Thursday 4 January 2018

Hi Everyone

I am in the process of transferring to another site and this site will close down in the future.

Please go to my new website at www.RestlessKiwiAdventures.com.

My new planning project is to thru hike Norge Pa Langs which is 2,700 km hike the length of Norway. This will be around June or July 2018. All details will be on my new site.

Thanks for all of your support.

Monday 8 February 2016

18 Jan 16, Climbing Mt Stanley, Ruenzori Mountains, Uganda - Day 8 Muhinda Camp to Trekers Lodge

Day 8 Muhinda Camp to Trekers Lodge,  5 1/2 hours

Today we were in high spirits as it was the last day. We had a sleep in and left at 0930. Matt left us early to run with the Porters down the hill and we expected him to arrive and the Hostel several hours ahead of us as the porters were going really fast. Anne Marie also stayed with a porter and slowly dropped behind.

We descended down the ladders to the streambed, across boardwalks and bogs, through the twisted trees, down more ladders, through more bog, across the stream and alongside a hill with the final few climbs of the day. 
Down the ladders
Down the cliffs
Down stream beds
Through trees
Through mud
Down streams

Finally to the stream where we first put our gumboots on.
We reached Kalalama Camp and had a short break. Here I changed back into my boots and gave my gumboots to Ochura, thankful not to ever see them again. Now we were on largely dry tracks heading down hill and we were able to go really fast. I was feeling good and able to keep up with our fast pace with no issues. 
The end is in sight
Porters on the way down
The luxury of a nice track again
Through the bamboo
Ant trail

Nearly at Sine Hut
We stopped in Sine Hut for lunch and continued down the steep hill to the bridge. From here the path was not as steep and we stayed winding our way through the jungle alongside rivers. We passed one group heading up the hill without slowing down to chat.





Finally we reached the Park Headquarters to quickly check out. Good intent but this is Africa where nothing is as easy as it should be. I was first through and the lady said I owed her one more days Park Fees. I said that no we were 7 nights as per the book. She then claimed that it was counted by 24 hour and as we entered in the morning and left in the afternoon it was an extra day. My reply was see the Guide Company as I was all inclusive and they were responsible for my park fees. Next was the South Africans and she insisted that they had to pay the extra day. They pointed out that I did not so why should they. Then she said she would be nice and not make them pay another day but the lady who took their money did the exchange rate wrong and they had to pay more money. They pointed out they had no money and could not pay. This went on for some time. I asked Ochura to sort it out but he wasn’t very helpful. At one stage we got to a chicken and egg with her saying give the money to the trekking company and them saying they need a receipt for the money and her saying no money no receipt. Eventually they were allowed to leave with a promise they would pay at the hostel if someone turned up with the receipt book. I am not sure what happened with this in the end.

It was a shame to finish the trek with this sort of nonsense, whether it was an attempt to earn some money on the side for her or just bureaucratic ineptitude. However it didn’t take long for us to forget this. We now left the jungle and climbed onto a ridge before descending down to the village to make our way to the trekkers hostel.  We were all on a bit of a high realising we had achieved what we wanted, though it was harder and more beautiful than any of us had expected.

Typical house in this area
The others disappeared to their rooms and after a pause for Rwendori Trekking Services to write my certificate I was whisked away to my hotel. The others were all staying at the hostel but as part of my all inclusive experience, and due to my early flight, I was staying at a hotel closer to town. While it would have been nice to have a few drinks with everyone I had no regrets about being in the hotel. It was Hotel Margheria which was 4 star. I had a large clean room. Unfortunately the water was only luke warm but I made the most of the hard spray to clean off 8 days of sweat and grime. The day after the summit I had though I had scratched my nose as there was often fluid or flaky bits on in. When I looked in the mirror I realised that I had been so badly sunburnt on the glacier that my nose and chin were blisted. Obviously the sunscreen I had picked up in the Entebbe supermarket did not work, or I needed to apply it more frequently. I did a quick wash of my filthy wet weather pants and boots before putting on sandals and heading to the restaurant for a coke, plate of hot chips with vinegar and coffee. It was wonderful. Then I relaxed in my room, enjoying being able to sit in a comfortable chair. Then dinner and desert and I crashed, sprawled across my king size bed.

The next morning I had a large breakfast and left at 0700 for the Kasese Airport. After waiting in a terminal that looked like a VIP lounge with comfortable leather armchairs and couches, but smelt of a urinal, my plane arrived. It was a 1 hour flight to Entebbe where I had to wait a couple of hours before checking in to the United Nations flight to Goma.

