The Tramping Report

Bleak day at Packhorse Hut

Honora had been away for two weeks. We both had our own reasons to go for a walk to Packhorse Hut in the bleakest weather of the winter in 2001.

A powerful southerly storm buffeted us as we drove out past Lake Ellesmere to the Kaituna valley. Squalls of sleet chased us up the valley to the carpark. We were alone on our mission.

We took off quickly up the track. The manuka and kowhai trees lunged about in the wind as we passed through, but they gave us some shelter from its chill. Not so, higher up, on the open spur. The wind tore round us, lashing us with sleet, and bent us over.

Our heads were down, our hoods pulled tight, as we rushed over the saddle to the the hut.

It felt warm inside. Of course it wasn't. But we soon had hot drinks and food to warm us up.

Packhorse Hut on a bleak winter's day

 

It was a good place to be, standing at the window looking out at the bleak scene. Low clouds stormed across Lyttelton Harbour in squalls, shutting out the view completely. I just watched the swirling tussocks instead.

 

A sleety squall lashes Lyttelton Harbour,. The tussocks are briefly stilled outside Packhorse Hut

 

We stayed at Packhorse Hut until the wonderful winter wildness had wrought its magic and recharged our spirit.

The walk back down to the valley had the bitter wind in our faces but it no longer felt a challenge. We couldn't have this sublime day taken from us now.

 

Packhorse hut on a wet day

Rivercrossing skills are not usually needed on the Kaituna track to Packhorse hut

We'd been trapped in town by bad weather for two weekends in a row, with the long range forecast looking like it might go to three. We were desperate to get out tramping in the hills for at least part of a day. But what to do when the weather was so bad?

The walk to Packhorse Hut is right at the bottom end of what qualifies as a 'tramp', at least in my book. So that was the minimum we could do. And the bad weather might even add a little excitement

There was very little traffic on the highway to the Kaituna valley turnoff. Sheets of water stretched across the road in places. And curtains of rain were being blown up Kaituna valley by the south west wind. But we weren't deterred.

Honora carried her plastic climbing boots in her pack. She wanted to put these on to keep her feet warm after the four stream crossings. It was so wet I wasn't going to bother trying to keep my feet dry.

The first crossing was the deepest - it was just above my knees. We did that one linked up together for balance. The next three crossings were easier, but almost to knee level.

Crampons might have been useful on the muddy track

After getting chilled crossing the streams I just wanted to get up the hill and into the shelter of the hut, so I just went for it.

The top part of the track is completely open to the weather and was being lashed with near freezing wind and drenching rain, but I still arrived at the hut steaming.

The hut was dry, but it was cold and we only stayed long enough for lunch and some hot drinks. Entertainment was provided by the antics of mice scuttling around.

So, then it was back down again and home, making it a 4 hour round trip. But it made for a much better day than if we'd stayed at home indoors

The flooded stream made the Kaituna track much more interesting

Quick trip to Packhorse hut

We had too much on to get away tramping for the whole weekend, but we fitted in the couple of hours it takes to walk up to Packhorse Hut and back.

And it was great. The manuka was in flower, bell birds were singing in Parkinsons Bush and the Port Hills were illuminated with the slanting rays of the setting sun. And walking back down I got that usual feeling of sublime peace you get at the end of a walk.

Evening walk in Orton Bradley

We had an unplanned reason to go tramping through Orton Bradley again this evening. Honora lost her wallet when she stopped to put on sunscreeen early in our walk yesterday. So we drove over this evening to see if we could find it.

We walked up into the park for about an hour and searched in the places we thought it might be, but without luck.

Never mind. It gave us an excuse to spend some extra time over there.

Come to think of it, I wonder why people don't go to Orton Bradley on week nights. It seems a perfect way to use the extra daylight of the long summer evenings.

Mt Herbert to Packhorse hut

Well we were desperate for at least one day tramping and we did manage to get out of town, but it was a hot day on Banks Peninsula.

Honora had heard some Canterbury Mountain Safety members we knew were planning a social walk up Mt Herbert. That gave us an extra reason.

We drove over Dyers Pass and around Lyttelton harbour to join up with them at the gates of Orton Bradley Park. However we missed them at the start but hoped to catch them up.

We walked through the lower park. The air was heady with the sweet smells of flowering and resinous vegetation, and it was alive with birdsong too.

I walked ahead trying to catch sight of the others. However when the view opened up I could see there was only a solitary person on the whole mountain ahead of us.

It was very hot. The sun blasted into the north facing valley. Now my aim was just to get higher to catch a breeze. That didn't happen until I reached the Mt Herbert Shelter on the ridgeline, 800m above. Skylarks winging into the sky above filled the air with cascades of their silver chain of sound.

I didn't want to start my lunch without Honora so wandered slowly back down the track to meet her. It was magic just taking in the whole of being there. Honora was only ten minutes behind so we were soon relaxing and enjoying the views together.

After lunch we wandered up onto Mt Herbert's flat and uninspiring summit.

With that "i" dotted, we started down the way we'd come. However after our desperate breakout from town, we were in no hurry to get back. We decided to walk the track around the back of Mt Bradley to the Packhorse Hut and back to Orton Bradley Park that way.

The track behind Mt Bradley is one of the best walks in the area. It's been maintained for years by brothers Ben and Colin Faulkner of Governors Bay. They're in their seventies now and they're worried what will happen to their life's work when they can no longer get out and about.

They've got good reason to worry too if people think they can get away with just sitting on their backsides and expecting DoC will take care of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure DoC staff really want us to think they have a useful role in outdoor recreation.

Meantime, Ben and Colin could do with some help now in the gorse on top of Mt Bradley.

Our journey continued, sidling through the native bush remnants high on the slopes above Kaituna valley around to Packhorse Hut.

