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Having managed to get up Aspiring and Aoraki, I though the rest of my time in New Zealand would be relatively relaxing - hut to hut walking - tramping as they call it there - along forest trails
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I was soon to learn better
I'd originally met Steve and Tam in Austria on a hut to hut tour of the Stubai. they were living in the UK and had flown out with just a rucksack each that they carried the whole time. i think Steve's weighed around 25kg and Tam's about 18. Each sack included glass jars of their favourite jams and at one point on a snowy plateau the first thing Tam took out was an enormous bunch of (climbing) wires
- They were prepared for anything
Perhaps this should have forewarned me of what was coming
Anyway we met again back in the UK, and they invited me to use their house in Auckland as a New Zealand base which was really nice - and arranged that we go for a tramp in the 1200km2 National Park around Arthur's Pass (739m) - a North South road through the mountains about 130km North East of Aoraki. They also had access to a Bach - a simple beach cottage very popular in NZ (and pronounced batch) - At the mouth of the Rangitata river South of Christchurch.
I picked them up there on Boxing day in my hire car, and we continued to a motel at the top of the pass where we stayed the night
Northern part of South IslandGeneral map of the routeThe original plan was a ten day tramp, starting at Klondike Corner - 8km South - circling roughly clockwise on the West side, before ,crossing back over the road and continuing round the East. In the event we shortened it by a couple of days
Day 1 Klondike corner to Carrington hutDay 1 mapNew Zealand huts are generally quite simple affairs - they have bunks with mattresses, running water and a composting toilet somewhere nearby , but everything else you bring yourself. So on the first morning we set about packing ten days of supplies into our sacks. Steve wasn't impressed with the volume of my Karrimor , and every time i thought it was full he would find another bit of space and stuff in another pack of pasta or whatever
Needless to say they carried far more than I did
Eventually it was done, and leaving the car at the motel we took a bus to Klondike corner and set off. The route follows the wide braided bed of the Waimakariri river crossing it several times.
The Waimakariri river bed from Klondike corner. In the distance the Shaler range ( Mt Murchison 2408m is the highest point in the parkBeside the riverThe water is crystal clear, the bottom gravel and the flow relatively smooth. We set off along the North bank but after a few hundred metres the bush became quite impenetratable and we had to cross.
Into the river for the first time - No - you don't take anything off - you'll be in and out all day - the sun dries you out and your boots drain overnight . I don't think it was much more than mid-thigh deep hereEventually the track settled on the South bank, passed Anti Crow hut and continued through bush to the Carrington hutThe Carrington hut library photoDay 2 Carrington hut to the Julia hutDay 2 mapFrom the hut the route climbs beside the White river and then crosses it to climb the Taipoiti river valley to the 1321m Harman pass - on the divide.
Early morning - White river stream bed above Carrington hut - we had no difficulty crossingTaipoiti river below the pass - we all thought it had a "Lake District" feel to it - a bit like White Ghyll in Great LangdaleHarman pass - a break in the clouds allowed a view up to the 1753m Whitehorn PassMary Creek descends the other side and becomes the Taipo river further down. the vegetation is much more luxuriant on this side of the divide. Southern Beech (Nothofagus) has given way to more mixed forest Hebes, heaths and mosses abound in this area where the branches of Mary Creek converge Hebe bush in full flowerSnowberry bush L Angelica montana - Maori Anise: - R Hebe Canterburiensis has curious flattened stemsThe silvery flowers of Leucogenes Grandiceps - New Zealand Edelweiss ( quite different from the Swiss plant) and Euphrasia Cuneata - Eyebright Looking back up Mary's Creek: we had to cross it several times: the Julia track comes out into the open at a rockslide before heading back into the bushThe track to the Julia hut continues for about 3km to a bridge just before the hutOurisia macrocarpa - New Zealand Mountain Foxglove L Wahleburgia albomarginata - New Zealand Bluebell : R This epiphytic fern Asplenum Flaccidum looks almost like plastic The Julia hut a cosy place for six people, and (below) the modern hut: both library photosA Weca outside the front door: - they are very tame - and partial to sandwiches as I discovered later Day 3 Julia hut to Seven mile hutDay 3 mapOn day 3 the route follows Mary Creek - now the Taipo river - past Mid Taipo hut to Seven mile hut ( now called the New Dillon hut)
First adventure of the day - a wire bridge over Tumbledown CreekThe track stays on the East side of the river until just before Mid Taipo hut where you cross on a suspension bridge
two views looking back up the Taipo a few km below the Julia hut: wading the river below here was a daunting proposition - fortunately there were bridges or cableways This bridge takes you over to the West bank where the track continues to Mid Taipo hutThe track heads through meadow and forest on the West bankThree giants of the forestLooking back upstream - skeleton tree trunks over the riverSteve wasn't sure whether the next crossing - Scotty's cableway would be in operation, so we attempted to wade at a point where the flow was not too fast.
A note about crossing rivers
The first thing is to be certain that all the possessions in your sack are in an absolutely watertight bag zipped or tied up - so that if the worst happens and you fall over your kit remains dry. i am told that if this happens, you should get the sack off ASAP and hold it in front of you like a lifebelt - fortunately I never needed to use this advice However when the water gets above the crutch, i'ts unpleasant, and above the waist when your sack starts to act as a buoyancy aid, downright scary. Poles are useful for judging the depth ahead, but you have to put them in angled way upstream so that they are roughly vertical when they find bottom. Also in a group you form a circle (triangle in our case) holding on to the next person's shoulder straps on each side and cross as a single unit . In this case we got nearly halfway over when Steve decided against it. However in the hut that evening three hunters appeared who had clearly managed it - a little local knowledge obviously helps
A bit further down we climbed up to "Scotty's bluff and found we could use the cableway.
As this modern photo shows it's now a "piece of cake" but at that time there was a sort of sledge that you sat in one by one, and levered yourself across using a pivoted bar. it was slow and very strenuous . There is a similar device in Glen Etive, but it's a fraction of the length and much closer to the water Safely back on the East bankCrossing One Mile CreekCattle grazing in the meadows outside Seven Mile hutTall trees outside the hutSeven mile Creek hut -now the New Dillon hut: We initially went to the "old" hut a couple of hundred metres on, but were re-directed by a rather surly man and his equally surly dog CONTINUED IN PART B https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=98637