Kia Ora to Narcissus including D'Alton, Fergusson and Hartnett Falls
Speaking to the ranger at Kia Ora he warned us that there was some pretty nasty weather on the way in and it would not be safe to do Pine Valley with the Acropolis and Labyrinth trips so we made the call to cut the walk short by a day and get out. Some of the other groups made the big call to get off the track that day and ate all their food just to give themselves the extra motivation to make it.
We took off at a more relaxed pace and made the side trips into all the falls
D’Alto(n)
Fergusson
Hartnett
We got to Windy Ridge hut in time for lunch then kept going down to Narcissus. We met a tourist who had just walked in and up Pine Valley for a couple of days. I made Rach take a pic of him not because of the 4 man tent he had strapped to his pack but due to the normal kitchen saucepan he had hanging off the other side. He did clank as he walked which was quite entertaining.
We got down to the fairly dingy Narcissus hut and even though we knew rain was coming in we decided to camp. We found a nice flat spot and set up for the night. The rain came down almost exactly to schedule at 3am but other than the noise it was all pretty comfy and dry in the tent, until the nice “flat” spot we chose proved to actually be the lowest point in the area and all the water began to pool under the tent. To give the tent full credit it didn’t let any water in but it was getting a bit disconcerting as we started to float. By about 6:30 we had had enough and bailed for the shelter of the hut.