TravelStream™ news feed for member nadine on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nadine en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:12:55 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1203251880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1203251880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1203251880/tpod.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:12:55 -0400 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Arthurs Pass National Park, New Zealand

The next morning we were up early in the rain, and walked 2 km to the Yaldhurst-Russley intersection to catch the bus on its way out of Christchurch (easier than meeting it in town at 7:15am).  When the bus finally arrived (late), our raingear was quite wet and it was nice to be in the warm bus.  The bus stopped for 20min or so in Arthur's Pass Village, and Theo confirmed with the DOC that our hiking plans would be reasonable in the weather.  Soon we were being dropped off on the side of the highway at a spot that used to be Kelly's Shelter (shelter gone) and we starting hiking in the light misting rain.From the highway a gravel road leads a little ways into the bush towards what might be a car-camping area, and soon after hits a parking lot and the trail signs become visible.  We passed an amusing sign indicating that "mowing" was occuring on the trail.   Very quickly the trail steepens, and soon we were switchbacking steeply and climbing over roots and such.  In the trees, we were able to take off our layers since the rain did not really reach us.Two couples day hiking passed us on their way down while we were in some of the most steep and rooty parts of the trail.  Not much visibility until we topped out of the trees and found ourselves surrounded by typical west coast scraggly bush and grasses.  A bit more of a climb took us to the new albeit small Carroll's Hut in a grassy field.  The clouds cleared away and the sun came out.  We had a snack in the hut, which had a family of four with two kids who were still very full of energy.  Then we put our packs back on and climbed to the pass behind the hut on the remaining part of the trail, where there is a collection of small tarns.  From there, the route heads southwards along Kellys ridge (with the main fault-line of New Zealand underneath our feet) following marking posts, some of which were quite a ways apart from each other.  The sun disappeared, and the clouds came up.  Following the pass, the route still had a fair bit of elevation gain to force on us.  Tracking carefully with the GPS we were able to stay on route.  Especially near end of the ridge when we came near another set of tarns (easily spotted on the map) the clouds really started to sock in, and the markers were quite difficult to find.  Here it was important to find the right route down into the valley.Well, we found the right place to divert from the ridgeline, and soon we were hiking downwards towards treeline, nearly 300 meters down.  The last bit of bush before treeline was quite scraggly and the rocks underfoot very loose, but eventually we hit the trees and we were back on a real official trail.  And that's a good thing, since the next 2 hours of hiking we went down 1 vertical km more, through moss covered rain forest with gangly trees which would be utterly impassible if there was no trail.  Occasionally the trail would bring us to our left, so that we could see a gash of land slides into the creek way below.Eventually we popped out at the bottom, where the typical New Zealand large river valleys create very flat land.  We traversed down the creek for about 1km towards the main Taupo river valley, and hit an old road.  Turning left up the true right of the Taupo river, half a kilometer later we passed the old Dillon homestead, which is being maintained by some people as an alternative non-DOC hut.  It has a fireplace inside with armchairs, but we decided to head on to the brand spanking new Dillon hut just 5 minutes further up the trail.  There we met 3 Kiwi fellows who had hiked up the Taupo river valley and were considering maybe the next day doing a day trip up to Kelly ridge.  We were amazed at all the extra gear they had: they were tramping for 2 nights maximum but had loaves of bread, headlamps AND flashlights, a tub of butter, etc.  We drooled a bit but then looked at the ridiculous spread of their gear in the hut and were more thankful for our efficient packing.  The sand flies were a bit nasty outside, but it was nice and clean inside the hut.  We slept soundly that night, having finished crossing the "first pass" of our "three pass plus one" traverse.The next morning was somewhat gray, and soon after leaving the hut it started to rain lightly, and for most of the day it would rain sporadically.  Our plan was to hike up the Taupo river valley towards Julia hut, considered a 6-7 hour hike by DOC.  The trail leaves Dillon hut along a piece of old road which is a bit swampy and overgrown, and then soon has to start crossing rocky creeks running from Kelly's ridge and joining us on the true right of the river.  We crossed these various creeks and followed the river until we got closer to the cableway.  At this point there is a sign which points upwards or forwards towards the cableway, also known as the "flood route"; the alternative being a higher inland traverse followed by wading through the river further up where it is quite a bit wider.  That higher inland traverse leads from the sign upwards and slightly to the left, while the correct way to the cableway leads forward and slightly down.  This confusing sign caused us to head on the higher inland traverse first, by accident, which was annoying since we climbed way more than we had to.  On the way back to the sign, though, Theo found a lovely blue mushroom to take a picture of, so perhaps that made the sign error worthwhile.Following the sign the correct direction, we found ourselves right along the banks of the river climbing roots and rocks and, further on, actually climbing nearly vertical cliffs and trees to bypass a slide.  Then we were at the cableway, and pulled the cart towards us from the center of the river.  Unlike the cable cars we have used on the Vancouver Island's West Coast Trail, the cars are much smaller and meant for only one person, and also, the cable is meant to be pulled by a person who stays at the end.  In case someone wants to do a solo traverse, there is a bizzare contraption inside the car (a kind of hook/pull wrench) which would assuredly be a complete pain to use.  In the rain, Theo crossed first, and then Nadine came afterwards.  Because the cable was hung slightly loosely and the river underneath was raging in flood, the crossing was extremely exciting!!At the other side we were faced with a climb over a headwall.  The route switchbacked at more than a 70 degree angle up through rooted ledges for nearly 100 meters, and after a kilometer walk up top, went back down again to the side of the river.  On the way down it follows a rocky creek, and both of us fell quite nastily on the slippery rocks.We were now on the other side of the river, and would stay there for quite a few kilometers longer.  