Day 34 Roy’s Peak

Get up at just after 3am and start walking at 4am. I won't make it to the summit of Roys Peak before sunrise at 5:55am. But that's okay. I have plenty of gear with me, 3 liters of water, my camera, tripod, and more. I've walked an unknown trail with a headlamp in the dark plenty of times this summer in the mountains. The atmosphere is amazing. It's very cheerful with bird songs and the animals standing in the pastures.

End up taking almost an hour and a half. The path goes steeply uphill. There are already a few cars parked and halfway up I see some headlamps. Just before 6am I am rewarded for the first time. The sunrise is truly unique. The climb over 1300 vertical meters is not particularly demanding and takes almost two hours in total, the official estimate is 3 to 4 hours. But at the top at nearly 1600 meters, there is a freezing cold wind. Here, I am grateful for the merino shirt and sweater that I am wearing today. Keeps me warm. Take some photos with the camera controlled by my phone and then start descending again. A little further down is a photo spot where all the bloggers take their pictures, but the spot where I was is even more spectacular. So I let the first groups of early risers compete for the best photo spot. I'm already on my way down. Waking up early was absolutely worth it. After a short time, I come across the first people in sandals, flip-flops, etc., panting wildly. And you can calculate that they will only make it halfway. I still have fun telling them that it's only 5 more hours from here. The expressions on their faces until I say "I'm just joking" are priceless. But everyone laughs along. Once I reach the bottom, I hitch a ride with two Englishmen. The summer sun is beating down so strongly by just after 10am that I don't want to get sunburned on the way back.

There's a hot shower and spaghetti as a second breakfast at the campground. The clock shows that I burned over 4000 calories 😂.

After a short nap, I drive straight to Christchurch. It's almost 5 hours of straight driving. In Ashburton, I pull into a huge campground by a lake. I'm exhausted but still enjoying the evening sun, finally have wifi again, and update the travel blog.