Coast to coast - Kaikoura to Karamea
Original post
Advice on crossings of seaward Kaikoura Range crossings wanted!
I'm planning a coast-to-coast trip as a fallback to my Fiordland plans for late february if Huey does not cooperate.
Two possibilities discussed here earlier are:
Otago (e.g. Moeraki to Moeraki) e.g. http://routeguides.co.nz/trips/119?zoom=8
Canterbury (Rangiora-Hokitika) e.g. http://routeguides.co.nz/trips/195?zoom=8.
The latter has me drooling, but that's probably still very dependent on west coast weather for the alpine section. So I'm looking further north for routes less affected by west coast weather.
At a zoomed out map, Kaikoura to Karamea looks excellent - almost uninterrupted DOC land from coast to coast. However two questions arise:
1) Crossing the seaward Kaikouras.
Blind Saddle is the obvious, boring option. But is there a good crossing nearer to Kaikoura itself? Somewhere in the vague region of Kowhai and Limestone huts, though not limited to those? I've never been in the Kaikouras so not sure where to set my threshold for closeness-of-coutours and narrowness-of-ridgelines for that country.
I've read the following, but whilst it's full of warnings against bad routes, it's short on suggested better routes.
http://tramper.nz/?view=topic&id=8205
2) Branches and Leatham.
I'd love to head through the heads of Saxton - Leatham - Branch - Lees as that area is country I've long wanted to see. But the contours between Top Leatham Hut and Branch Bivvy (and Lees Creek Hut) look borderline. Anyone ever tried this?
http://routeguides.co.nz/places/565?zoom=12
35 comments
A friend of mine is a guide in Nelson Lakes NP. He says that when he takes groups through the lower Sabine he insists they put on long sleeved shirts and trousers and they still get stung! Depends on your reactivity to stings as to whether they are a hassle. I am slightly allergic so do have to be careful as, if i don't pump in some anti-histamines smartly I will get swollen ankles and face, which is not conducive to tramping! If I got 10 stings I dread to think what would happen. Worst I've had was 3 after stepping over a windfall straight into a nest. I jumped straight into the adjacent freezing cold river, pumped in some anti-histamines, put up the tent and slept for 14 hours! Was a bit groggy but OK to continue the next day.
@deepriver. Sounds like my experience with bee stings. Had one trip in the Cascades where I had to rest up a coupla days before I could get my boot back on. Another time in the (Otago) Blue Mountains woke up the next morning with face so swollen I couldn't open either eye! But other times stings have hurt but not affected me. Never knowingly had a wasp sting ...
After much rescheduling of work the trip's booked in as leave for April ... so should be past the worst of both wasps & heat by then anyhow. Hopefully be a pleasent time to tramp. Unless somehow the Antipodes work goes ahead after all in which case tramping can happily wait!
Hey Madpom,
What were you going to the Antipodes for?
Your adventures are always so interesting! I still enjoy reading about your 2009 "experience".
madpom, what a trip that will be.
Have you been there before?
Will you be concentrating on just the main island or will you be going to others?
I would offer to carry your bags for you, but the speed I travel these days I would arrive 3 days after you left.
Take lots of photo's.
No - not been there before. But that said there's no guarantee I'll be on the guest list when the part of the project I was on gets rescheduled - once boats become available again post Fiji-relief operation. So at present it's just fingers crossed time.
article on the antipodes trip with speculative alternate dates...
theres hope yet...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/77362683/Department-of-Conservation-Anitpodes-trip-on-hold-after-cyclone-in-Fiji
Cheers for that Wayno. Sounds like their fallback plan is that the main crew going out to do the airdrop go early and do the preparation and construction work rather than sending our team out to do that first. Makes sense.
i cant recall NZ sending such a major response to a tropical cyclone before. sending a ship that big, that loaded up with support theres three helicopters alone that have gone on the ship plus several vehicles and no end of supplies.
wonder how worried NZ are about the fijian military becoming estranged, after the fijians took a load of free weapons and ammo from the russians....
I think Fiji gets an easy ride from the international community because the Fijians contribute to the UN 'peace keeping' forces. Apparently some Fijian soldiers become fluent in Arabic so they can specialise in Middle Eastern deployments.
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| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | madpom |
| On | 25 December 2015 |
| Replies | 34 |
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