The going was fairly easy, with flats separated by creeks coming off the ridges to the west.  The water levels in the creeks were quite high, but with skilled rock hopping you could keep your feet pretty dry.  Nadine struggled with one river crossing (Theo's long legs and new gortex boots kept his feet dry) and ended up wading right through it!  We saw bumble bees sleeping underneath thistles, deer routes in the grass, large cicadas buzzed in the trees around us (and we even saw one up close).  Twice we had to traverse back into the trees for a while along a steeper section of the riverbank, but then we were at Upper Taupo hut.  This small little hut had a lot of character, and the see-through roof lit up the inside to make it very pleasant.  We had some snacks and relaxed in the sunny warmth for a while before going on.From Upper Taupo hut we had to walk about 1km more on the true left before crossing a long wire bridge to the other bank, on a skinny trail that was quite swampy.  Just on the other side of the bridge, we encountered a couple who had come from Julia hut.  They had not been able to find the hot springs there.  We continued walking on a fairly rocky but wide trail which stayed a bit further back from the river.  It climbed for about an hour, and then descended underneath beautiful dripping moss cliffs towards a 3-wire bridge over a raging creek.  Sadly, this bridge did not have the airy feel (ie. very scary) of the Dusky trail bridges, since they had decided to tie mesh between the wires.   Continuing on the other side, the trail became a boulder climb along the river, and we could sometimes smell sulphur in places, indicating perhaps that there were qiute a few hotsprings in the area.  A small climb up through trees and past a nearly invisible lake, brought us to a grassy meadow with the old Julia hut in it.  It was basically a tin shed with rotting mattresses in it.  Just a few minutes further down the hill brought us to the newer Julia hut, empty just for us, and with a decent supply of firewood.  The rain got worse, and the clouds settled in so that we could not see the other side of the river.  Nadine played pyromanic all night, and kept running out in the rain with the axe to chop wood.  She would lean the wet wood against the side of the stove, and within an hour the wood was dry and ready to burn!  All of our clothes and boots were bone dry before night fall!The next morning it was still raining, and things had not really improved.  We kept resetting the alarm only to wake up to more rain and socked in conditions.  We eventually decided to head down to the hot springs.  If we needed to stay here an extra day to wait for the weather to improve, so be it -- it was a lovely spot.  Wearing just underwear under our goretex pants and jackets, we walked back past old Julia hut and followed the cairn-indicated trail climbing down towards the river near the hot springs.  There we found scalding pools of water coming out of the rocks along the side of the river, stinking like sulphur, and indications that previous people had moved gravel and rocks to try to make basins where the scalding hot water could be nicely mixed with the freezing cold river water.  We proceeded to dig out our own mixing basins, and just as we got into our pools ... the sun came out!  The nice weather had arrived as the weather forecast days ago had promised!  After finishing our washing quickly, we scrambled back to the hut and finished packing our bags, and then set out up the trail ...Just minutes after leaving Julia Hut, the trail crosses another 3-wire bridge over Mary creek, near the junction of Julia creek (and from that junction down, it is called the Taupo river).  This 3-wire bridge is bolted onto some very large boulders.  On the other side, the trail rapidly climbs up through roots and leaves up the true left of Mary creek, to avoid the gorge.  For a while it is not possible to see much, and there was still a lot of cloud up valley, but eventually we popped out of the tops of the trees to see a fair bit more of a view, up valley and back the way we had come.  Somewhere, around 8km in distance and 1.5km in elevation, was Harmann pass.We would come to scree slopes and sometimes grassy banks, and be forced to climb up through brush, but it was all fairly steep country to both sides of the creek.  There were a few orange route markers when the going was less obvious, but for the most part we followed cairns and hoped that we would not waste too much time by getting too close, or too far, from the creek.  Eventually we got to an avalanche zone, and there were large piles of dirt-covered snow still remaining.  It looked like a good place to cross the swift-moving creek, so we rock-hopped to the other side and continued.  We continued boulder hopping and crossing the river from side to side, traveling on the route which looked easier.  A while later we crossed the creek and remained high on the true left above it in the tussock terrace for a while, until finally we crossed for the last time to head up the bluffs.  The clouds around us finally opened up and showed us just how tall the mountains around us were -- true monsters!  Last bit of hiking to the pass was very steep with loose rocks in tall grass, and then we were on the flat little saddle of Harman Pass.  From the other side (coming from Carrington Hut) we could see a couple making their way up, and we sat and waited for them, excited to talk to people likely hiking up Whitehorn Pass and who might have an up-to-date weather forecast.  It was clear weather over Whitehorn Pass, and if we were going to cross it today we could not hang out for too long as it was about 4 hrs to Park Morpeth Hut.  The prospects for camping on the other side of the pass (before the hut) were unclear due to the low resolution of our maps, and therefore we would probably have to hike for another 4hrs, minimum.  We chatted with the couple briefly (they were going to Julia Hut but seemed very unprepared and no sign that they had a map).We picked up our packs and headed south towards the snowy approach of Whitehorn Pass, and 2 minutes later were on the ridge line looking at the lovely Ariel tarns.  It was just so lovely in the sun, so instead of continuing we decided to tent right there.  We were a little bit afraid once again of camping up so high, having been hassled by keas (large parrots) 2 years before near the Dart glacier.  But the lakes were not surrounded by the grasses that we think they sleep in.  We had an amazing afternoon and evening, bathing in the lake and enjoying the beautiful views.  Around 6 or 7pm the clouds started coming in below us; by sunset we were enveloped in the fog.  We heard some kea cries in the distance, but never saw one.  We had a peaceful and magical sleep in the fog!The next morning we were up at 6:30am, but visibility was perhaps 4 meters.  We needed fairly decent visibility for Whitehorn Pass, so we slept for another hour to see more pea soup fog.  We remembered that the weather was forecasted to be clear today, so we went back to sleep again, finally getting up at 8:30am to have some breakfast in the vestibule.  We kicked ourselves for not heading over the pass last night, although tenting on Harman Pass has been very beautiful.  We decided that if the fog was still present by noon we would navigate with our map and compass and GPS, and make our way carefully to Park Morpeth Hut.  Around 10am the foggy silence was interupted by voices - it sounded like a couple lost in the fog!  As the voices became clearer, Nadine smiled and yelled out of the tent "is that Sarah's voice?!!!!".  She recognized Sarah from Brisbane (we met Sarah and Ant on our Nelson's Lake hike) and ran out of the tent to say hello!  Although Sarah and Ant were visible from our tent, they could not see the tent or the trail marker through the soupy fog.  They followed our voices to our tent and we laughed at the location of our second meeting!  They had come from Carrington Hut, hiking in yesterday and having had to cross the chest deep river numerous times.  They had been using their navigational tools in the fog and soon continued up towards Whitehorn Pass, and we started packing up our tent.  The sun was starting to poke through the clouds, and soon we could hear a few more people and then see them through the fog - walking away from the trail markers and not even noticing us!  We shouted towards them, and eventually they saw our tent and walked towards us and the next trail marker.  They were Kiwis (a group of 4 in their fifties or sixties) and they had also come from Carrington Hut.  They stopped for a soup, and we could see more blue sky breaking through the clouds as we got our gear together.  They were meeting up with another group of Kiwis who were walking the tramp in reverse; they were doing a swap of car keys!!  As we departed Ariel tarns around 11am there were blue skies all around!.  The route goes around the tarns and crosses a hump -- from then on it is just a pile of giant rocks and such until the start of the glacier.  The snow was still nice and stiff, and we made rapid progress up the glacier, trying to avoid obvious places where there might be some crevasses.  Soon we were on top of the ridge, able to see an enormous hanging glacier above us (Cronin glacier).  We caught up to Sarah and Ant (who were having a snack) and chatted with them for a little while, and then took the downroute.  This was a switchback through loose boulders which started on the west side of the ridge, and then cut back and underneath some cliff bands.  Then it stuck high along some morraine tops for a kilometer or so, before dropping down steeply through very loose rocks to be closer to the Cronin creek  We continued down the true left, sometimes on flats, and sometimes having to bypass rocky gullies.  Soon after a dirty downclimb onto a flat, there was a place where two streams joined right near each other, from the left. That is a fine place to cross to the true right, and Theo did so.  Nadine however stayed on the other side, following a series of cairns there.  One has to eventually cross to the true right because that is where the bush trail leaves the gully, but there is no definite place to do it.  Nadine ended up taking her boots off much further down the river (as the river was knee deep and there was still lots of hiking to do), so perhaps a bit earlier is better though.Just beyond a fairly large avalance slope on the true right, about 30 meters above the creek there is a large marker, and a real trail starts again in the bush.  This crosses two narrow and deep gullies and then slowly makes the way down to a set of marshy ponds.  Not much further from there is Park Morpeth hut (where we ran into the group of 4 kiwis going the other way) by the junction of Cronin creek and the Wilberforce river.  We had a snack, and then when Sarah and Ant arrived, we took off, heading up the true left of the Wilberforce river.  We found two Canada geese in the river, and they honked very loudly at us to stay away.  After about 2km or so, this splits into numerous rivers, and on the otherside of the Wilberforce there is a memorial built up.  Facing north, one can quite clearly see the old switchbacking trail (built during the gold mining days) which leads up to Browning pass, perhaps 400m elevation gain.  Further to the west we could also see the massive Browning falls, but we were not going that way.It was getting a bit late in the day, and there were clouds in the sky coming flying by southwards, especially west by the waterfall.  But at the pass above us it did not appear bad at all.  The sun was still shining.  We set out up the switchbacks, which soon petered out, and then it is steep scree and scrambling up to the top.  As we got to the top it seemed to perhaps be a little more damn and cool, but nothing prepared us for the moment when we stepped out of the sun into a 1 meter visibility super damn high speed wind!  The other side was totally socked in by a storm!  We were only wearing shorts and tshirts, so we ran forward and found a ditch or sorts which sheltered us from the storm.  We put on more layers of clothes and ate the remainders of our trail mix.  The situation was dire!  We were supposed to camp up here, but not in this kind of wind!A few quirk comparisons between the GPS map and the paper map kind of let us know where the expected boundaries of the lake were, and what the route down the other side might be.  We'd been told that there were sheltered spots on the other side of the lake, so we set out to try to find them.  Walking along, we finally found the lake when we were 2 meters from it, and it was nearly white capped under the strengthof the wind!  We continued along, slowly getting the picture that Browning pass is a flat basin with a lake on it, huddled along the top of a cliff to the south. The ground was swampy in places, and giant Canada geese features and their feces too, were everywhere.  In good weather, they like this place.  At the other end of the lake it was becoming clear that there was a drainage creek, and no trees to shelter us.  We tried to go down the trail which continues, but the markers did not match the maps, and since we could not see them 30m ahead of us, and sometimes we could see non-routes ahead of us which seemed really steep -- this was turning into a navagation nightmare.  Meanwhile, we were tired, hungry, and grumpy, so we turned back and Nadine managed to find us a mostly wind-sheltered flat place next to the lake.  A hill to our north-west was kind of stopping the wind from hitting us there.  After clearing enough rocks out of the way to make a platform, we set up the tent.  We were too cold to wash in the lake, so we washed up with Wet wipes and cooked food in the vestibule.  Then when it was ready, we closed the tent vestibule up, and ate the food inside in the warmth.About half an hour later we opened the vestibule to... clear skies!  The fog and clouds had all disappeared!  That said, the sun was going to set in about 30 minutes, so we made the best of our time running around and taking lots of pictures of the area.  Then we settled in for the night.  We heard a few keas, but no one bothered us.  