The Tramping Report

Ranger Biv visitor

When I was last at Ranger Biv I saw that it had been visited by a young Japanese, Yoshiaki Itagaki. I was quite impressed with his style.

Of course, having visited Ranger Biv, Yoshi is now one of a very select group of explorer/trampers.

I managed to find his website. It's written in Japanese and I'm sure the Google translation doesn't do him justice, but it allows Yoshi's feeling for our wild places to shine through and I'm glad to share them with him.

Yoshi's website

Yoshi's huts

Don't leave it too long Yoshi.

Over Lyndon Saddle

We settled for just a Sunday day trip this weekend. In the morning Honora checked John O'Malley's Castle Hill Village webcam. It showed a classic snowy Christmas card scene. The sun was glinting on the new snow and it was fine in Christchurch too.

Sixteen assembled at the Christchurch Tramping Club meeting place. That's quite a number for the CTC these days.

However once we were out of town we could see that the fine weather promise wasn't going to deliver. The Torlesse range was hidden under dark billowing clouds. At the Broken River shelter deep slushy snow covered everything and low cloud made for a bleaker scene than we'd seen on the webcam at dawn.

The shelter was occupied by a disgruntled group of overseas rock-climbers huddling around the fire.

But we were here for a tramp and so off we went. Or rather off they went. I was waiting in the public shelter, packed and ready to go, when the others took off. When I noticed they'd gone I took off in pursuit. I caught up with Honora, Craig, Emma and leader Pam. The other eleven were fast disappearing ahead.

Honora and Craig slowed and dropped off the back. I stayed with Emma and Pam for a while as they chased the main bunch. But I started overheating so stopped to remove a thermal layer. I'd put on an extra layer of clothes than I usually do as I'd expected this Easy graded trip would go at a slower pace.

After adjusting my clothing I was in a quandary. I know the CTC's motto is 'Keep Up or Die', so I was fairly reluctant to be left behind. But at the same time I had my Mr Responsibility tut-tutting in my ear that I should be helping leader Pam keep the group together. Against that was my real preference to just drop back and wander along with Honora in our usual style of stopping whenever we wanted to look at anything that interested us.

I just split the difference and ended up plodding up the track by myself.

In due course the whole group reunited on Lyndon Saddle. However those who'd arrived first were keen to get moving as they'd been standing around getting cold while they waited.

It's classic CTC that people don't dress warmer to fit in with the pace of slower ones.

The walk to the Craigieburn huts was much the same, with the party widely split into three or four separate groups. We all bunched up again for lunch, squeezing under stairways and balconies on one of the lodges.

However it was a quick lunch for the latecomers as the front-runners were getting cold again and headed off.

We all walked down the ski-field access road with the snowfall getting heavier. Most of the group walked out to the main road and back around to the Broken River access road. A few walked back to the shelter over Lyndon saddle.

Pam had thought ahead and brought spare gloves as backup for anyone who needed them, and they were. And she worked hard too at tryng to keep the group in contact in the cold conditions.

However leading CTC trips is a bit like herding cats. The club's had a reputation for not looking after each other for at least 40 years. It would be nice to think one day they'll realise how quickly things can turn to serious custard when someone becomes unwell or has an accident.

The day finished up with snacks at the Kowai tearooms at Springfield, and Pam was still smiling. Thanks Pam.

Nina valley

This trip was on the Christchurch Tramping club programme. The club reputation had taken a knock on its trips to the Nina in recent years. So Craig Beere was quite brave to accept responsibility for leading this one.

However Honora decided to back him up by running some navigation coaching on the trip. At least that would ensure we wouldn't repeat the problems the earlier parties had just getting to the hut.

We headed away on Saturday morning. first stop was at Culverden for morning tea. That's not normal CTC practice but it's certainly Honora's and mine. Then it was on to the Deerstalkers hut, Palmer Lodge, at the Nina.

There were 11 cars parked there! Of course the worry was that this could mean there were 44 people already on their way up the valley. But then luckily a guy with a tri-pod wandered by. He told us all the cars bar one belonged to photography club people there on a day outing. Apparantly recent conditions had caused a proliferation of picturesque fungi.