The next day and a half I had to take sick leave as I was exhausted and it has taken a couple of weeks to get my energy back.

Overall this trek and climb far exceeded my expectations in every way. It was absolutely stunning with a huge variety of landscapes and vegetation. It seemed like around every corner was a surprise of yet another beautiful scene. I had known from reading articles and blogs that it would be muddy and tough but I was not prepared for just how muddy and how physically demanding it would be. I do not remember the last time I have been so physically exhausted that I was vomiting. I was also surprised by how technical the climbing on the glaciers were. It is definitely achievable by people confident on heights but would be terrifying for many people.


I would defiantly recommend this trek/climb as it was outstanding, with the proviso to make sure you have good fitness beforehand and are used to walking 6-7 hour days.

The company I used was Rwenzori Trekking Services (http://www.rwenzoritrekking.com)

17 Jan 16, Climbing Mt Stanley, Ruenzori Mountains, Uganda - Day 7 Hunwick Camp to Muhinda Camp

Day 7 Hunwick Camp (3975) to Mutinda Camp (3685), 11.1 km - 8 exhausting hours

We were woken by one of the guides telling us off for not waking ourselves. It seems everyone was pretty tired. We were meant to be leaving at 0730 but by the time we got up, waited for breakfast (funny despite being told off for not being up the breakfast was not ready) and packed up it was 0930 and we had a long day ahead of us. I had my appetite back and had a big breakfast trying to make up for missing dinner and emptying my stomach yesterday, involuntarily.

Today we were going to walk in one day what had taken us two days to get up. This meant a day of 7-9 hours after our epic 17 hour day yesterday. We started together down the hill and across the bog. It started raining not long after starting out. I felt tired but not too bad. When we hit the hill Anne Marie struggled again so we took it easy which in some ways was good for my body but I was concerned that I had a limited amount of energy and going slowly would mean I was on my feet for a longer period and would run out of energy before we reached the destination. 

Lots of snow during the night. This is the path to the toilet
Dropping down to the bog
And climbing back up again. In the far distance is DR Congo
At one point when we were waiting we saw a Rwenzori Turako which was beautiful colours. There were many beautiful sights to distract from my tiredness like the lakes, water droplets on the vegetation and the hills around us. We made okay time to the base of the main challenge of the day, 400 vertical meters up to Bamwanjara Pass.

Kachope Lakes; lower and middle

Rwenzori Turako Bird
Upper Kachope Lake. Bamwanjara Pass is visible to the left of the centre peak on the skyline.
Water droplets on Lobelia
Rock hopping again.
Water on the spiderwebs
Like usual we only had Ochura with Enrok staying behind. I told Ochura that we needed to separate as Anne Marie would be at least an hour slower than us climbing up and we were at risk of not making our destination if we stayed together. I felt mean saying this but the South Africans were in agreement and if we did not make our destination tonight it would be an incredibly tough day the next day to try and reach the Hostel. There was very little room for delay as my flight was early the day after. I was still concerned about how long I could stay on my feet today and wanted to go faster. As Enrok had not caught up to us I suggested that he stay with Anne Marie until someone else caught up and the rest of us continued up together. When Enrok caught up Ochura could catch up to us and we continue together. Ochura was not sure about this and we basically said tough, we were doing this when to Ochura’s relief a porter arrived who could walk with Anne Marie.

We then started the climb. I actually felt okay and was able to climb steadily without needing breaks. We were all climbing at our own speed and would wait periodically for everyone to catch up. Err was struggling and asked us to go ahead so we pushed on to the Pass. As we reached the pass we started to see patches of snow and then lots of snow which was very pretty. It was misty so there were not great views of the distant scenery but I was fascinated with the snow in the strange vegetation of Centosa Trees. 

Climbing up waterfalls
Snow!

Small waterfall
Porters in t shirts, they are tough - probably going too fast to notice the cold.

No snow last time we came this way


At the pass we waited and Matt brought out the Biltong (sort of like beef jerkey) that he had carried the whole way. It was delicious and a good way to fill in the time waiting for Err. Eventually we cooled down and took shelter behind a rock and then Err arrived, looking fresher than he claimed he felt. Now we knew it was largely downhill all the way. We made good time to Bugata Camp where we had lunch of sandwiches and juice.

Much more water around as the snow starts to melt.
First easy walking in days, pity it wasn't very long.
Last descent through the rocks before getting to Bugata Camp. Last photo of the day as I was too tired after lunch

After a short break we left. Just as we left a group was approaching the hut and I got a few comments about my umbrella. I had now run out of energy and strangely stopping and eating lunch had not revived me. I was now really tired and struggling. Err was behind us walking with a porter so there was just the 4 of us. When I realised how tired I was I asked Matt to carry my boots and he agreed which made a good difference. 

There are no photos from this point forward as I was too tired. I just concentrated on following the person in front of me with sheer stubboness keeping me walking forwards. Every little uphill was a struggle but on the flats I was able to zone out and keep moving forwards. It was a relief to get onto the boardwalk section and know there wasn’t much further but I had forgotten how long the bog was in the valley. It seemed to go on and on much further than I thought possible. Though it was exhausting to climb I was almost happy (no energy to feel any full emotion) to reach the final hill as I knew I could stop soon. With many rests I pushed up the final climb up to the rock camp, Mutinda Camp.

When I arrived I sat at the table for at least 15 minutes not moving, just staring into space. I was at the limit of my endurance. Finally I had the energy to set out my sleeping bag and the hot water arrived and I tried to have a tea and immediately felt nauseous and once again the plants benefited from my lunch. I started to feel a little better and when the porters got the fire going I was happy to sit in the warmth. Err arrived nearly an hour after us and another 40 minutes later Anne Marie arrived. We were all really surprised as we thought she would stop at Bugata Camp. I was very impressed that she had made it.

I turned down dinner as the thought of food made me nauseous and went to bed at 2000. Thankfully I slept solidly all night.

16 Jan 16, Climbing Mt Stanley, Ruenzori Mountains, Uganda - Day 6 Margerita Camp to Mt Margerita Summit (5109m) to Hunwick Camp, 17 Hours

16 Jan 16 Day 6 - Margerita Camp (4485) to Hunwick Camp (3974), 10.4 km, 17 hours

We were woken by one of our guides at 0200 and groggily got dressed. Breakfast was porridge, and eggs on toast and knowing we had a long day ahead I stuffed myself, despite not really being hungry. Everyone was concerned about the cold. I poked my head out of the door and it didn’t seem cold so I went with my normal Merino hiking top, a 260 weight Merino top and my Rain Jacket. For my legs it was some lightweight Merino thermal pants and my lightweight wet weather trousers. I wore my normal merino hiking socks with my hiking boots, 2 layers of gloves and my windproof thin hat. I attached my torch to my helmet, attached my ice axe to my pack using a modified holder and crampons wrapped in cardboard into a side pocket. Then harness and helmet on, walking sticks in hand and I was ready to go. 

We gathered outside the hut and were away - almost. Just before we were leaving I remembered I hadn’t taken anything for altitude headache prevention, despite having no headache I remembered from Kilimanjaro that I was likely to suffer slightly higher up and it was better to take something now while I was warm and not tired. I took one Panadol and one ibuprofen and either this worked or I had no altitude issues as I didn’t experience even the slightest headache all day.

I quickly caught up to everyone and we made our way up the rocks by torchlight. It was very slow going as Anne Marie was struggling, especially where we had to take large steps up, which was most of the walk. We climbed steeply up the rocks for nearly an hour when we reached the base camp for the other guiding company operating on the mountain. Shortly after this was the first of the rope sections. Our guides attached Jumars (metal attachments that can go smoothly up ropes but not down) to the ropes and clients to the Jumars and people made their way up. While it was not vertical, for people who had not done rock climbing, at night, by torchlight, it was a good challenge. As the guides were aware of my experience they didn’t clip me into a Jumar. I did suggest giving me a prussic as I did not know what it was going to be like but instead they just clipped me into the rope with a carabiner which was not the safest practice. However it was an easy scramble up. We went up one steep section, then switched to ropes to move sideways before climbing another steep section. Then it was off ropes and the slope eased slightly though was still a good climb. Despite the frequent stopping I was at a good temperature and was glad I had decided not to go with a down jacket under my raincoat. Many of the others had to stop to readjust their clothes as they were getting too hot. I guess it is experience to be happy to start slightly cold knowing you will warm up quickly rather than having to stop after 10 minutes to remove layers.

