3RY Update Part:

4

Date:

18th February ‘19

Day:

27

Title:

Fire, I Made Fire.

KM Mark Start:

2540

Start Location:

Pakituhi Hut

KM Mark Finish:

2529

Finish Location:

Stody’s Hut

Actual KM today:

12

Weather:

Overcast, windy on the tops

General:

From Pakituhi Hut followed ridge to Breast Hill Summit then 4WD Track to Stody’s Hut.

Spent the arvo collecting and chopping firewood. Made fire, collected water from a spring up the hill. Rain forecast for next few days. Spotted the biggest Dragon Fly I’ve ever seen (See photos). The New Zealand bush giant dragonfly (Kapokapowai in Maori), is a giant dragonfly of the family Petaluridae, endemic to New Zealand. The Maori name means “water snatcher” alluding to the long extendable jaw that shoots out to snatch prey. They emerge at night to seek prey near the burrow entrance. They are sensitive to disturbance so are rarely observed.

Stody’s Hut is a cool wee hut. Love being at the huts with an open fire. Nothing like being in bed on a cold night, beside an open fire.

Stody’s Hut is an old, now unused Musterers Hut.

Extract from hut book by Tom Rowley. Lake Hawea Station 2011:

“This hut was a Musterers Hut. Part of Hawea Station. When we mustered this block, three men would walk up Timaru Creek hunting the sheep as they came up the valley. Another two men came over the top from the homestead and came out and mustered the next basin out and then came back to the hut where the ‘Packee’ would have a meal cooking. We would break camp at 4 o’clock in the morning and muster through towards the lake. I have very fond memories of our times in this hut…If these walls could talk there’d be some great stories told”

The white flower in the images below is Gentianella corymbifera. It is a biennial, indigenous plant that is a member of dwarf gentians. Found in Alpine locations.

Body/Health:

Good, shortish couple of days so feeling ready for the next few big ones.

Outlook:

Positive, hoping the weather doesn’t slow me down tomorrow.

Tune of the Day:

Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana

Day 27 Images: