Te Araroa Trail – Day 112

Tuesday February 27, 2024
Distance/ Total: 33.9 km / 21.1 mi

Shaun and I had another long day planned and we’re up on the trail at 7:15am. The trail from camp stream hut was one of the best defined trails I have seen in quite awhile on the Te Araroa Trail. The trail led along Camp Stream through lowland meadows.

There were a couple of slips where the trail had washed out, but good reroute tracks had been established. The trail moved downstream for several kilometers before heading up to a shelf near round hill ski area.

The trail crossed a gravel road and continued along the shelf until reaching Boundary Stream and turning towards Lake Tekapo. The views from the shelf were amazing.

The trail dropped down and joined a gravel road that ran alongside Lake Tekapo. The next 11 kilometers was a road walk heading toward the town of Lake Tekapo. As we neared the town the trail left the gravel road and headed through a park area along the lake. The trail completed the trip into Lake Tekapo alongside the lake to a historic church and then across a bridge to Lake Tekapo Village.

Having only $20 NZD between us after paying for the shuttle around the Rangitata River, Shaun and I headed for the only ATM in town located in the local 4 Square supermarket. After obtaining some cash I bought a coke and a candy bar and went out front to enjoy them. Shaun headed to a local bike shop where he had sent a bounce box and retrieved his box.

We headed to the Lake Edge Holiday Park and got a tentsite for the night. We setup our tents and then headed back downtown to eat at a buffet restaurant we had seen earlier. It was Chinese buffet and I think both of us had at least 4 plates of food before finishing up with ice cream. It takes a lot of food to fill a hungry hiker.

We headed back to the campsite and I took a shower and crawled into my tent for the night. Tomorrow we planned a late start day for the next section.