidden in a gentle gradient, some of it more obvious in the form of actual ascents. Anyway, it was all very beautiful again, walking through endless golden fields between the mountains, with the grass waving in the wind. And I spotted a deer in the forest!!

An easy 14 kilometers through forest and mountain valley get me back to civilisation - or well, to a big road. From there I hitch to Hanmer Springs for a rest day and resupply, and for a delicious pie, lots of fruit and veggies and very yummy Indian food 😍