Bill crossing a swingbridge on the first day. It takes a day or so to get into the rhythm of tramping, the first day you always feel a little awkward in your movements.

Inside Herepai hut

The water's heating for a cup of tea. Equipment is strewn over the flat wooden sleeping areas. If you're lucky, as here, there's old mattresses to sleep on.

This is me, with the range stretched out southwards. The peak in the far distance is Pukemoremore, and the hut we went to just beyond that. This was a rare day in the Tararuas — sunny, cloudless and not too much wind.

A small waterfall in a stream, a couple of hours down from Dundas hut.

Looking up to the Ruamahaunga gorge. Beyond, hidden in the mist is Bannister, one of the more treacherous peaks in the Tararuas. The softness of the mist belies the cold and the wind and wet.

Me, just after a lunch stop. It was kinda cold!

Bill, on the climb up to Cattle Ridge hut. It's one of the steeper climbs in the Tararuas.