Day Two was when the trek got serious. The walking was 16.5kms up a steady incline tending towards quite uphill at the end. Our modus operandi for the entire hike was to take it easy, to stop regularly and to outright enjoy the scenery and experience as best we could. This involved wandering off the track a few times, to sit on the kinks of, or skim rocks on, or even sometimes dip our feet in the ice-cold Clinton River that we were still following. We stopped for lunch at the Hidden Lake, a lovely pleasant and fairly low lake with a small branching waterfall cascading down the side of the rocky hill bordering half the lake. It was here that we were able to first relish the large jar of chutney that Bryce insisted on, and we mocked him for.

After lunch the track started going properly uphill, and the scenery changed. Instead of the clear and open, sandy and bushy style we’d seen mostly so far, the scenery went through a sort of scrubby vibe to a lush green temperate forest, with moss growing over trees, and clover covering the ground, and in one place, even a whole mess of flower petals spread right down the path. Most of this was lost on Steve who was struggling with the walk and getting down and irritable over it. Not to worry, we eventually came to the 2nd night’s huts. We were the last one in and had taken the longest, but nobody else had tales of freezing water or resting by a lake.

That night at Mintaro hut we were starting to get to know more of each other, as a group, and the vibe was expectant for the next day – the big on, the money shot of the trek. It wasn’t the longest day by distance, but it started off by finishing Day 2’s ascent, crossing over McKinnon’s pass at the top, then a full descent to just above sea level. On top of this is a detour option to go and see Sutherland Falls – the largest in NZ. We all slept soundly that night, at least until I sat bolt upright in my sleep, introduced myself (“Hi! My name’s Tim”), make a joke or two about the word scroggin, and fell back into unconsciousness.