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
The following route is more preferred:
Lewis Pass - Three Tarn Pass - West Matakitaki - East Matakitaki - David Saddle - D'Urville Valley - Speargrass - St Arnaud
http://www.nelsonlakesshuttles.co.nz/
Cheers
Just with the Nelson Lakes area end, note that the track alongside Lake Rotoroa is still covered in tree-fall from the storms in August 2008. Going from D'Urville to Speargrass and St Arnaud should be fine, but don't plan to walk out next to Lake Rotoroa as most maps imply you can. (Although you can order a water taxi out that way for a price.) Apparently people are still trying to get down it despite big fat warning signs at either end.
The water taxi guy told us a few weeks ago that although the track only used to take about 5 hours, at least one group took 3 days to get through it. Others have ditched their packs in frustration half way along to get out faster, and then arranged for the water taxi to go back and collect them.
The last news link ? http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/national/2328588/Tramper-left-no-record
One hopes that he has left the area and is now travelling somewhere else, but that doesn't seem likely. Just shows how important it is to do the basics and leave some intentions.
It must be dreadfully sad for his parents. Lets hope that someone stumbles onto him sometime next summer and there can be some closure.
Surely he'd have heard the news, or someone he'd bumped into would have recognised the name if he was still wandering round NZ ... and knowingly missing a flight. Seems very unlikely doesn't it.
Not sure if there's any point in speculation on routes he might have taken at this stage, but I'm going to anyway:
Most discussion has been of 3-tarns pass, and that would have been my 1st call. But would he have taken 3 tarns pass at all? If reports are right (and after my own experience, I treat them with suspiscion) and he had only 3 days food left, he would presumably have been angling for Springs Junction to restock? Would he have taken the easiest route to a road (3-tarns) and hitched, or would he walk direct? Depends on the personality and whether he considered hitching for food as 'cheating', I suppose.
For example, I looked at Bob's Hut - Upper Glenroy Hut - Manson Nichols Hut - Springs Jn as a route when I came through here and was considering a restock at Springs. Looks entirely doable on the map, and a hut every night as a bonus. Clear ridgeline and wooded valley floor travel - almost all off track. In the end, I decided to double my load, skip Springs and head straight for Otira, as getting out of the south side of the town involves a lot of road travel. But an ultra-lite would presumably favour shorter legs between shops, and a reduced load in food.
Escape routes
What would Ed have done if he had a small fall, a sprain or a simple break, for example? Knowing there's no route details been left, realising no-one will miss him for 5 weeks until his flight, and knowing he's in a scarcely visited area? Would he 1) sit still, 2) make for a hut, 3) or try to get himself out by the easiest route? If the answer is 3: that brings the downstream Matukituki and Glenroy into the search area ...
Having been involved with search management myself, the possibility of someone being outside the search area is always in the back of your mind. I guess the Police, being suspicious people, will always be thinking that someone may have something to hide and have reason to "disappear".
Also one of the theories of search is that you divide your search area into zones and, by experience, guess what the probablility is that someone is in each of those zones. Then as you use different search techniques you reduce the probability that the subject is in each one of those zones. For example, covering an zone by helicopter may have a 20% chance of finding someone. If there was a 50% chance that someone was in a particular zone then the probability of them being in that zone goes down to 40% after a helicopter search and all the other zones increase accordingly.
Eventually, after extensive searching, the probability of the subject being in a the search area reduces and the probablility of him being in the biggest zone of all, called ROW (Rest of World) increases.
That is the theory anyway.
On a SAR exercise once I was asked to be the subject. I was to lie on the ground inert and not try to draw the attention of the search team. As the team came past me they stopped and had a meeting to discuss what to do next. I was within 2m of them as they had their little meeting. I could have reached out and touched their feet.
That sort of thing happens often in search.
As for Ed. he will probably eventually be found in a place that has been searched many times before. That is what often happens. Most search techniques have a much lower probablility of finding someone than you would think. Combine that with a search area that is vast and probablility of detection is actually quite low. There is also quite a high probablility that he might have come to grief in a river and rivers are pretty good at concealing their victims.
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| Forum | The campfire |
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| Started by | kanangra |
| On | 24 March 2009 |
| Replies | 37 |
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