Heading up the mountain by torchlight
The pace continued to be frustratingly slow with lots of stops. Yesterday we had suggested to the guides that Anne Marie start earlier than us and we catch up to her just before the first glacier so we would not be stopping so much. I had been concerned about the cold with stopping all the time. The guides would not consider it and insisted we stay together hence having to leave an hour earlier than they normally would and going so slow. I felt sorry for her to be suffering so much and relieved it was not me. To her credit she was determined and continued to push herself onwards despite being so tired. Looking back down I could see the lights of the other company starting their climb.

Eventually the guides split the group just short of the glacier so we could be getting ready when she caught up to us. We continued on at a faster speed and 10 minutes later were at the first glacier, Stanley Glacier. We attached crampons, prepared ice axes and the guides prepared the ropes. As this was the first time for the others in crampons I gave some advice on how to walk with them and how to carry and use the Ice Axe and switch which hand it was in so it stayed on the uphill side and how to use it to self arrest. I had expected last night when we were given the gear to be given a lesson but this did not happen. It also appeared that nothing was going to be said now either hence me giving advice. Enok heard me and then decided to tell the others who were slightly around the corner how to walk with legs wider apart from usual but nothing else. Definitely an area that can be improved by the company.

We had been briefed that we were going to rope up in two ropes of 4; 1 guide and 3 clients, so I was surprised when they put all of us on one rope, once again not great practice. They did take my experience into account and put me in the middle to help them out if something happened.

We clambered up the high step from the rocks to the glacier and climbed steeply up the glacier for 10 meters then it flattened out. This was pretty scary for those who had never done this before, straight onto a steep slope on ice. Thankfully everyone did well and made it up the steep bit okay. We then walked on a gentle slope and I called ahead to the person in front and behind to help them get the rope tension right and keep their feet further apart so they didn’t trip on their crampons. When there are glaciers you do not want the rope too loose as if someone falls it gives more time for them to build up speed as they fall which makes it harder to stop.

Thankfully the crossing was uneventful and no big crevices encountered. We descended steeply and dropped back onto the rocks. Now the ritual was reversed as we unclipped from the rope, crampons off and ice axe attached back to the packs. As I knew this would take a while I made the most of the opportunity to go around the corner to go to the toilet and was disappointed at the human waste and used toilet paper all over the place.  Better education about packing out waste would be good to prevent this sort of thing, or build a toilet in what is an obvious stopping place.

While waiting I had a snack of my Scroggin (nuts and dried fruit) and water to try and keep my energy up. We then headed around a small hill and then dropped steeply with ropes fixed to lower ourselves down. The guides had decided to keep us split in two groups so we were now moving at a good speed. Once down the steep bits we then started climbing again up a dry stream bed to the base of Margherita Glacier. We arrived at 0700, 4 hours after starting. Here we put all of our climbing gear back on ready to start on the glacier.

Putting on Crampons to tackle Margherita Glacier.
When we were about to leave Anne Marie and Enok caught up and she told us she was turning back as she did not want to hold us up any more and was feeling really tired. After some discussion it was decided that Enok would escort her back to camp and we would continue on. I was pleased with her decision from a selfish perspective as it would have taken a long time to get to the top with her but I really empathised with her. It is actually very brave to make the decision to turn back when you have committed so much to get to this point. Having been in her situation many years ago when trying to climb a peak in Nepal I knew exactly what she was feeling. There is no way to really understand the effects of altitude without experiencing it. Your body reacts in different ways but the most common effects are headache, nausea and the hardest is the absolute fatigue. When I was climbing the mountain in Nepal I would take a step, pause for a minute and take another step. The pause between steps got longer and when I was up to 5 minutes resting in between taking steps I made the decision to turn back. The other frustrating thing about altitude is it is random who is affected. In Nepal I was the fittest and youngest in the group but worst affected.

We were now 1 guide, 5 clients and another guide who had no experience on snow so was effectively now another client. Once again I was in the middle of the rope to help out if someone slipped. There was a large gap between the glacier and the rocks so it was a difficult step onto the ice and then a steep sidle up to a flatter bit. This lasted 20 meters and then we were at the steep bit. The guide went up first and then belayed us up, without placing any protection (ice screw to attach a rope to)! It was more a comfort to the others rather than any real protection. If one person slipped there is no way he could hold a rope of 5 people with no protection placed. We made our way up slowly and the South Africans did an excellent job adjusting to walking in crampons up such a steep slope. I actually found the guide annoying as he was trying to pull people up the slope. Once I was approaching him he almost pulled me off balance by trying to pull me up the rest of the way. We continued to climb up the glacier by repeating this with the guide going up then pulling us up once he was in a stable position. Unfortunately the stopping at the top while he then pulled the rest up and moved to a new location was pretty cold and a freezing wind got worse as we left the shelter of the cliffs. On the way up we had to step over many small crevices but none were more than 20 cm across, though looking into them they were deep.