We also heard some Canada geese return for the evening too.In the morning the skies were reasonably clear, so we packed up very quickly, because we wanted to take any opportunity we could to get out of here quickly -- the DOC times for what we needed to finish added up to over 10 hours, and we wanted to get to the road while we could still hitchhike into Hokitika.  Otherwise we would likely lose a day, and be back in Christchurch without enough time to see the kids Rose and James again before we left for Calgary.With clear skies it was easier to see the way.  We followed the poles towards where we had been blind and confused the day earlier, and then were really happy that we had not attempted to go down yesterday.  The route ahead switchbacked steeply down into a broken landscape with waterfalls and no where until the bottom was there anyplace to pitch a tent. The DOC times had said something like 4 hours, but only 2 hours later we found ourselves at Harmon Hut.  Nadine dried out her boots (wrung out her socks and dried her insoles for 10min in the sun) and we set off on the next leg.  After going through a swampy highland, we had to traverse a very high and long bridge over a canyon, and then we found ourselves on a wide trail (perhaps a road from the gold rush era) following the Arusha valley side all the way to the intersection with the Styx saddle.  We took a left turn and crossed through the Styx saddle (high tall grass hiding swampy pits in the ground.. grrr) and then hiked down the road along the Styx river, crossing it and another tributary just before Grassy Flats Hut.  There we were met by a weka who was very curious (apparently looking for shiney things).  We moved our boots and gaitors as the thought of having to chase a weka running away with our gear seemed too much at this point in the hike.After a snack, we continued hiking flats along the Styx river's true left for about 2km before crossing it, and then spending the next two hours crossing the numerous tributaries from that side, all the way to the parking lot.  The trail was very easy going, albeit very wet so it was easy to make good time.  Nadine got stung by stinging nettle and had large painful welts appear on her right arm.  After a combination of hydrocortisone cream and lidocaine cream was applied to the wounds, the pain receeded and Nadine stopped whining!  The trail kind of ends in an old farm, and then farm roads continue for many kilometers.   Dodging cow poo in the hot sun after walking +25km is not fun.  It seemed to take forever to reach a small road, and even then the cars were far and few between and people ignored us with our thumb out.  And our cell phone did not yet have any coverage, so we couldn't even call a taxi!  An older couple heading to Hokitika stopped but seemed a bit overwhelmed at stuffing us in their already loaded car, but then ironically came back about 15min later, having driven halfway to town thinking about us having to walk to dusty, hot long road.  They were able to get most of their gear in their trunk with our packs.  They were very sweet and were world travellers themselves, currently on a round the world trip that started in Africa (they were from the UK originally but were living in the countryside of France now).Arriving in Hokitika outskirts, our first order of business was to find and eat ice cream.  We walked the last kilometer into town and found a backpackers place to stay at that had laundy as well (we had no clean clothes!).  After showers, Theo ran off and changed the flight back to Christchurch to be on the next day (instead of two days later).  Then we tried to get dinner at the local pubby restaurant, but instead eventually found an Indian curry house to eat at.  With full bellies we made our way to the beach to watch the gorgeous sunset.  What a grand adventure!The next morning we took a taxi to the tiny Hokitika airport.  The plane came in, and we were amazed how small it was!    We had managed to get seats on the opposite side of the plane, which is fairly normal when it only has 19 seats, 10 on the right and 9 on the left.  Before taxiing on the runway, Theo turned on his GPS and thus was able to track our route (though he forgot to turn off the altimiter, and therefore the GPS calculated elevation from the pressurized air pressure instead of from the GPS location, leaving us at a steady 450 meters elevation.  However it was announced that the flying route was at 14,000ft, and the really neat thing is that the route turns out to cross our hiking route twice.Arriving in Christchurch we went downtown via city bus.  This would be our last day in Christchurch and we wanted to do a bit more shopping and try to clean our tent and gear before flying home.   Mapworld had finally managed to get the "DOC hut poster" - which we had first seen on the north island after finished our first hike in NZ.  It had photos of 66 of the most colorful and unique (ie. small and old) huts in NZ, some which we had stayed at!  Theo set up the tent in a park and let it dry out, and boots and gaitors were dried in the sun as one finally load of laundry was done.  Back to Ashley's to hang out with him and Rose and James for our last night!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202936400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202936400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202936400/tpod.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:56:20 -0400 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Christchurch, New Zealand

For a few days after our Nelson Lakes hike we hung out in Christchurch with Ashley, Wendy and the kids, chillin' and planning our next hike.  The day we arrived on the bus from Nelson Lakes was brilliantly sunny, and we hung around the Christchurch Square doing everything from laundry, interneting, and setting up our tent in a park to dry.  Back at Ashley's the kids were excited to see us again and of course James wanted to be swung around a few times!  The plan was to go to dinner to Wendy's, so we quickly showered (it had really been a full week since our last shower much to Ashley's disbelief) and headed over.  Dinner was take out Thai food, and it was awesome, tonnes of fresh veggies which we had not seen for a week!  Our bellies hurt that night!Valentines Day, or Woolentimes day as we had decided to call it, was to be a trip to the local Bivouac hiking store to purchase items from the Icebreaker line (merino wool clothing).  We had purchased a couple of shirts in Auckland and had used them on our Tasmania trip, and we marveled at how lightweight they were, yet how they kept us warm in the rain and how they didn't stink after a week (even without washing!).  Theo also brought a pair of hiking boots that he had bought in Auckland at the same chain of stores (they seemed too big now), to see if we could get a refund (they hadn't been hiked in but we had treated them with a leather protector).  After getting back about 85% of the purchase price on the boots, we spent the next hour trying on wool shirts and tights.  We left the store with about 3-4 items each, all colorful bright lightweight wool products most of which were on sale, thinking how great Woolentines Day had been!The rain poured on Friday, and we were having trouble deciding what to do for our next hike.  