By Ruth

Distance: 31 km

I was awoken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof of the hut. Elliot and I had a cozy top bunk area to ourselves with a little window looking out on the meadow and surrounding mountains, and I felt so happy to be in a hut, if also a bit concerned about the upcoming day of walking.

When morning came, the rain had not stopped, but we packed up anyway and reluctantly (on my part) stepped out into the wet outdoors. Anne hut was one of the nicest we’ve stayed in and I was tempted to stay there today to wait for the weather to improve. In the end though, the idea of being in town this evening gave me the push I needed to get going.

As much as it sucks to walk in the rain and get saturated, it was also a bit invigorating and we both felt we had more energy today than we did yesterday. Plus the views were still beautiful.

And, luckily, the rain stopped before we had a chance to get properly miserable. By 10:30 the sun had come out and everything was getting dry. We got to Boyle hut in good time for lunch, and chatted with another walker having his lunch there who had done TA last year.

The afternoon was more in the forest than the open valley. After the morning’s rain the trail was bit muddy, and it felt a bit long before we finally reached Boyle Village and the road where we were planning to hitch out to Hanmer Springs for a couple rest days.

This was one of the hardest hitches we have gotten. There were cars regularly going by but still we waited for an hour before a really nice couple stopped to pick us up. They were not originally going all the way to Hanmer, but after chatting with them a bit on the drive they decided to take us all the way into the town – they were just so nice.

Now we are in a motel in town, across from the hot springs where we will probably spend most of the day tomorrow. After a gorgeous yet somewhat exhausting section of trail we are ready for some good recovery time, and it seems we are in the perfect spot for it.