Day 58 - Rose's Hut to Mace town

Another day another saddle. Wietse and I started the morning with little care for time and pace. We're late starters, but today was extra late. It wasn't until 1pm that we left Rose's Hut to begin our 500m climb to the top of the mountains. Wietse and I made a plan to only do 10km today and camp at Mace town, and make it into Arrowtown tomorrow afternoon.

After our long climb to the top of the saddle we continued straight down to the Arrow river, deep in the valley. Their were two routes we could take to Macetown. One route awkwardly followed the side of the river, avoiding the water, but steep and difficult terrain. The alternate route went straight through the river bed. There was no awkwardly climbing and siddleing of the valley wall, but instead we would have to ford the river for many kilometers. We took the river route in the end, as we would have to ford the river before reaching Macetown, so wet boots were inevitable, and we are very happy we did. The river was easy to walk through. Some sections were deep, and fast flowing but we managed just fine. The Arrow river is also well famous for gold. I heard a story of two hikers a few years ago that found a piece of gold the size of my fist that sold for over $20,000. A handful of sand from certain parts of the river would leave your hand covered bright golden flakes. I don't know anything about gold, but Wietse and I kept a keen eye out for anything particularly beautiful that flowed in the river.

When we reached Macetown I was quite excited. Around a 100 years ago it was a small village of 100-200 people, and now it's a ghost town. The remains of old stone buildings are scattered off the road you walk in on, with many areas to camp. Wietse camped just outside of the trees near the cliff face, with a better view of mountains. I choose to camp further in the trees, hoping to save myself from condinsation.

There was an unlimited supply of dry wood that allowed us to have a cozy fire all night long. I took the opportunity to dry my boots, pants and socks, and I was very glad I did. There are few things I enjoy more than getting lost to the peacefulness of an open fire. By 10pm the full moon rose over the mountains, and with it brought a blanket of blue and white light. One of the most beautiful evenings yet on Te Araroa.