I met a French NOBO woman at the greenstone hut who showed me pictures of the view from Careys hut and I knew I wanted to go there. Originally we planned on staying at the Boundary hut, but Careys was only about 6k further and was on a lake. Also it was supposed to rain the next day, so I figured I could also just wait for Jayden and Holger there.
The trail started in beech trees, no longer the wide, well tracked trail of the Greenstone, this was again the TA. Overgrown in parts, muddy and full of obstacles. There were also no people aside from Michael and a Swiss couple who are also TA walkers.
Just before the first hut the trail leaves the forest and goes into grasslands with mountains all around.
I had lunch at the Taipo hut, a small 4 person hut with great views.
After that it was all muddy grasslands. I got to the Boundary hut a little after 3, took a quick break and kept walking.
I got to Careys hut around 5 and immediately took a swim in the lake, which was fantastic! Not too cold, although there was a lot of wind, which made it a little cool, however it also kept the sandflies away.
After dinner I was sitting outside of the hut looking out on the lake when I heard a wookie call and I knew right away who it was “gray jay Jay Jay” I called out (when Jayden had an orange shirt we joked about him being the annoying orange (it’s a web thing) then that shirt fell apart and his friend gave him a gray one. Gray jay Jay Jay… said like Mojo Jojo… because we are nerds). “Uncle Child” he called back, it’s a name my oldest nephew Max calls me and Jayden thinks it’s fitting. I wasn’t surprised he caught up, but was a little surprised he hadn’t seen Holger.
