Latitude 38 Degrees South - Day 2 - Lakeside and Loving It!

First experience of sleeping in a  DOC hut overnight - Hmmmmm, where's my tent!

Even my ipod and headphones could not drown out the "two snorer symphony". There is always a silver lining though..... toilet stop at 1230am contemplating how many sleeping tablets i was going to take revealed a cloudless and brilliant starry sky - truly spectacular
Wished I was camping outside.......off to face the music again and back into the hut......

I was awoken from my slumber by another member of the group stating that it was 7.30am and reminding me that lunches needed to be made before the scheduled breakfast at 8am. I leapt out of bed, ran around like a headless chook preparing for the day ahead, Breakfast was wonderful - poached eggs on muffins with spinach and hollandaise sauce and plenty of coffee! It was only then that I discovered that we were actually an hour ahead of schedule. (WHAT, it's only 7am, not 8!!??). Definitely not a morning person today!

We left Waiharuru Hut at 9am, again being allowed to walk at our own pace. Relatively flat walk out towards Marauiti Hut. (6km) Sunny and warm with a forecast for 25C, it was nice to be walking along shaded forest track - even saw some rainbow trout gliding around the shallows near the shoreline. Lots of scenic lakeside and lookout spots.

Panekiri Bluff in the background

Lost count of the suspension bridges

Marauiti Hut

We reached Marauiti Hut in 2 hours, had a drinks stop, then continued onto Marauiti Campsite, 30 mins ahead. Morning tea was taken here and we were presented with an option to take a boat trip around to the lunch spot. Needless to say, I was here to hike!
The next section was undulating passing through groves of kamahi and tree ferns
After about 1.5 hours, we scrambled down to a massive granite rock slab which was our lunch spot. A small stream sent water tumbling over the crevices and into the lake, creating a waterslide. Our guide Callum had a few slides, but I chose not to, preferring not to injure myself and saving myself for a swim later.
The views across the lake from here were amazing. Callum pointed out the ridgetop we would be walking along on the following two days. Rocky outcrops and bluffs - looks superb!

Panakiri Bluffs

Look at that ridgetop!

Waterslide anyone!

An hour on from lunch was Korokoro campsite where we regrouped and had a snack. We all took the optional walk to Korokoro Falls which took 1 hour return and involved using a metal cable to ford a small river crossing. The falls were beautiful and are about 22 metres tall, but it was dangerously slippery down to the base, so no opportunity for a Norsca shower here!

Korokoro Falls

Back at the track junction, it was another 1 hour to Waiopaoa Hut. It was getting late (after 5pm by this stage). The track hugged the edge of the lake and passed through kanuka forest to Waiopaoa Stream , then crossed grassy flats to the Hut. 
A brief and brisk lake swim cleansed off the sweat from a long day's hiking (9 hours and 18.3km).

Dinner by candlelight was served outside by Rob, who I discovered today, is the owner of the Walking Legends Guided Walk company. BBQ lamb backstrap accompanied by grilled eggpplant, asparagus and capsicum and a couscous salad, followed by pavlova with kiwifruit - yummy! Wine was also included on the trip. I had asked whether some ciders could be supplied and they came to the party! We toasted a great day's walking!

My bad luck with mobile phones this year then continued while I was packing away my gear on the verandah of the hut. I placed my phone on the wooden bench adjacent to the walls of the hut when I accidentally knocked it off and it fell through the slats of the hut verandah floor to land underneath the hut!!! It was nowhere to be seen and I could not believe what had happened. Rob reassured me that he would try and get it out the folllowing morning using a trapdoor to access under the decked verandah. Arrgghh! I hope so! Rob also sourced a pair of earplugs for me and after a quick game of scrabble, it was off to bed.