Lake Angelus, Nelson Lakes National Park

What a day! There is something about getting up high into alpine areas.

Generally speaking, the higher I get, the calmer and more grounded I feel. It feels natural and I find a rhythm of economy and balance. In short I feel at home.

Today gave me plenty of opportunity. We started off from Bushline Hut at 1200m, got up to somewhere around 2000m and ended up dropping down to 1600m to Angelus Hut (left of centre edge of the main lake). Our route was largely traversing along Robert Ridge and with odd small peak thrown in.

We made good time and had a late lunch at the hut. My only regret is after a rest I didn't head out and climb Mt Angelus, the peak on the left. No one else was keen and I lost a bit of nerve. Never mind, I don't intend growing old gracefully. I'll be back.

Angelus Hut is the only DOC hut on our route where we had to book in advance. It is one of the most popular huts because of the stunning location. It sleeps 20 +, is well insulated and has double glazing. In the scheme of DOC back country huts, it's a palace.

You're allowed to swim in the smaller lake but can't use soap, detergent, shampoo etc (to preserve the water quality). The wind was cool and water frigid. Some of my mates dived under. I got a hard time because I wandered in as far as my merino boxers wearing a jacket on top! It seemed a perfectly sensible solution to me.

Angelus Hut has a volunteer hut warden (works for free for DOC) an extremly fit 70 year old woman who used to live in Christchurch and belonged to my tramping club. What an inspiration!

The hut easily absorbed the 18 people booked in for the night, a mix of Kiwis, Australians, Czechs, French and an American. At 1600m the night was noticeably cooler. On the plus side, at that altitude where were no sand flies.

Just magic. What a wonderful country I live in.