The DOC office told us that it had been raining in the Arthur's Pass area for days, and that the water levels were high, making it difficult to cross the Waimakariri River.  We would need to cross the river for the Three Pass Route, and not once but 5-6 times, so if the water was chest high and over that would make things difficult.  They advised waiting til Monday Feb. 18 before starting the trail, as the rain was suppose to continue for another 2.5 days before letting up on Sunday.  We went to an internet place to research other hikes (Mt. Aspiring area - Young Valley closed though) and finally decided that we would hike the Three Pass Route, but start tomorrow by extending the hike north.  If we started at Kelly's Creek north of the village of Arthur's Pass, we could hike the Waimakariri-Harman Pass route going over Kelly's saddle and connect with the Three Pass Route at Harman Pass, bypassing the Waimakariri River where it was at its widest.  The weather would be cloudy and rainy, but the forecast was suppose to start clearing up by Sunday.  We quickly booked a bus to Arthur's Pass (last seats on Atomic Shuttles!) and bought some more supplies to start packing our bags that night.  The connections at the end of the hike were a bit loose; the trail ended up close to Hokitika but about 15km short of the town.  One could pre-arrange a taxi to come to the trailend, or try hitching, and then from Hokitika you could connect to Greymouth for bus or train service back to Christchurch.  We were hoping to be done the tramp on Wednesday, but just in case the weather crapped out we booked a flexible flight (AirNZ) from Hokitika to Christchurch Friday morning, the day we were due to fly back to Canada.  We were happy to be hiking tomorrow although sad because we would be missing Ashley's swimming race the next day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202653800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202653800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202653800/tpod.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:13:15 -0500 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Blue Lake Hut, New Zealand

The trail continued through beech forest up the west arm of the Sabine river from the Upper Sabine bridge.  The day was warming up but we were nicely shaded in the trees.  The moss in the forest was spectacular - many stops for photographs - and checked out a cool a cave bivy.  Thevalley soon opened up with mountain views of Moss Pass to the right and Mt. Cupola back down the valley, and tall waterfalls visible along the mountain cliffs.  The trail then crossed multiple scree slopes andavalanche trails.  Then a 1km climb through an enchanting mossy bog, along cascades of the Sabine, with a last little bit of boardwalk protected bog before reaching the hut in a field of tall grass.  Blue Lake was vivid with turquoise and green colours.  There was one couple at the hut, Sarah Moore and Anthony (Ant) from Brisbane, and they were on a great hike that started in St. Arnaud and stayed high on the ridgelines as much as possible, and were to head south over Waiau Pass- Lake Thompson - Thompson Pass - D'Urville Pass - East Matakitaki Hut - Bob's Hut - Three Tarn Pass and out via the St. James walkway.  More people arrived, including the 6 Aussies we had seen on the bus; they had come over Moss Pass today. We found a nice but rooty tenting spot near the lake and set up the tent.  The lake does not properly outflow, instead, it has a choke of giant boulders, and about 20 meters later the river resurges out from under thick mossy vegetation.  We found that we could wash up in private after climbing through the boulders, and had an invigorating bath of sorts.  We came back into the hut to fix dinner and chat more with the Brisbane couple.  The hike they were doing sounded very challenging and remote, and we were wondering whether we had enough food to go that route.  After chatting more and taking photographs of route descriptions and Sarah's notes about the route, we had decided that if the weather held up we might try to head south via Waiau Pass, or swing back north to the D'Urville Valley via Thompson Pass/David Saddle.  The forecast Theo had photographed 3 days earlier back at St. Arnaud was not the most promising, and thus far the weather system had been doing as predicted (which is very unlike New Zealand, so it meant no matter what ... we did not need to decide until the morning).That night, it rained a fair bit, and was sticking to the weather forecast we kind of knew.  We had to decide whether to go over routes that required navigational skills in poor visability, or follow a more well known route over Moss pass.  In the morning, we decided to abandon the plan via Thompson Pass, and go over Moss Pass.  Even so, visibility from the hut upwards was fairly limited.  In the lower parts of the trail from the hut it rained, but as we climbed into the clouds that kind of diminished (not that it made a huge difference).  We said goodbye to Sarah and Ant; they were going to hang out at Blue Lake Hut for the day having a Scrabble tournament, hoping for better weather tomorrow to challenge Waiau Pass etc.The first hour of the trail climbs steeply through the speargrass and goes straight up a creek!  Occasionally the clouds would part and then fill back in, and once we were able to see all the way back to the hut and Blue Lake... and saw that Sarah and Ant had started the fire in the hut.  Sometimes we could see north down the Sabine for a bit, but then the clouds would come back.  As we gained elevation, the clouds socked in more and more.  Some wild animal (deer or other) watched us from the top of a ridgeline, and it did not like us being there and ran away, making some excited sounds.  The last bit up to Moss pass is a fairly steep rocky gully which had to be climbed carefully to avoid rock fall.  Then we were up on top, and the ridge had lots of vegetable sheep (we loved this vegetation that looked like circles of spun wool).  We were surrounded by clouds, and had been so for an hour already, but it was fantastic!We took a few pictures, with looks of glee on our faces, loving the fact that we were here in the mountains physically and mentally challenging ourselves.  We were solidly socked in, and could not see very far at all -- it was nice to have the trail markers, because nothing about the trail seemed to be a straight line, as it climbed down over large boulders and bypassed bluffs.  It also soon started raining, which meant that our visibility improved (when one is in the rain, it means one isn't in the clouds as much, so sometimes it is better), but as we got slightly lower the rain turned into sheets.Eventually it started getting steeper, and we could see trees down below us.  We entered into the trees and found ourself in the nicest "fairy" rain forest section ever, with lots of mushrooms, beads of water on the moss beards hanging from the trees, little waterfalls, steep and muddy sections through large trees with tons of roots, all still in the rain.  