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.

Day 1 walking wasn’t far – just 5km to Clinton Hut. The first k or so was a wide path, with tractor trails along it – sings of the pampering the guided tourers pay for. Along our walk we three stopped fairly regularly to take a photo or a video of the gorgeous new scenery, mostly of the Clinton River and its water, as clear as crystal, and the bright greenery surrounding it.
Arriving at Clinton Hut without any stress, we found a whole lot of our fellow trampers decked out on the deck area between the buildings we were staying in. Clinton Hut consists of only a few buildings – two dorms, a kitchen/common room, and off the side the ranger’s hut and a small toilet block.
As we’d arrived fairly late, we were lucky to get three bunks near each other, and soon got stuck into making ourselves dinner. We had no trouble satisfying our hungers, with soup, instant dinners and even instant pudding for dessert. For some reason, perhaps to get into the outdoor vibe, we chose to sit outdoors for dinner, a move that wasn’t too bright, but turned out really entertaining for Bryce and I as we watched a very large swarm of sandflies swamp Steve – at one point they were so thick it was like looking at him through a screen, and the fit he threw was mad enough to keep Bryce and I amused for a while, even just remembering it later.
Later, over cards, we met a Kiwi contingent of the trek, mostly young blokes with a couple of girls and a top older guy called Ash Robson, who was both our chief antagonise and because also our primary antagonisee.
The sleep wasn’t bad – I got in a few hours more than what had become my norm, and soon enough we were up sorting out breakfast and being the last ones to leave the camp. Over breakfast we picked out the bananas we’d packed, only to find they’d gone terribly gooey and yuck. But everything you bring on the track you either eat or you carry out, so Robson took delight in watching us try and get these bananas down without reaching – alwas egging us “you Aussies – you don’t bring bananas in a backpack!”. The climax was the cheeky grin on his face when we caught him 5mins later sneaking a banana of his own (though his banana wasn’t at all mushy)!