Whenever I stay in a backcountry hut, I make sure I read the hut book to see who has gone
that way before me, and what inspired scribblings they may have left behind. Usually the
entries are commonplace, but once in a while I find a real beauty such as this one from the
Pyke River hut on the Hollyford Track:
“It rained and rained and rained—
The average fall was well maintained.
And when the tracks were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower;
And then the most curious thing of all:
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day also was fairly dry,
Save for a deluge from the sky,
Which wetted the party to the skin,
And after that the rain set in!”
