Heaphy Great Walk Day 3

into the jungle

way too many swing bridges to count

our little hut on the bay

bluff into the sea

Surprise surprise, after another night of snores the old couple decided to arise at 530 am on Day 3. We could never quite figure out what they needed to do for an hour and half before they began their walk at 7am, but whatever it was they did it loudly. Day three was a "short" 20km, and would include descending from the 650m Mackay Hut through a rain forest and down to sea level. We would end on the shores of the Tasman Sea at the Heaphy Hut. Staying true to the rain forest description, we got rainy weather all day. We were not too sore about this because Steven told us he has been guiding the Heaphy Track all year, has never done the four day walk without getting at least a day of rain, and that the previous day had been on of the best weather days he could remember.

 We set out and began our climb down, accepting that we would be damp and wet all day. Luckily it was pretty warm and we never got chilly like we did on the Kepler. The rain forest was pretty awesome. There was intense green growth everywhere and views of the Heaphy River below. At the 12km mark we reached the jungle floor and began to follow the Heaphy River towards the coast. This was gorgeous. The river was wide and deep and surrounded on all sides by lush jungle and tall limestone bluffs. These bluffs were carpeted with moss, trees that had somehow grown into the rock, and long dangling vines that Kyle was sure could support his weight should he choose to climb them. At times these limestone growths came all the way down to our trail and hung over us creating mini-caves and sheltering us from the rain. It was pretty epic.

When we arrived at the Heaphy Hut we could not believe how awesome its location was. The river was right next to hut and only a few hundred meters away we could see it emptying into the Tasman Sea. The beach was right there and we got a break in the rain we took a quick walk down to the beach. We could see the sand extending from miles down the coast with tall hillsides covered in jungle growth hanging over the ocean. That night we also got quite a surprise. Steven had asked if we would do him a favor, when we said we would... he told us not to cook dinner. Slightly confused we didn't cook and as Steven was serving the old couple, he also shocked us and put down two heaping plates of couscous in front of us! The couscous was overflowing with feta, tomatoes, olives, and perfectly cooked salmon. He announced that he was going to eat with the Hut Warden at her hut and disappeared. Later he told us that he could not bear to eat with the couple again because of their increasing rudeness and lack of gratitude. The meal was probably the best we have had in New Zealand, and certainly the best we have had out on the trail. Steven really was the greatest (Kyle had a serious man-crush). After dinner we got to bed early because we knew we had to beat the snorers, and because it was now guaranteed that we would be roused at 530 by the old couple pounding around the kitchen.

 The last day of Heaphy was going to follow the coast 16km down to the end of the trail at Karamea, and we had heard that it is the most stunning of the days. We went to bed tired from the past three days, but excited to see the Tasman Coast. P.S. one more fun fact about the couple. Despite the fact that Steven had to carry roughly 60-70 pounds of shit for them, the woman still had the gall to declare her pack heavy. Direct quote, "Sure Steven carries the food, but I mean, I still have to carry all my clothes!" We weren't sure if we should laugh out loud or simply stare in shock at this declaration.