Note 3/31/15: I’m sorry I’ve been slow about catching up on posts. I have been in Nelson for 5 days and should have caught up but didn’t. Go figure.  I’ll post this but then I’m off in my campervan and I’ll be off the grid for about a week. I’ll keep posting when I get a signal. 

Today the hike was only one hour long so I enjoyed an extra coffee and watched everyone pack and leave. I had heard about a 2 hour hike to a nice overlook so I decided to give it a try. I headed to where the trail should start right by a bridge but I saw nothing. Finally I decided a break in the grass was the trail and headed up. Though not well defined it was a trail (it showed what a great job is done in maintaining the real trails).  This photo was the trail. Can you see it?

The views from the top were grand. I was looking down on the flats my destination for today.   

On my way back I had a nice view down on last nights hut.   

I retrieved my things and started to leave. As I went outside a helicopter made a landing to pickup empty gas canisters.

The hike down was short and very nice. At the bottom I found a hut on the edge of a lovely meadow. This was a smaller hut two  rooms with 8 bunks each. Since this one was close to the start (my end) it had few trampers. In fact it was me, a group of 4 and then very late 2 German girls arrived. Only 7 total. It was a nice hut with a great view out the front.        It was an amazing day so I crossed the river and walk out across the meadow. The views in every direction were gorgeous. I walked for a bit then found a spot in the sun for a short nap. The warmth felt great after the previous cooler days.   

In the evening as it got cooler the sunset was great. I had my final dinner of chicken curry (4/5 stars) and was in bed at 8:30.