Winter tramping started at Queens Birthday Weekend.
The temperature plummetted and drizzle turned to snow late Sunday. By morning the sky cleared to a hard frost and a sparkling day.
Honora had four pairs of gloves with her. Two was enough for me but I would've been happier if I'd taken my downie along.
Sure I like warm days but there are a lot of things about tramping that change for the better with Autumn:
The change of season usually happens during our Stewart Island trip in April.
Driving south the poplars before the Rangitata bridge are usually still green and with all their leaves. Coming back two weeks later they've usually changed colour.
This year was a bit different. They still looked greenish but two thirds of the leaves had been blown away by strong nor'westers.
But the days seem a lot shorter than they did only a few weeks ago.
Here's an idea for tramping when the days get shorter:
Try it out. It's better to start out on a trip that has a reasonable track leading to a hut that you've got a pretty good idea will have spare bunks.
Francis Spufford: I May Be Some Time : Ice and the English Imagination
Why are some people driven to put themselves into uncomfortable and dangerous places? (*****)
Rebecca Solnit: Wanderlust : A History of Walking
Wonder why you wander? Take a walk through the history of walking for its own sake (*****)
Hugh A. Robertson: The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
If you want to carry a NZ bird identifying book in your pack make it this one. (*****)
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