For a New Zealand change...

the Rain Gods looked the other way. 

The second most popular Great Walk in New Zealand is the Routeburn Track. It's lies in a region notorious for White Death and lots of Wet Stuff. (There was a blizzard a week before I arrived) The average yearly precipitation at the Mackenzie Hut is the height of an NBA basketball net. (Ten feet). That's taller than a Shaquille O'Neil amount of water. It's safe to say, sunshine and comforting temperatures are as rare as a saguaro cactus in these parts. In other words, not so much.

So what did I and other Happy Campers receive? Three whole days without a drip or drop! Sure, it was colder than the proverbial Witch's breast, but it was a dry cold. Ice coated the mosses, ferns and shallow puddles. Toe numbing frost blanketed the grasses and alpine flowers. The slightest of breezes made my fingers go numb. But it wasn't raining, and I was smiling. 

Sure, I had too-close-encounters with strangers invading my personal space in the huts. So what if a few snored, sneezed and coughed their germy way through the night! I experienced no rain and sunshine! 

Thank you Rain Gods for taking a summer vacation. Would you possibly accept a bribe to do the same on the Milford Track? 

From cool and cloudy, but not raining! Te Anua, NZ.

Cheers!

Jeff