Day 58 - Tongariro forest Park to Makahika outdoor pursuit center

Last nights sleep was one of the best of my life. It was a tough camp to take down, but I was excited for the short 15km walk to the outdoor pursuit center where I would hopefully be allowed to spend the night. My trail notes say they accept TA hikers, but I still wasn't sure what to expect.

By 11pm I was out of the Tongariro forest track and road walking. By noon I arrived at the pursuit center. As soon as Sally - the owner of the pursuit center - saw me she hurriedly invited me inside her home with open arms and coffee. I tried to apologize for my smell, but she assured me that she'd had worse smelling hikers come through. I soon met John, Sallys partner, and was feeling more at home than ever. They were both increidbly kind and interesting people. They had a large litter of animals that lived with them, and the majority of the animals they had were stray and adopted. Sally and John were the type of people who take the lost and wandering off the road, and give them warmth, love, and food without asking for a single thing in return.

John and Sally knew the Tararuas well, and they knew the exact route I was taking. John started pulling up weather reports and I pulled out my maps. They were no strangers to planning expeditions, and they were more than happy to help me with mine. Unfortunately, the weather over the next few days looked menacing, with gale force winds and a negative temperature drop up on the ridges. The after maths of a cyclone were passing through and being pulling right into the Tararua peaks. If I started the 3 days climb over mount Crawford I would have most definitely got stuck at Nichols hut for 2-3 days.

Sally and John were happy to have me around until Wednesday, which was a huge relief for me because it would have been a hard few days waiting out the storm.

After a well needed shower and wash of clothes I was treated to a wonderful dinner with Sally, John, and Emily. Emily had just arrived over from the UK, and was working at the camp for the next few months.