It was certainly cool and humid, but we'd left the rain behind in Christchurch.

We wandered off at a fairly mellow pace. There was a stop at the first clearing for some compass triangulation practice. It seemed like everyone had something to contribute, and it was all very laid back and low key.

I have to admit I prefer big open valleys with all day views. But the Nina keeps you in the bush just long enough so you really want to stop and enjoy its pretty river scenes when you come to them.

After an hour and a half or so we came to the new footbridge.

Apparently on the last CTC trip up here the leaders just walked past the new bridge, and signs pointing to the new hut, without noticing them. No one in our group could figure out how that was possible. Maybe they were just engrossed in talk and not thinking...

After lunch we continued up the true right side of the valley. A sunbathed clearing was another place for studying the maps.

While stopped here John Henzell burst into the clearing behind us. What a welcome surprise. I've only been on the same trip with John once before, and he arrived unexpectedly then too. That was at Townsend hut four years ago and he turned up with six others that time.

Our trip continued. The new track to the new hut was fairly muddy in places. It's also fairly narrow and twists and turns tightly through the trees. It's a shame DoC doesn't seem to have the skill for track work that was developed in the old Forest Service days.

The new hut though is quite impressive. It's located on an open raised terrace, and is of the same pattern as the new huts in the Poulter, Crow, Taipo, etc - platform bunks sleeping 10, and plenty of floor space.

There were only two occupants, father and son, Murray and Brad Spiers.

It was quite a fun evening, with yarns and jokes to spare. Craig and Trevor were both contenders with the jokes, but Trevor was runaway winner with yarns from his younger days.

The hut was warm too. The firebox does a very good job warming the place. In fact, at bedtime it could have been a bit less warm. I don't think many got right into their sleeping bags. Lisa went out and slept on the verandah.

In the morning there was mention of some snoring, but nothing seems to have been thrown during the night so it can't have been too bad.

It was frosty outside. However Lisa said she was comfortable right through the night, and she wasn't visited by possums either.

John parted company with us and headed off over Devilskin Saddle to the Doubtful River. We crossed the river to look at the old Nina hut site. There was only a concrete pad and a small amount of debris left there.

I know some in the CTC have been demanding DoC put signs at the old hut site giving directions to the new one across the river. However the new hutbook shows large numbers of inexperienced people finding their way there without incident. It seems this might just be a CTC issue. And the evidence from those club trips suggests it's more a problem with the club 'establishment' than with the 'newbies'.

Anyway, enough said...

Off we went down valley, on the original track down the true left. A map in the hut had this section marked as "overgrown". But there was nothing wrong with it.

It was all pretty cruisy really, and we were out at the road before lunch.

We drove over to the Maruia Springs for our lunch stop. Most of the team were keen on a soak in the pools too. Gareth and I just chewed the fat in the cafe while they were out there.

Then, as if we hadn't had enough of the socialising, we all stopped at the Hurunui pub for tea on the way home. The roast dinner they dished up was really good value too.

So, end to a really pleasant weekend tramp. The new hut really makes the Nina an ideal place for an easy getaway with a few friends. And the team were: Craig Beere, Trevor & Colleen Scott, Gareth Gilbert, Lisa Gladding, John Henzell, Honora & Frank.

Rocky Creek (Work WE 6)

Honora suggested going to Rocky Creek for some more track work. I was keen as I reckon there's still another half dozen full weekends worth there.

The forecast was for rain easing off on Saturday. We'd spend the night cosy in Rocky Creek hut.

It was raining when we drove over the pass on Saturday morning. When I turned off the highway at the Taipo bridge I saw the gorse and himalayan honeysuckle was crowding tighter along the track. I wound in the side mirrors, but I forgot to lower the aerial so it got damaged. Then we had to get out and get changed in the rain. I suppose it's good to get the negative bits over with early in the trip.

The track to Rocky Creek starts a few hundred metres up the Taipo. The river was sliding along, muddy gray, and bigger than I'd seen it there before.

I expected the track up onto the high terrace to need a bit of work but it was in fairly good condition. There were only two serious windfalls to be cleared.

