Hawdon Hut

On Thursday we tramped up to Hawdon hut!
Our first William Pike Challenge!
I was in the new Mini Van. We jumped in and took off for the shelter. The other minivan had no seat belts and the windows could open. Sadly ours had seat belts and we couldn't open the window, but it was super comfy!

"Are we almost there!", was what at least someone would say every 10-15 minutes. 
The drive there was super BORING!, we just sat there and talked.
Soon the shelter came in sight. A small open building. We jumped out longing to move and stretch our legs. There were Army people teaching some unemployed people how to put up a tent and how to pack a pack.

An then the thing we were all dreading. "Carrying our packs". We heaved it onto our backs and started off.
In the first 5 minutes we got to a river. We got in a group and started to cross. The water was strong on our legs, trying to push us around. Our boots were soaking! Ergh the feeling like you are walking in algae infected water. Yuck! We walked on and on, having to stop to wait for people to catch up. William loved to take heaps of photos, of the landscape or of us. The photos were really good!
We were soon really hot. We longed to be walking through the cold flowing water. People were emptying there bottles like it was the hottest day on earth. Whoosh, whoosh, we could hear a stream ahead. We all walked a bit faster. I have never liked the feeling of freezing water swooshing round your cold, sore feet this much! People started swimming in the stream. It was like we had never seen water before! Everyone except me went under. We all huddled together to get a photo. Snap snap snap. Then we were off.
Lunch break was well rewarding. We had been walking for hours with not much food. We stuffed our mouths full of delicious food. Then we had to start again.
"Woohoo". We heard shouts in front of us! We hurried on. Then we came to a clearing. There, the Hut stood. We had made it!

We lay down on our bedroll. We were tired, and exhausted.
Mr Priddy called everyone and we headed of down a track to the river. If I could describe it in 1 word, "freezing". A few people went under. But we were just having a good time! We buried Hayato in rocks and sunbathed on boulders.

Tea was all-right, apart from being freeze dried. I had mashed potatoes, which were revolting and roasted chicken. Then I had roasted beef and vegetables. The Milo was disgusting, it was so watery.

Boulder hopping was really cool, a few people fell in. The boulders were really big and slippery.
We then had to head back to the hut, to have a camp fire inside.
We placed 4 benches in a square and then lit 3 candles and put them in the middle. William talked about the meaning of the WPCA. Courage, Passion, Resilience and Enthusiasm. Then he said that a mum had come up to him and said that her daughter had done the WPCA 5 years ago and now the after doing Library for community service has now got a job at New Zealand post. He was talking about my sister Lucy! He was very funny!

Most of us went to sleep quickly except for Jess, Holly and Piper, who stayed up and were looking outside trying to see if anyone was out there.

The second day was a lot easier to walk with the pack. It became part of you. Brooklyn and I walked a lot of it together. We found it was easier if you talked and laughed while you walked. Suddenly we were at the DOC fence, only a few minutes to the mini vans. When we took our packs off to wait for the others it felt like you were in fast forward. You, like, walked way to fast. IT WAS REALLY WEIRD! We walked up the last hill and in to the car park! Yay! We had completed Hawdon Hut! We were so proud of ourselves and of everyone else. We plonked our self-down and ate lunch. I was staving.
We got back in the minivan and headed off to Cave stream. We all sung to the radio. Even William joined in! He took a video of us all singing!

"William talking about what happened to him and how he coped with it."

"All of us down at the river in front of the hut."

"Down at the river."

"Haylley, Emma, Me and Jess crossing our first river."

"Tramping back to the shelter."

Here we come Cave Stream!