The Humpridge Track

We've been training for this hike for 8.5 years and the day had finally arrived.  We've been psyching up the kids since we've arrived in New Zealand as we needed to have them trek 60km in 3 days.

Day One was the most challenging with almost a kilometre of elevation gain.

The kids each carried a pack with their own clothes and some food.  Thankfully the huts had cookery and crockery so it limited how much the adults had to carry.  In fact the huts were a welcomed luxury when the rain and wind arrived that first evening.  Naysa was blown right off the wooden track when we arrived to the unsheltered top of the ridge!  She held on tight to our hands after that.

To entertain herself, Naysa counted the number of bridges that we crossed and by the end of day one she was counting in the 90s.  The kids were also entertained by Rob's watch which counts kilometres and elevation gain.  We stopped for candy every 3kms (I am sick of gummy worms)!

Only in New Zealand, can you refill your water bottle directly from the flowing creek and not worry about parasites!  However, by this point we could have collected rain water.

This shows you just how steep it got.

Warm in our hut at the end of evening, we enjoyed some chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate as an appetizer and rehydrated tacos as our meal beautifully and proudly prepared by Chef Jonah.

On Day Two, we awoke to brilliant sunshine and could finally see the views we had worked so hard to get to.

Okaka Lodge where we stayed...

The first half of the day was spent trekking over undulating hills surrounded by spectacular views before we descended down through the forest towards the ocean.

We love the sun...

More candy...

Another rest...

MANathlon training never ends...

We descended many of these on day two and the adults felt the consequence of these eccentric calf muscle contractions for days after the trip!

Our accommodations for the evening of Day Two.  The lodge is just up from the beach on the historic site of an old logging mill.  We were fortunate to see many Hector's Dolphins in the bay.  Once again Chef Jonah prepared a fabulous rehydrated meal!

Day 3 was the final walk home, which was mostly flat and often along the beach.  We needed to get to the trailhead by 2:30 in the afternoon in order for our shuttle to pick us up.  We made it at 2:20 and didn't take many breaks.

One of the bridges was out near the end, and little feet preferred to stay dry.

Rob told Naysa there was around 3 km left so she counted down from 3000.  When we weren't yet at the end of the trail her little feet suddenly got pretty tired...

But we made it!  And nobody complained at all in 3 days, so we got to watch TV on the drive back to Queenstown. It distracted us from our own smell.