Slightly lower down the rain let up a bit as we entered much taller forest.  On one of our small rest breaks we stopped to adjust boots and all around us there were birds freaking out.  Normally we hear a few birds who are not so excited, and then some little one comes over and peeps at us insistently.. "disturb some soil for me!  i am hungry!  disrupt some beetles and worms!".. but this was different.  Suddenly there was a stoat running down the path towards us!  Then he stopped abruptly, as if he figured out what we were, turned and ran right back the way he had come.  Stouts are a major predator of birds and their young.We continued on down a trail that was starting to level more, crossed the bridge over the D'Urville river and then a soon were at the George Lyon hut.  Outside, there were massive amounts of sandflies!  We went inside and had a little bit of hummus (some sandflies inside the hut too) and decided to continue on to Morgan hut which was listed as 3-4 hours.  Although it was already fairly late in the day, we felt that it was better to extend this day a bit more, than add the distance onto the next day.Nadine put on her zoom boots and we made it there in 2 hours!  Just before we got to the hut, it started to rain really hard.  We met Lucy from Canberra inside, and she told us that her partner Paul was somewhere out along the river trying to catch a trout.  He had caught one a few days earlier on the Sabine River and maybe he would get another one here.  (He didn't.  We ate a huge pasta dinner instead!)All night it rained hard, and the next morning  it was raining even harder.  But we had a schedule to keep, so we started hiking anyways along the fairly flat trail towards D'Urville hut (10 min past the trail junction), where we made a soupy couscous for a lunchtime snack, happy that the sun had come out.  There was a nice dock at the D'Urville hut, and people could get dropped off here/picked up via a water taxi (even a radio in the hut to call for a taxi).Then we backtracked about 10 minutes up the trail, waded knee-high through the somewhat large D'Urville river (after two days of rain), and hiked around the edge of the lake for nearly two hours to Sabine Hut, with some purple mushrooms along the trail.  The sandflies were brutal when we arrived, and washing up outside meant 20+ bites to Nadine's legs and back!  There was an older Kiwi couple (Jeff and Pam from Taupo) in the hut who had wanted to climb Mt. Cedric tomorrow, but didn't seem to feel confident doing it in anything less than perfect weather.  The sun was out for a bit, but then the clouds rolled in and we could hear thunder claps above the hut.   Quite late in the day, Sarah and Ant arrived; the weather had stopped their attempt at crossing over to Thompson Pass (they got up past Lake Constance and turned around), and instead they had retreated down the Sabine valley towards this same hut.  As we were all chatting after dinner (Sarah and Ant having another Scrabble game!) two Californian guys (starting university classes at Massey University in Palmerston North on Monday) showed up even later with plans to leave at 4am to hitchhike to a reggae concert in Wellington.The next cloudy morning we decided to take a shot at hiking up Mount Cedric, and over it to Angeles Hut (bit exposed and weren't sure how bad the weather was going to be).  The route starts right beside the hut...well actually right at the toilets beside the hut.  It takes about 4 flat steps, and then goes up the hillside as steeply as it can!  It climbs rapidly through a forested slope, about 1330 meters elevation total.  We got to treeline in 1:50min, marvelling at the cloud layer below up with great mountain views all around us.  We crossed onto the grassy slopes of Cedric, and soon after that were once again on the rocks, with vegetable sheep around us, following a ridgeline in a weaving pattern to avoid drainage bowls on the left and right.  Just before reaching Angelus Hut we passed a DOC warden coming our way.  Angelus Hut (nice red hut) is situated in a beautiful basin with peaks all around it.  The large hut appeared empty, but there was a sole Japanese guy sleeping in the hut, oblivious to us for a while as we made lunch with our stove.  As it was still early (around 11:30am) we decided to keep hiking to Bushline Hut.  Just before leaving Sarah and Ant arrived, and they shared lovely little Mars bars with us as they made a lunch.  They weren't sure if they would be walking off the trail today or seeing us later at Bushline Hut.We continued along the ridge route, climbing a saddle on the rim of Angelus Basin.  The trail dropped down a scree slope, then climbs again to a second saddle passing over a high point knob along Robert Ridge at 1813m. The trail scrambles or sidles steep rocky outcrops along the ridgeline, passing an old ski field.  Mt. Robert was one of the first ski fields in NZ, now decommissioned.  Along the ridgeline the trail forks, and we took the trail to Bushline Hut, deciding that spending another night on the trail would be fantastic!At Bushline Hut (fantastic little hut with great views) we met some new people and met up again with some of the Aussies (Bruce and Jill from Melbourne were really cool, liked long distance hiking and preferred winter hiking).  They had been doing the low Speargrass route after heading down to Sabine Hut (they were there the night before us).  The tenting spots were a bit tight in the trees but we made do.  The rolling clouds made for fantastic sunset photos, and we settled in for our last night in Nelson Lakes.The next morning we ran (almost!) down the trail to St. Arnaud, with trail twisting and turning down the mountain side with views of Lake Rotoiti ahead of us.  We arrived at the DOC office with plenty of time to catch the 11:15am bus to Blenheim (where we would catch the train to Christchurch) but we found that this bus company had stopped this service (despite DOC still posting this service on their bulletin board!).  After a few frantic phone calls (we did not want to spend a night in sleepy St. Arnaud) we were able to book the K-bus and arrange a Nelson Lakes Shuttle to the Kawatiri junction.  After buying new clean t-shirts (we got great shirts!) and having a quick sponge bath in the washrooms, we were on the road and soon on the bus (celebratory ice cream at one of the stops), back in Christchurch by early afternoon!What a great adventure!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202477400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202477400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1202477400/tpod.html Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:13:49 -0500 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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St. Arnaud, New Zealand

