We set off walking at around 10.30am, and the first half of the day was pretty flat, although very muddy. We all wore gaiters, however my shoes would still get wet. There were several water crossings (just enough to get our feet wet) and one river crossing at 25 mile creek. Thankfully the creek was only at knee level and it was safe to cross, but it was freezing cold! We continued along flat ground with some occasional climbs but the terrain was mostly grassy and muddy farm land.
At around 2pm we arrived at the start of Mt Aspiring national park, where we downed our packs and had lunch.
After lunch we headed into the start of the beech forest which slowly climbed up. Every now and then we would head into a grass clearing, and I encountered my first swing bridge!
The beech forest was really pretty, I had to keep reminding myself to look up instead of watching my feet. We crossed several waterfalls, I did not look down or think about what we were doing as some of the crossings were really steep. We usually crossed at a low water point so it did not feel too dangerous, but I did not want to think about the rocks below. The photos do not do the situation justice!
Day one was pretty long, we covered 16kms in 10 hours, arriving at Shelter Rock Hut at about 8pm. Unfortunately the hut was full and there were no beds left, so we pitched our tents and changed into thermals because it was going to be a cold night. Jason and Rosheen cooked dinner (noodles) and we left our boots to dry in front of the wood fire.
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