Day 3 New Zealand

It was up early again to have breakfast at 7 and be on the bus by 7:45. We headed for the airstrip in Makarora on the eastern side of Mt. Aspiring National Park for our flight into Siberia Valley. The airstrip is a grassy area across from the gas station, which is where we book the flight on what looks like a crop duster. It's still raining lightly and very overcast but the scenery was fantastic nonetheless.

We take off for a mind-blowing scenic flight into Mt. Aspiring National Park for a bird's eye view of the Southern Alps.

That tiny little spec is the plane.

The lake in the top of the volcano is bright turquoise (hard to tell from the photo). 

Not a very good pic but the glacier feeds the lake.

Up in the clouds.

The river we will soon be crossing (much wider than it looks from the sky).

I've never flown in a plane this small and when you hit a pocket of turbulence, you REALLY feel it.

A little closer to the river.

We made it but my stomach is still in my throat. If I thought the airstrip where we took off was bad this one was horrendous. It was so wet from the rain that water flew up over the plane when we landed and you couldn't see anything.

Video of the landing.

And the plane takes off for the rest of our group - only room for 5 at a time.

To get to the hut we had to ford the Wilkin river. It was fast moving, very rocky, and up over my knees in places. Cold doesn't come close to describing it. My legs were red for hours after getting across. I have certainly left my comfort zone on this trip.

The mountain hut in Siberia valley. There are two platforms in each room that each hold five sleeping pads. There were two other couples who stayed in the hut as well but we got there first and all claimed our spots by throwing out our sleeping bags so they had to sleep up top. We had a lunch of avocado or salami wraps with red and yellow peppers and feta cheese. Delish! Some of the group decided to go for a hike in the rain. Kim decided to see if he could get the fire going. The wood was very green and the guide had worked for an hour to start it before finally giving up. It took Kim about another hour but he finally got it going and warmed up the hut. The rest of the crew was ever so grateful when they came in from their hike soaked and freezing. There is running water in a sink for cooking, washing up and brushing teeth but the outhouse is down the trail. I decided not to drink anything from the time we got there until the next day. Of course everyone else was up and down all night going down the hill. No sleep tonight.

One of the couples who weren't part of our group came in soaked from the rain and immediately shed their clothes running around in their long johns. Way too much information!!!

The guide made red Thai curry for our candlelight dinner (no electricity here) and passed out chocolate for dessert. Not too shabby for one of New Zealand's most isolated mountain huts.

There was a puzzle started on the table so some of our guys started working on it. One of the guys was determined to get it finished before he went to bed but it got dark about 7 and the only section left was dark blue and too hard to see by candlelight. He finally gave up and went to bed. It WAS 8 pm afterall. :)

View from the hut as the sun sets on another glorious day.