When we got down to Rocky Creek we instantly saw a change of plans was needed. It was still running quite high, crashing down through it's bouldery bed. There was no way we could get across and travel up to the hut.

We pitched the fly in the same spot we used on our first weekend in March last year and started working on the track back toward the terrace.

We widened it out to the full 2 metres and cleared all the sight lines. It was raining the whole time so it was wet work.

When darkness fell we packed it in and retired to the fly.

We'd set the camp up quite well and had a cosy evening in our snug shelter.

In the morning we learned we'd both woken during the night thinking about flash floods and debris flows. We were camped about 20 metres above the creek but stormy nights do do strange things to your imagination.

But it had cleared up overnight and we got stuck in on the track back across the high terrace. We actually worked pretty solidly and didn't pause until after 2.00 pm, way past our usual lunchtime.

When we got back to our fly we found it had been ransacked by a weka. We hadn't seen any in Rocky Creek previously, so it was good to know there were still some about. Fortunately for us our misdemeanant weka hadn't made off with anything other than an empty sardine can so there was no real harm done.

One thing I took care of was to remove the old permolats that led poor Merv Meredith's party from the Peninsula TC astray. They'd followed them up the hill till they petered out and then bush-bashed across the top of the big slip. Now markers clearly show the route goes out into the creek.

We cooked up lunch out in the creek bed, shifting position continuously as the narrow beam of sunlight moved across the stones.

After that we packed up and walked out.

Back on the road we drove down to the Harringtons track at Griffin Creek. We wanted to clear some windfalls that had come down on the track we cut in April last year. However while working on them Honora's loppers flipped out of her grasp and banged her in the mouth, knocking one of her incisors out of its socket. Honora is very stoic but it was time to go.

To The Coast in a Southerly

We had blue skies on the West Coast while Christchurch shivered under early winter rain.

As the weekend had approached, Honora and I mulled over options to fit the unpromising weather forecast. We agreed on Mt French and a base far west. Malcolm Carr kindly made available his family's bach at Lake Brunner. Sorted.

We headed over after lunch Saturday. The Nor'west still reigned at Iveagh Bay.

Morning sparkled with bright sunshine as we drove out along the lakeshore. However turning south dark clouds loomed ahead and rain briefly lashed the car as we passed along the foot of the Alexander Range. We parked at the start of the track to Mt French at the Eastern Hohonu River.

We agreed we weren't convinced of getting clear skies up on Mt French, and we both wanted an enjoyable day. So Mt French could wait another time. We left the stormy clouds behind on the ranges and headed up the coast in dazzling sunshine.

Honora had friends and memories to revisit at Punakaiki, north of Greymouth. And I'd never crossed the Grey, so it was all new country to me.

After visiting Honora's memory lane we drove on to Punakaiki. It was just after full tide when we got there so the blow-holes had past their best display. But I must admit I was more interested in the geology and landforms than in the maritime dramatics. DoC's visitor centre was a great place to get the big picture. Also the crafts gallery next door was well worth the visit. And we finished off our visit to the pancake rocks of Punakaiki, with pancakes for lunch at the cafe.

Heading south again we stopped at Rapahoe for a walk to Point Elizabeth. This became the highlight of the weekend.

The 2 km to the Point was a very pleasant meander through bush and flax dominated scrub. However there were strolling family groups and runners also on the track. We may have looked a bit overdressed to them in our tramping gear and carrying large tramping packs (to hold our snacks and bits and pieces).

On our way back from the Point Honora discovered a place where we could abseil down a cliff onto the beach. This made for a perfect circuit.

Earlier we'd been talking about walking up the beach from the carpark. However it had looked like it would be a dead-end.

In fact we did find a few dead things down there too - a large dead skate and even a dead cow. But Honora went fossicking among the rocks below the Point and came away with her prize - a good haul of very large mussels.

On the way home we called in at Paddy's for a meal. That worked out well too, as Trevor Scott and Richard Wills had just arrived there from their day's tramp over Little Jordan Spur. And then while we were having our meal Mike Plug walked in with friend Sheila. Bumping into them really made it a great finish to a sparkling weekend.