We had a good faff in Nelson (shopping, swimming with all important showers) then headed out to Nelson lakes, arriving at the DOC office mid afternoon. It was a tad late to do the whole mount Robert circuit, but we had a plan: the Bushline hut half way round. We packed our gear and headed up for a night in the mountains.
After an hour and a half of incredible views over lake Rotoiti, we stumbled upon the hut. Set on the side of the mountain at 1290m with more awesome views, we sat and chatted with the other residents for the night (it was busier than we expected with 2 other groups!) Until we all turned in at dark. A standard serviced hut, for 15 NZD (approx 7.50 GBP) we got a roof, mattresses on alpine bunks, running water and a woodburning stove and fuel which we made full use of! It was also very handy for toasting the pizza breads we’d brought up for dinner, as we dont have a stove with us. Everyone fussed over Eddie, and thankfully he was well behaved enough at night for them all to still love him in the morning!
We woke up in a cloud which soon cleared, had breakfast of cereal bars and rusk, then headed down the mountain. We picked up a hitchhiker for good karma, and dropped him of in St Arnaud where we all went to admire the 100 year old eels on off the pier. Next stop, the west coast!
Parenting Responsibly 