Introduction to Glaciers

Disappearing up into the mist

Freezing cold at the belay points

Getting used to the steep slopes

Nearly vertical climbing

Williams the guide going ahead to find a belay point

Slope starting to ease off as we get near the glacier.


Looking down - way way down!

Nearly at the plateau - loving it.

After nearly two hours of this we reached the plateau where the slope eased off and there was more snow than ice underfoot. We did not need belaying so we just walked together with the guide leaving marks in the snow to tell us where to be careful crossing a crevice or to go around. We could now see 
the rocks where the final scramble to the summit is but the mist was still hiding the summit.

The weather started clearing and we were now walking on crisp white snow under a deep blue sky with views back down the mountain to a lake. While the slope had eased it was still climbing and we made our way up with frequent stops to rest and take photos. 

On the plateau. The peak is on the right
Getting excited, end is nearly in sight.
Avoiding the large, deep, cravasse


Clearing weather, the top is just out of sight

Williams, Gerald and Nichola

Taking a breather

Nearly to the Ice Falls
After 45 minutes we reached the base of the ice falls which were spectacular, sparkling in the sun with deadly looking icicles poised above us. We walked under the ice falls and back onto rock. Now it was crampons off and a final rope climb up steep rock and then a climb up through loose rock to reach the summit at 5109 meters. I was still feeling strong and had not suffered any effects of altitude on this climb, for which I was very relieved. We reached the summit at 1000 so it had taken us 7 hours to walk the 3.6 km and climb 624 meters.


Ice Falls


Icefalls
Final rope climb
SUCCESS!
The rest of the team
With Williams and Ochura
After many photos by the summit sign I walked behind the sign to stand with my feet in both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I joked that I should just head down the mountain into DR Congo for a quick return back to my temporary home in Goma. In hindsight this may have been easier than the walk back to the Hostel.
We sat drinking the fruit juice the guides had carried up feeling pretty happy with ourselves. While I had been excited when I reached the summit of Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro I felt more satisfaction on this peak. Given how hard it was to get here I felt I had truly earned the privilege to be sitting on top of a mountain looking down at the world. It was also pretty strange looking down at the glaciers we had crossed remembering how close I was to the equator, an area associated more with extreme heat than glaciers and snow. Unfortunately the Glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains were melting at a rapid rate and it will not be many years before they are completely gone.

Stanley Glacier top left, Margherita Glacier centre.

Panorama of Margherita Glacier. 
Reluctantly we left our position at the top of the world (really just third highest in Africa but still pretty impressive) and started the long descent. Back down the ropes, crampons back on, under the ice falls and down the glacier with the mist starting to come back. 








When we reached the end of the glacier we saw the other company’s group. They were going really slowly but in good spirits, especially when we said how close they were. We waited until they were through and then the guide put in some ice screws to belay us down the hill properly. His placement was lovely with two screws and a sling for the belay and another screw for the Belayer to attach securely. We walked down the hill all attached with William the guide lowering us down. It was very awkward being restricted in the speed we could descend and balance was also hard as we would be stopped in the middle of a step. Everyone made it safely and gained a secure position before William descended himself. He set up another lovely belay point but then I watched and saw that he wasn’t actually using it as he started lowering people down. He did not clip himself in to protection and was not using any form of friction device on the carabiner he attached the rope to, replying on his hand strength. Also as people passed him he had to reattach the rope past their connection and instead of reattaching and then releasing the original attachment he took the rope completely off the belay system leaving people below completely unsecured. I was appalled at this technique. The company I was using had a good reputation for the standard of their guides training. I know William had recently transferred from the other company who had received bad reviews for their guides techniques, obviously he had not received the upgraded training as his safety practices were dangerous. If one person fell he may be able to hold them but he had all of us on one rope so the chances were if one person fell he would take others with him and with no friction device there is no way to hold 6 people on one rope, especially when I was the only one who knew how to self arrest. I would have preferred to be off the rope but decided to stay on and watch for any fall and self arrest to help hold them.
I could see the person in front of me was not steady and twice they fell but I saw it happening and was braced to hold them as the fell. I continued to find it difficult to walk when being so restricted by the rope being so tight and this made one crevice crossing really difficult. It required a step down and over the crevice. I was about to step down when the person in front sped up and nearly tipped me over. I braced and tugged on the rope to get them to look back and asked them to stop and asked the person behind to stop so I could do the crossing without being tugged. I then made sure that the people behind me were also given some freedom to get over the crevice without pressure.

