Day 51: Mangatepopo to National Park

It was beautiful, chilly morning that greeted us this morning... Definitely something else to walk amongst these mountains!

It was a short walk into Whakapapa village where we hit the Visitor center for an update in the Whanganui River and tracks, a bite to eat at a cafe, and I dropped by the Whakapapa Holiday Park to have a chat to Garth who has been following my blog and has some excellent local knowledge- he's been keenly following TA trampers since Geoff, so he was a good guy to talk to, and has some basic supplies available too. Lots of trees for hammockers, but we planned to press on to National Park. Not before I got a pic of the Chateau for my Grandma though, as we have a family connection with this hotel!

The forest and alpine bog was spectacular all the way down to Mahuia campsite, and we had fun despite the soggy/underwater track.

Seemingly in no time we were at SH47, so after a quick meal we did the small road walk to National Park to find a backpackers. Tomorrow we will try to sort out the next leg- still hopeful of minimal delay before canoeing down the Whanganui... If that doesn't pan out, looks like a long road walk!