Well, Andrew did get his bond back, so we did a fantastic job of cleaning his place. And, the landlord likes him, so that helps. Wed evening we got stuff organized for our tramp!! Bought some groceries, picked up the appropiate camping gear for Jer and I from Andrew's good friend Dahlen, and organized stuff into 3 packpacks!! Thursday morning, the 3 of us left for Mt Richmond in the Marlborough Sounds. Duane and Owen took Kristin to a doctor, who gave her some penicillin and told her she had an abcess in her mouth. (Today she's feeling a lot better!) About an hour and a half drive through some mountain ranges, then through a valley of 
farmland and vineyards until we reached the carpark for the tramp. Here we are at the beginning of the tramp. Our destination was Mt Fell hut, which according to DOC should take 7 hours, at an elevation of 1300 feet, just below the alpine level!!! The first 1 hour was easy. Somewhat up and down, following the river, the scenery was spectacular!! It felt quite tropical, and smelled wonderful. We stopped for lunch, sitting on some rocks in the middle of a creek!!! Then began the steep climb! Here's a picture Andrew took of us, climbing up one of the steep areas -felt like we were almost crawling up. After about 3 hours of tramping, 
we had reached a height of almost 600 feet. At that point we decided to tramp another 1/2 hour, Jer and I to see how far WE could get, and Andrew would RUN ahead at his speed, to see how close to the leveling off place we were. We climbed another 100 feet in that 30 minutes!!! It felt quite vertical, and was extremely tough. We were sucking wind. When Andrew rejoined us, we decided there was no way us "old farts" would make it to the top in the DOC recommended 7 hours, so at about 3pm we began our descent. That was tough. Physically much easier than going up, but it was SCARY and slow going, because at times it seemed almost vertical, with slippery wet rocks and roots. It was a great relief when we made it back to the creek, and the vertical part was over. The tramp was tough, but the scenery and seeing the forest from the underside was amazing!! We got into Blenhem around 8:00 ish, found a cabin at a top 10 campground and made supper. We relaxed back in our cabin with a tim tam slam! Yummy!!! Friday morning after breakfast, we packed up, and drove the hour and a half back to Nelson. A tramping experience we would like to repeat, but next time when we are physically fit. So, we need to start training!!!! (And maybe an easier tramp next time)
farmland and vineyards until we reached the carpark for the tramp. Here we are at the beginning of the tramp. Our destination was Mt Fell hut, which according to DOC should take 7 hours, at an elevation of 1300 feet, just below the alpine level!!! The first 1 hour was easy. Somewhat up and down, following the river, the scenery was spectacular!! It felt quite tropical, and smelled wonderful. We stopped for lunch, sitting on some rocks in the middle of a creek!!! Then began the steep climb! Here's a picture Andrew took of us, climbing up one of the steep areas -felt like we were almost crawling up. After about 3 hours of tramping, 
we had reached a height of almost 600 feet. At that point we decided to tramp another 1/2 hour, Jer and I to see how far WE could get, and Andrew would RUN ahead at his speed, to see how close to the leveling off place we were. We climbed another 100 feet in that 30 minutes!!! It felt quite vertical, and was extremely tough. We were sucking wind. When Andrew rejoined us, we decided there was no way us "old farts" would make it to the top in the DOC recommended 7 hours, so at about 3pm we began our descent. That was tough. Physically much easier than going up, but it was SCARY and slow going, because at times it seemed almost vertical, with slippery wet rocks and roots. It was a great relief when we made it back to the creek, and the vertical part was over. The tramp was tough, but the scenery and seeing the forest from the underside was amazing!! We got into Blenhem around 8:00 ish, found a cabin at a top 10 campground and made supper. We relaxed back in our cabin with a tim tam slam! Yummy!!! Friday morning after breakfast, we packed up, and drove the hour and a half back to Nelson. A tramping experience we would like to repeat, but next time when we are physically fit. So, we need to start training!!!! (And maybe an easier tramp next time)
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