Three Aussies in NZ - Lewis Pass region.
I've just arrived back in Sydney after 4 glorious days walking in the Lewis Pass region of the South Island. We were very fortunate to have near perfect conditions and enjoyed one of the most scenic and enjoyable trips one could wish for.
We arrived at Lewis Pass at 10:00AM last Thursday 19th March having flown into Ch. Ch. late the night before. Having acquired all our gear in the 70's and 80's, long before the lightweight backpacking revolution, our backs groaned as we shouldered packs and headed off under overcast skies and scudding rain. The track is in excellent condition and spends most of its time well above the river before dropping down to the Cannibal Gorge Hut where we stopped for lunch and dried out our gear. I have to say that we have nothing in Australia to match the quality of your walking infrastructure. This hut came complete with plumbed water to an internal sink! A full third of the world's population don't have homes this good.
With no one in occupation to engage in conversation we were on our way soon after lunch and a brew of hot tea. In what seemed like no time at all Ada Pass Hut came into view. The hour since lunch had flown by. The river scenery was just enchanting with grassy flats and shingle banks interspersed with pockets of forest. Picture book stuff. Again the hut was empty but as it was early we decided to press on. It had been our original intention to leave the St James Walkway at this point and head up the Maruia River and over Three Tarns Pass but as the tops were shrouded in cloud and it was still raining we elected to do the trip in the reverse direction. As things would turn out this proved to be a very good decision.
Ada Pass proved to be, by a considerable margin, the easiest of the whole trip and before long we were trundling happily along grassy banks admiring the sombre bulk of the Faerie Queen rising steeply above Camera Gully. The livestock of StJames Station all seemed in excellent condition. The station horses were magnificent as they galloped across the open paddocks. Perhaps though they will all soon be removed as I understand the run has been resumed by the government?
By now the sun was making its first appearance for the day and the Christopher River fairly sparkled in the late afternoon glow as it wound its way across the plains before emptying into the Ada below the track. Even from a height of over a hundred metres the rocky bed was clearly visible beneath the gin coloured water. We have nothing like this in Aus. Alas.
Soon Christopher Hut came into view tucked into the bush edge on the fringe of a great sweeping riverine plain. Two parties both from Christchurch were already in residence but quickly made us feel very welcome even after it was established that we were Australians. To our amazement even though we are all on the wrong side of 50 we were by some margin the youngest there! As things would have it we were to see only one person younger than ourselves on the whole trip. Is that how it is in the NZ back country? We were also surprised by the number of wmen out walking, sorry tramping. One party consisted of just three women. This would be unheard of in Australia and I suspect most other parts of the world. They were all very friendly though and were enjoying their annual March trip away together. More strength to them. One of the ladies in the other party was at least 70 and received us warmly proclaiming that as she had several sons and many grandsons she knew all about "young" boys like us.Her only regret she confided was that she had taken up tramping too late in life. Better late than never I consoled her.
As we had a big day following we bid our new friends goodnight and took up sleeping quarters on the verandah outside. This was not because we were not made welcome but because they seemed set for a long session around the card table. Wilfred though would retreat to the hut before long when a possum invaded his personal space. The night was very dark with the moon not rising to well after midnight. As I looked up to the stars it was hard to conceive that barely 24 hours before I had been sitting in my Sydney office. How wonderful the day had been. Could it get any better than this?
TBC
K.
38 comments
Well written, K. I thank you very much for your information that are extremely useful. This route has been in my 2009-10 wish list. May change the plan a bit and take my time and hope I won't be alone. What a three wire bridge!
Part 4.
Again we were up and away in the pre dawn gloom. Our new friends bid us farewell and said they would be following but about an hour later. Before long we had to cross the river and then make our way through forest on the true left until bursting out onto upper flats just as the sun came up to bathe the scene in a golden glow. This is why we do it I thought as I just absorbed the magnificence of our remote surroundings. The flats continued for some distance before a hault was called as the valley appeared to narrow down to a gorge ahead. A high level traverse to the right seemed to offer good prospects but instead we continued up the river. Big mistake. Before long we were scrambling to avoid falls and pushing through thick scrub. Looks like the river would have the last laugh after all. Much disheveled we eventually were disgorged from the scrub back onto the banks of the river as it made its final turn into the upper reaches. As if to mock us I noticed a cairn which appeared to mark the exit of the high level scrub free route on the other side. What can you expect-we are Australians.