Williams showing Ochura how to put in Ice Screw belay point.
Going down was harder than going up
Nichola about to cross one of the little crevaces
Glacier
Nearly at the bottom.
Glacier end
Removing crampons again.
We reached the bottom of the crevice nearly 2 hours after leaving the summit. Now we were back into the routine of crampons off and after a quick break we headed back down the hill. Now it was daylight we could see the ladder which used to be the route to the glacier last year that was now over 20 meters higher up the hill. I was horrified at the speed the glacier was shrinking.

Once down to the access point it was back up the rocks with the rope to help us and around the hill to the next Glacier. 
Heading down from the glacier
Looking back up to the peak (right of the top of the glacier
Coming down from the mountain but still climbing.
I must have been getting tired by now as I looked ahead and saw what looked like a grass field with tyre tracks on it and fresh snow. This was actually the glacier that had a yellowish green folour in the top few centimeters of the ice. For the final time we put our crampons back on and climbed up and over the glacier. This glacier had black stuff on it that looked like fungus. Waiting at the bottom were some of our porters so we were able to give them our crampons and ice axes and descend with lighter packs. It was also a relief to take the harness off for the first time since leaving the hut.

Green/Yellow colour of glacier looking like dry grass with light snow overtop at Stanley Glacier
Climbing onto Stanley Glacier


Looking back at the mountain we just climbed.
I was surprised how steep the track descended down the rocks, now I could see where we were going. The roped section was steep but we were happy to just hold on, rather than connecting to Jumars. We quickly reached Margherita Camp and were happy to be back.

Rock hopping


Heading down through the rocks.

Looking down on our camp
Anne Marie was waiting for us and was really encouraging at us having reached the summit. It is a testament to her personality and caring nature that there was no resentment evident as we arrived, beaming from our achievement. There were also some guys who were going to be doing the climb the next day who I spoke to for a while.


After changing out of our thermal clothes Err, Gerald and Anne Marie decided to leave, to the consternation of the guides who were expecting us to stay there a bit longer. They sent one guide with them but Matt, Nichola and myself decided to wait to have lunch before heading down. Lunch was a toasted sandwich and I could only finish half. After saying goodbye to William who was staying to guide the next group up the mountain we started down at a fast pace, catching the others not far down after the saddle. 
Back in view of the lake. Last photo taken before exhaustion set in beside the lake.
We then slowed the pace and walked together though Err was starting to struggle up the hills so we would walk ahead and then catch him up. We had one hill to climb up and then knew it was downhill all the way until just short of the camp.

We kept a good pace and I was feeling good until just after we got to the lake and then I ran out of juice. I had been walking for 16 1/2 hours and just hit the wall, feeling good one minute and then exhausted the next. I slowed down and the little uphills suddenly became really hard. Err had already dropped back and insisted we continue on and I slowly started to drop behind as well. Nichola stopped to wait for Err so I passed her continuing on slowly. I was starting to feel nauseous and eventually had to give some nutrients to the bushes beside the track, which relieved the nausea slightly. Just as I was charmingly donating my lunch to the bushes Err and Nichola caught up and we walked together for a while. Thankfully we were close to camp and only had to cross a bog before getting to the final climb of the day which normally would not have been a problem but now was harder than climbing the mountain. I was stopping to rest frequently but stubbonly plugged my way up the steep hill, donating the last of my lunch, snacks and breakfast to the bushes at regular intervals. Finally I spotted the toilet and after a quick detour there made the final push to the hut. I arrived at 1700 which was 17 hours after starting out this morning. When I arrived I just sat there for several minutes absolutely wiped out. Eventually I gathered enough energy to set out my sleeping bag and tried to have a cup of tea but my stomach did not want to accept this so after a quick Wet Wipe wash I crawled into my sleeping bag and was asleep very quickly. Not long after the others went to bed I had a sudden attack of nausea and desperately fought to get out of my sleeping bag and out the door, hoping I didn’t see anyone as I was in my underwear and gumboots, not a sight you want to see. I then thankfully slept through the night.