See the DOC website for the Travers-Sabine Circuit at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/trackandwalk.aspx?id=36313 See a tramper's posting showing the additional loop we did from Blue Lake to St. Arnaud, ie. the D'Urville Valley track. http://www.tramper.co.nz/index.cfm?view=object&id=1151 Good topo maps to have are: St Arnaud N29, Murchison M29, Tarndale N30, Matakitaki M30 We had wanted to hike more remotely in the Nelson Lakes area (ie. Waiau Pass and south) but the DOC people in Christchurch had never hiked in those areas. We hadn't done a lot of research of the Nelson Lakes area in Canada as we had focused on getting our first two hikes in Tongariro National Park and Tasmania (Southcoast/Port Davey) organized. We weren't sure what the weather would be like on the south island, nor whether we would have injuries etc. which cause us to have to change our hiking plans. Thus we decided to hike a more straightforward type of loop, starting in St. Arnaud, hiking south along Lake Rotoiti to the Travers Saddle and up to Blue Lake, crossing Moss Pass and heading north down the d'Urville Valley to D'Urville Hut then Sabine Hut, and then up to Angeles and out via Robert Ridge back to St. Arnaud. We walked from Ashley's house around 7:30am to catch a city bus to downtown Christchurch to catch the K-bus to Nelson Lakes. There was a boisterous group of six Aussies on the bus, from a hiking club in Melbourne. This bus was a bit of a milk run, stopping at multiple cities, switching buses in Murchison and then finally arriving in St. Arnaud at 2:45pm. The six Aussies had caught a shuttle at Kawatiri Junction to Lake Rotoroa, then a water taxi to D'Urville Hut to start hiking up the valley. We shuffled a few things in our packs in front of the DOC office, put on some sunscreen and sandfly protection, and about one hour later we were hiking the fairly flat terrain along Lake Rotoiti on the Lakehead track towards the Lakehead hut. The nice part about our late start (4pm) is that there were very few dayhikers along this almost manicured trail.    Theo had brand new boots, so we took our time, arriving around 3hrs to Lakehead Hut. The first tent site we chose had to be abandoned when we found a dead possum hanging in a tree next to it. Yikes. There were traps all over the place, so perhaps it had poisoned itself and hung itself in the tree? Or someone had put it there as a sick joke? Dunno. We set up our tent (only tent) in a tremendous hurry as the sandflies were absolutely ferocious! Then we ate in the hut (only 6 people staying in the hut) , and pretty much at sunset we were going to bed after killing all the sandflies that had managed to make it into the tent (each time we opened the door, about 4-10 would make it in). We took pictures of the sandflies trying to get through the screen. Yikes. Next morning we were up very early, and after tearing down the tent and covering ourselves in sandfly protection we quickly used the stove to make our oatmeal. The lake (about 200m away) was covered with a layer of beautiful layer of mist. We set off, and soon had to put on our gaitors as the grasses were wet from the fog. The trail up to Travers proceeded on the eastern side of the Travers river for a fair ways before crossing over and continuing uphill on the other side. Most of the walking was fairly flat -- it would walk a grassy flat for a couple of minutes, maybe do a set track in the woods a bit away from the river, sometimes climb a bit to avoid an incoming creek gully, etc. On the whole this day was fairly boring, but we knew the exciting bits would come later. As Theo said halfway during the day, it felt like we were on an "access trail". We eventually reached the John Tait hut, with good views of the mountains, where we had a quick snack. The trail following the hut steepened slightly, and Theo's new boots started bugging him. The old boots (Raichle 4's) had been to a lot of countries, and on previous trips there had already been worries that they would not last much longer. And they had died after the South Coast Trail in Tasmania. Anyways, the new Raichle GTX's (purchased in Hobart) were causing some problems because they were brand new.  Some blister pads and a few chunks of closed-cell foam (cut pieces of our bum pads) were thrown on while a little rock wren hopped around us trying to eat things that we might have disturbed.  We actually missed the sign directing us toward the Travers Waterfall, and instead walked directly to it thinking we were on the trail.  The waterfall thunders down impressively into a clear pool with mossy rock all around and is a spectacular sight.  The waterfall was only 3 min off the main trail so definitely something not to pass up if you are hiking in the area. We continued up the track climbing and dropping a fair bit to avoid various avalanche slopes (all empty of snow).  After hiking in beech forest for quite a while is was nice to be above tree line with views of the Travers and St Arnaud ranges. Upper Travers Hut is a new hut situated on the alpine margin surrounded by scree slopes, and we found a lovely river-side campsite nearby under a gigantic tree. Since it was colder up here, there were almost no sand flies!  A couple was suntanning on the deck of the hut (probably weren't carrying sunscreen either!!). We washed up in the river and were drying washed clothes on bushes and a little bridge when a second couple came up to the hut also via the Sabine Valley. They also wanted to tent, and because we had the only cleared level tenting spot anywhere near the hut they continued further along the trail to find a spot. The poor little tanning couple looked so bored in the hut, peering at us as we busied ourselves with laundry duty and drying damp sleeping bags, cooking our food etc. We had a fantastic sleep with the river roaring right beside us. The next morning was the big day over Travers pass. We woke up to a slightly cloudy day, but no rain in sight. This side of the pass climbs about 450 meters from treeline into the grassy slopes with speargrass popping out all over the place (saw the spot the other couple were tenting tucked into the tussock, they were not up yet at 8am), then up onto very rocky slopes. The trail zigzagged through boulders and tussock, with mountain flowers and grasshoppers everywhere.  Eventually we reach some small tarns, and a moss called "vegetable sheep" starts appearing.  The views of the pass were 360 degrees with peaks and valleys all around (a strange thing we kept seeing in New Zealand is that passes would climb in the E-W direction, but the final top of a pass would run N-S, thereby placing one out of any wind). We dropped our packs and climbed onto a little outcropping for the view down the other side and close up shots of the veggie sheep.  After a snack we started our way down the > 1000m descent on the other side! The trail goes down through some loose rock for a little bit, then hits steep grassy slopes with a steep trail through it. Speargrass once again prolifirates amongst the grasses. We eventually reach a short section of beech forest, but after passing through it, we found ourselves faced with a 600 meter descent down a dry mud scree gully, which avalanches fill all winter long. That was a fairly horrid section of trail, and we were very happy that we hike with poles. This section eventually cuts into dry beech trees on the left, and we continued down a zig-zaggy trail for a while, with the forest becoming more moist as we got lower into the upper East Branch of the Sabine river valley. A bridge over the river showed us an extremely steep and deep gorge, and an easy trail after this eventually steepened and put us at a bridge on the West Branch of the Sabine river, near West Sabine hut (which we did not visit). We had a snack and played with another curious rock wren, and then crossed the river via a suspension bridge. At this point, most people doing the Travers-Sabine loop head down-valley, finishing up at the shores of Lake Rotoroa at the Sabine Hut.  But we were heading up towards Blue Lake, hoping the weather would hold the next day to cross Moss Pass.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1200756360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1200756360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1200756360/tpod.html Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:14:34 -0500 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Auckland, New Zealand