The upper valley narrowed and climbed steeply. I saw what appeared to be a pass high up on the right but it was well short of the valley head and so could not be ours. (It may have led over into the Glenroy?)Each of us took a different line. I made my way up the river itself which now was not much more than a creek. The others climbed higher to my right. At last the slope began to ease and the first tarn at the head came into view. If we were in the right place there should be two more of these and sure enough just over the rise there they were! The three tarns after which our pass was named. The pass itself whilst finally in view was still considerably higher and so on we climbed over large rocks. At last the ridgeline was attained and what a view. The grandest of the whole trip. There spread out before us was range upon range of peaks in magnificent aray. At their base, just a speck in size, we could just make out Ada Pass Hut and away off in the distance our destination, Lewis Pass. It was now 1:00PM and it looked ( and was ) still a long way off.
Personally I found the descent off the pass very steep and difficult. The gravel was packed hard and ice covered which made it very slippery. Then the boulder field was loose and hazardous. Mindful of my fall the previous day I took things very cautiously and soon my companions were well ahead. They seemed to skip effortlessly from one boulder to the next while I lurched and heaved like a drunken sailor. At last I attained the top basin where we paused for lunch atop a boulder the size of a house.
From there the upper grass fields spread before us but we were concerned about bluffs and so sidled right towards the creek to a point where we could see clear scree to the valley below. Once safely down it was into the scrub of the upper valley with all its hidden pitfalls including leg seizing holes. One pitched me forward and over but the manoeuvre only scored 3's and 4's from the judges.
To my surprise we entered the forest in the lower valley right at the point marked by cairns but our self congratulations were short lived as we soon lost the track again. More earnest scrub bashing and some cursing then ensued until at length we rejoined the St James Walkway at Billy Goat Gruff bridge. It was now 3:30PM. The crossing had taken us 8 hours and we still had about 13k to go.
But at least we now had a good track to follow and so in what seemed like no time at all we were at Cannibal Gorge Hut where we spoke to a couple from Sydney. Then the final march down the gorge to the car which was reached at 6:30 just as the last of the sun's rays illuminated the pass over which we had struggled 5 hours before.
In less than 15 hours I was back at the desk in my office in Sydney. The whole trip seemed to have passed in a blur. Had perchance I merely dreamed it all? Then I looked down and saw my battle scars and felt my sore ribs. No I hadn't been dreaming. If anything over the last 4 days I had never been more alive.
K.
Thanks for that, great trip, well written. I want to do that trip sometime, but I think I want to spend a little more time on it.
You were lucky with the weather, it is usually prudent to allow for one or two spare days on a trip of that nature.
Thank you. Yes on reflection we were very lucky with the weather and to get right around in the time we had available. But what magnificent country though. Gee I could live in Ch. Ch. without too many problems.
Hi K. I can empathise to those momentary lapses of relaxed concentration! Gets me nearly every time as Im about an hour or two from the end of the tramp. la de da Im happily meandering along and thwack! down I go with the weight of my pack speeding up gravity. Face planting is very quickly beginning a second hobby!). Still, it wouldnt be a lisa_puddles tramp if I didnt come away with a few hundy bruises. 9 times out of 10 I can usually pick myself up with a massive grin on my face and thankfully have laugh. Wonderful reading by the way!
Thank you Lisa. Yes I know exactly what you mean. It can be very undignified.
K.
Great tale ,like you every time we cross over we want to stay or live there. Each year we discuss if we want to go elseware but the Kiwis have everything including mattresses
Kate, yes it is very hard to improve on perfection.
K.
The three Aussies went OK but it doesn't look too good for this lone American
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10565013
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