Thursday, December 13, 2007

A day in the life, part two - Hut Life






Hut Life

We thought it was time for another installment of our everyday life series. This time its about life in backcountry huts. New Zealand has a system of backcountry huts through a lot of the trails here, especially in the South Island. There are different categories of huts, some are free, others are $5-10 a night. They also come in varying sizes. We've stayed in everything from a 2 bed to a 34 bed hut. We've got an annual pass which makes it easier because we don't have to buy tickets when we're in towns. They're mainly pretty basic - bunks with a table and benches and often a water tank, but they are far superior to our tents. There have been so many down in the South Island that we've only spent two nights in our tents since arriving here two weeks ago.

The joy of having a hut is the 'modern day' comforts they provide. For example, we can write in our journals and eat dinner sitting at a table or on a bench rather than perched on a rock or branch, we can get water straight from a rainwater tank instead of crouching by a stream filtering it, fireplaces to dry our wet gear and, best of all, we can escape the sand flies.

Theres often things to read too, people leave books and magazines that they've finished with that we devour when we can. The other day Dennis was reading a National Geographic from 1983 about 'new' satellite technology. They're normally a little more up to date than that.

We like reading the hut books too. Every hut has a hut book to record who comes through. This information is used in search and rescue situations, but you can also write general comments as well. Some are funny but others feel it is a complaint forum too - 'track needs more boardwalk', 'times posted are too fast/too slow', 'take me back to the city to real food!'. In the Richmond Range there were books that dated back to the mid 1980s which were really interesting to read - we were preschoolers! In the more popular huts, like the ones through Nelson Lakes National Park, all the books are new from this year.

Pictures:
Alice and Dennis eating breakfast - Old Man Hut - Richmond Range
Alice outside Porters Hut - Richmond Range
Dennis writing in journal inside the Red Hills Hut - Richmond Range
Downes Hut - Wanganui River
Dennis chopping wood - Whakapapaiti Hut - Mt. Ruapehu

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