The River Side of the Fence

Tuesday, 22nd January 2013  36 kms 9.5 hrs

A lot of today's route was described as "the river side of the fence", as it tracked down the Mararoa River valley.

Firstly, the river was gorgeous (picture) - a deep green, with plenty of water, so I used the bridge option soon after leaving my campsite.

The river side of the fence means, mostly, rough ground, regular (not always expected) boggy patches, and legs, especially, gently caressed by thistle, matagouri, occasionally rose and spaniards, not to mention anything else with pointy bits.

Early afternoon the trail joined the valley road for a few kms, by which time I was not keen to return to the river, so continued down the road, and then on the main Te Anau road to reach my pickup point for the day.