February 8, 2026
It rained overnight, but by morning it had quit. It was still very cloudy outside, but the forecast looked good with the weather clearing soon. Heinrich and I had splurged for a private room and bath for this trip (many of the others were in rooms with bunk beds and a shared bath), and it was very nice. It had a view, although this morning the view was of fog and clouds.
The morning routine was: wake up before the generators turned back on shortly before 6 am, then go to the dining room to prepare our lunches. Fixings to make sandwiches and wraps were laid out buffet style in the dining room area. There was also a selection of snacks to choose. Afterwards we had a buffet breakfast with hot food options: today we had scrambled eggs and bacon. Baked beans were available as well. Then we went back to our rooms, packed up and gathered outside the lodge to start the hike for the day. The group started hiking at 7:30, and it didn't take long for us to spread out on the trail, each of us choosing our own level of pace. The was always a guide at the front of the group and one at the rear.
Total hiking distance for today was about 10 miles, and it was mostly on flat terrain. The first part of the hike was in a beech forest and followed the Clinton River.
After about a mile we took a short detour on a boardwalk to view the Clinton wetlands and a small waterfall.
We returned to the main trail and continued to follow the Clinton River. By now the weather was mostly clear, revealing the beautiful mountain peaks around us. We saw many waterfalls along the way. The recent rain really helped the waterfalls!
We stopped for lunch at the Hirere Hut. The guides provided a selection of hot and cold drinks at the hut.
Continuing on the trail, the terrain was more open with grasslands and manuka trees. Waterfalls were everywhere. We took side trips to Hidden Lake and Prairie Lake. The waterfall at Prairie Lake was especially lovely.
We started a gradual climb. Some high mountains with snow on the top came into view, with wind blown waterfalls.
The final stretch of the hike for the day was a bit challenging, a steep uphill section traversing a wide dry river bed with large boulders that we had to navigate across. There was a guide at the top providing encouragement. Our end destination was Pompolona Lodge.
At the lodge a host greeted us and gave us our assigned room number. Cookies and a cold drink were provided. We checked into our room and then gathered with the others outside on the deck for beer and wine. A charcuterie board was provided before dinner. We heard calls from some kea birds, and I briefly saw one fly off of the roof into the forest.
We gathered in the dining room for dinner. I had the slowed cooked beef which I had selected on the sign up sheet the night before.
After dinner we had the usual presentation from the guides about the schedule for the next day, and we made our meal selections for the next night's dinner. Then we went back to our room to recharge the cell phones before the generators turned off at 10 pm.