No-one was about when we got there but a family group soon arrived up from Kaituna.

We had our afternoon tea and carried on around the front of Mt Bradley, then turned downwards onto the Tablelands route back to Orton Bradley.

As usual we were the last out of the park at the end of the day.

Kaituna to Packhorse Hut

There was a hard frost in town and a fine day was promised. I wanted to take a walk up to Packhorse Hut (Lincoln M36 853 228) from Kaituna valley before it closed for lambing on Monday. Honora was due to arrive back from Mongolia later in the day so I only had the morning spare.

Out at Kaituna others had arrived before me and were off up the hill already. I crossed the stile and set off walking through the rich verdancy.

The frost had thawed everywhere touched by the warm sunlight.

A young bull across the fence was enjoying the morning as much as I was and gambolled about playfully in his field. A spurwing plover rattled off its tut-tutting tone of consternation from somewhere.

The air suddenly chilled under the trees in the gully. I tip-toed around some muddly patches and crossed the stream on slippery stones.

A sheep looked on, breathing steam, then stamped its foot at me before running off.

Some vines of bushlawyer hanging over the track caught my eye. They usually just catch my hat. I stopped to photograph them this time with the freshly melted frost still on their leaves.

The track climbed out of the stream back into the sunshine. I bent to the climb, then remembered my Pilates training to avoid the trampers' stoop. So I climbed standing up and was able to enjoy the sight of the dunnocks hopping about me and the wetness sparkling on the grass.

As I crossed the fence below the hut I saw the new development. The new loo has been installed by DoC. Yes!

The dreaded visits to the unsavoury overfilled Packhorse loo are no longer a part of the Canterbury tramper's experience. Thanks DoC.

The Kaituna track to Packhorse is now closed for lambing until the first of October. In Spring it's even better.

Mt Bradley to Packhorse Hut

A forecast for rain in the mountains and hot, dry, winds in Christchurch often has us thinking about Banks Peninsula tramping. And Packhorse Hut easily become part of most circuits.

We drove over Dyers Pass and around Lyttelton Harbour to Orton-Bradley Park. It was mid afternoon so we parked outside to avoid being locked in later.

A bush-bash up Mt Bradley

We set off up the track to the Tablelands and further up, turned west on the track across the upper Loudon farm towards Packhorse Hut. We had a detour planned and weren't to be going directly to the hut.

Honora had talked to Margaret Clark recently about a route she and Jim had once taken descending Mt Bradley. Honora wanted to check out their route in reverse.

The bush gully on Mt Bradley, above the track from Orton Bradly Park to Packhorse Hut

 

At the bushy stream we planned to follow the stream upwards to Mt Bradley. However the bush was too tangled and scrubby , so we sidled on out to the far side of it and just climbed the open tussock slopes to the ridge. It was easy travel that way.

The weather was still warm on the top of Mt Bradley and we appreciated the steady breeze blowing across the summit plateau.

...and then to Packhorse Hut

Honora led off down the western ridge toward Packhorse Hut. The proper track descends in long zigzags well down the Kaituna valley side. But we took a more direct line and stayed on the ridge. We didn't travel on the very crest of the ridge, which can involve rocky outcrops, boulders and scrub.  Instead, Honora picked a line slightly off to the Kaituna side. This was easy travel with only one steeper section, with a bit of dracophyllum scrub and rock slabs,  to descend.

Down at the Packhorse Hut we found Brian Smith, of the Peninsula Tramping Club in residence. He was there for the night with his brother and young nephew.

It was 7.00 pm, and as we'd left the road at 3.00 pm we thought a late "lunch" stop was reasonable. So we stopped and chatted awhile.

Brian provided some excitement too. His Coleman stove leaked some fuel and caught fire, whereapon he launched the flaming object through the door.

With the excitement over, Honora thought it time to go. We headed off at 7.20 and took the track back around the Lyttelton harbour side of Mt Bradley.

Honora set a good pace in the late sun heading back from Packhorse Hut

 

The sun was dropping quickly in the sky and we set a good pace to get back to the park's gates in exactly an hour and a half from Packhorse Hut.

The sun sets through the pines on the Tablelands above Orton Bradley Park

 

How easy it is for us to get exercise in wonderful open country so close to Christchurch. And it was a bonus to share some of the time with good company at the hut.

Eye-of-the-Needle to Packhorse Hut

We were busting to get out somewhere but there wasn't time for anywhere further than Banks Peninsula. Dayle was keen to get out for a walk too. We drove over the Port Hills to Orton Bradley Park.

The goal was Mt Bradley. We opted for the direct route, up via the Tablelands track, and continued on up the fenceline to the Eye of the Needle. This was an interesting rock formation where a large boulder was jammed over a gap on a sharp and steep section of the ridge. You have to go through the gap under the boulder, then double round and up and over the top of the boulder. Hence the reference to threading the "eye of the needle".

Immediately above this the mountain flattens out with a large summit plateau. We stopped for lunch on top, sheltering from the cool breeze in the lee of a gorse bush. Afterward, a circuit around to the Packhorse Hut appealed so we dropped down to the track on the Kaituna valley side to join the track to the hut.

A magnificent stand of lancewood saplings on the Kaituna side of Mt Bradley

At Packhorse Hut we bumped into Dave Garlick, whom we'd met last November in Dunns Creek. Dave was at the Packhorse with his two daughters. A large party from the Over 40s Tramping Club also passed through while we were there.

We returned to Orton Bradley via the track around the front of Mt Bradley and followed the "red pole route" down into the valley.

Others were walking out the valley track at the same time as us. And for us, that was a novel experience as we're generally the last ones out of the hills on a weekend. And it's usually dark too when we're coming out of Orton Bradley.