Snow!

Our first hike with a full set of trampers was along the Ahuriri River and up the Dingle Burn.

We started late in the day with a short hike up to the first hut. While we were packing our bags it went from cold and windy to cold and windy and snowing, and the snow had started to stick on the grass.

(Pic: bad weather ahead.)

I spent the hike walking downwind of Wesley to avoid the blowing snow. This worked surprisingly well.

We were supposed to spend the first night at a hut but when we got there we found that it was packed to the rafters with people from a Christchurch tramping club, so we camped outside by the hut and built a fire to warm up by. We were in a stand of beech trees so there wasn't much snow on the ground, but it was a cold night. I was happy to have a good  sleeping bag.

(Pics: our camp; ice on the tent in the morning.)

The tent didn't let any moisture through, but I did sort of fall out of it in the middle of the night: my sleeping pad slid downhill on the groundcloth and I woke up with my feet outside the tent. I was confused.

The morning showed us a bluebird day and beautiful mountains that had been hiding in the clouds the day before. This is when I actually started to take pictures, because I started to be able to feel my fingers again.

(Pic: NZ landscapes are best seen as panoramas.)

To be continued.