Camp bay to portage

Off early to tackle the section that I grimly remember walking in 2014 when Cyclone Lusi arrived. It rained all that day and it was an eight hour slog fest. 

This time, only a passing shower and so warm my wool zippered top came off for the first time. 

Kenepuru Sound looks very agricultural, I suppose children study by correspondence.  

The track crosses private land (and hikers pay $18 to be there) and there's a sense of fun. 

I just want to know why Bluff isn't signposted, but perhaps that was at the bottom and someone souvenired it. 

The track was pretty fast going, 

probably because there are few viewpoints for distraction. Here, I was looking into Bay Of Many Coves, on the north side of the ridge. 

More beech forest made for prettier going and I noticed Bubble Gum lichen fruiting on the rocky walls. 

At my lunch stop a well-mannered local joined me for a chat, 

while I made cheese crackers to share. 

By now I could see the peninsula that juts out west of Portage (it looks like an island) so it was an uneventful pleasant hike to the road at Torea Saddle. 

From there, downhill for 15 minutes to find my backpacker's and, yes, enjoy a beer at Portage Hotel.