Huts...oh huts

Night two completed officially sleeping in huts on a New Zealand great walk. Conclusion so far - not a fan. Okay yes the rain and wind last night was so strong it was borderline scary, and therefore staying in a tent would be borderline insanity, however I just don't think we are hut people. Huts are great for shelter and warmth, but even as a tenter you can enjoy the hut shelter until bed time. What makes huts pretty intolerable? People. In one big room. With all different sleep schedules and varieties of courtesies...most people having none!

Proposed solutions...

a) Separate the giant 40-50 person room into multiple small rooms. This has already been done in some huts (ex. Welcome Flat) but not all it sees. And Welcome Flat is not even a Great Walk! At $54 per person per night, I think we deserve a few wall dividers.

b) Have sign ups for beds based off what time people are waking up and/or going to sleep.

c) Use different mattresses! These mattresses are obnoxious. Every move one makes...every single move is heard. There have got to be affordable mattresses that are a little more forgivable. (This solution was provided by my lovely travel buddy...the one who got the worst night sleep of her life.)

d) During the warden talk, explain hut courtesy rules! If you wake up before 9am - don't pack your bag in the bunk, don't stuff your sleeping bag, don't make multiple trips up and down the stairs (or in and out of the room). Grab your necessary shit, go downstairs, eat breakfast, drink your coffee. Then, at the very last moment possible, go back upstairs, grab everything in one fell swoop, and pack it all in the dining room or outside. Simple!!!

The thing is, people are freaking loud. I guess I have some sort of pet peeve or irk when I am laying in bed and I hear swishing of sleeping bags, zippers, and whispers...one after another. Over and over. For hours. Early in the morning. We're talking 6am or earlier here. My poor travel buddy has come down with a cold, and as I finally succumbed and slithered out of bed post an hour or so of listening to the clammer, I hear, "worst night sleep ever." Over breakfast yesterday, we both agreed that we had genuinely missed our tents during our first night sleeping in a hut.

Maybe we've just been spoiled on our lovely two person tent or lucking out in share rooms to ourselves. Maybe we are just small town girls used to a quiet environment. What I do know...

I genuinely miss the quiet mornings of backpacking trip, when you wake up to no other people around anywhere except for those in your small group, often times just the other person you shared a tent with. Or just yourself! Sipping coffee with no sounds but the birds chirping or babbling river. Instead, I hear two couples talking about analytics. Of all things! Big deep sigh...Their voices are deep and loud and excited, rather than calm and peaceful and gentle. Yes the tent is cold and I dread setting up a tent in the rain, or packing it up when soaking wet. But nothing beats a good night sleep in the tent. Nothing is quite as wonderful as that morning stretch that notifies your tent mate that you're awake and you both ask, "how'd you sleep?" Or you both just chuckle because neither of you want to wake up and your bodies ache beyond belief. Nothing comes close to that first moment of sunlight (even when it's cloudy outside) after you unzip the vestibule and fling the sopping wet flap over the roof. "Wow...it's even more beautiful than yesterday."