We made our way back to Auckland via a van shuttle to Taupo as we could connect to a bus there earlier to Auckland.  The trip was a bit more expensive but Rick the driver (same guy who drove us from National Park to Whakapapa Village at the start of our journey) drove up to the Hooker Falls to have a peek.  Water levels were low on the north island so the falls weren't that spectacular.  Caught the bus in Taupo, and we drove through the town of Tirau which has the most amazing corrugated metal buildings shaped like animals.Two days of rest and relaxation in Auckland.  We stayed at two separate hostels since places fill up so quickly in Auckland.  Base Backpackers was  in a huge skyrise and is an excellent place to stay.  Internet access at the hostel, private rooms with bathrooms if you like, laundry, cooking facilities, it was all right there!A lot of time was spent hunting for new boots for Theo, since his existing boots were starting to die.  Nadine got some pre-birthday wool shirts; the NZ Icebreaker line of super-thin 140 weight shirts looked unbelievably wonderful for hiking in!  They resist stinking, and were like enough to be cool in hot weather, yet should keep one warm in wet cool weather.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201994520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201994520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201994520/tpod.html Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:01:36 -0500 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Hobart, Australia

We arrived back in Hobart around 4pm, having had a private (seemingly) shuttle with David the bus driver from Scotts Peak dam back to our hotel, the Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel.  I had found a reasonable deal online for two nights in a studio apartment at this fantastic hotel, and we weren't disappointed.  We were on the 10th floor, in a large studio apartment with a kitchenette, dining table, couch, queen bed, washer and dryer.  We had room to spread out all our gear and then some.  We quickly ran back to the Astor hotel and picked up our small bag and paid for the room from over a week ago (Tildy had been ironing her skirt when we were checking out so she told us to pay when we were back in town).  Back at the hotel, we had to immediately get some clothes into the wash (the hotel provided laundry detergent) as we really didn't have any extra clothes other than the clothes we had hiked in.Long showers, clothes in the dryer, and we were almost ready for dinner.  After a discussion we realized that changing a leg of our flight (we were supposed to stay in Brisbane a night on Feb. 4th and fly out Feb. 5th before flying to Christchurch) would be useful, and after contacting Air New Zealand on phone we were able to change that leg to fly into Christchurch a day earlier (only a $50 change fee as we argued that their delayed flight a week ago had made us stay over in Brisbaned unplanned, which it had).   A quick walk down to the Woolworths (open 7 days a week, something like 8am -10pm every day) and we stocked up with some breakfast food and a possible lunch/dinner for the next night), and we ran famished to the wharf to hopefully eat at Fish Frenzy, the place that David the bus driver had recommended.  As we entered the place we realized that we had eaten there 2 years before, but tonight (Saturday) the place was much more busy and energetic than we remembered it.  The restaurant was actually completely full inside and out, with one lone table free for us!   We ordered fresh baked fish over Greek salads, with some calamari and chips (fries) as a side (carbo loading in full swing).  Glasses of wine were ordered as opposed to a bottle as we had learned from experience that our tolerance for booze was very low post-hike!After a great dinner we wandered a bit to Salamanca Square, but we were fading fast (it was almost 9pm!).  Back to the hotel and with full bellies we quickly fell asleep!On Sunday we continued cleaning clothes and sleeping bags, aired out the tent in our apartment (very big studio apartment!), updated our blog (hotel has internet for $5 day) and cooked dinner and managed to polish off a whole bottle of wine.  Another sleep with a full belly!On Monday we ran around town buying maps at the parks office (for future hikes!) and ran into a Canadian named Mike, who ironically had worked at Monique's on the West Coast Trail (Vancouver Island) the past summer.  He had served us burgers in July 2007!  He was doing some tramping and we gave him suggestions about hiking the South Coast Trail.  He would be back at Monique's likely for summer 2008, so we would keep our eyes out for him.  Off to the airport to catch our Virgin Blue flight to Brisbane, David met us at the airport and brought us Theo's computer and another small bag that we had left at his place.  David drove us to the international wing, we checked in for our flight to Christchurch and then had lunch with him and caught up a bit.  Then jumped on our Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch and arrived there close to midnight (after navigating immigration with our camping gear), having had arranged to stay at the Sudima hotel 400m from the airport.
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Hobart, Australia

We arrived in the afternoon in Hobart via a Virgin Blue plane from Brisbane.  We spent about an hour finalizing our two food bags that were to be airplane dropped in Melaleuca.  Tassair, a small local airline, operated flights in Tasmania and served a lot of trampers who wanted to fly in to Melaleuca and start the South Coast track there.  They also did food drops, which we needed for the mid-point of our hike in Melaleuca.  There office was right next to the Hobart Airport, so very convenient for us to drop off our prepared food bags (had got them together at David's house in Brisbane).   After running back into the Hobart terminal to get some alcohol and extra goodies for the bag, we finally handed in our two food bags with instructions for Tassair to also bring us some Shellite (white gas) and the day we needed our package delivered- we had to also provide a container for that gas so we left an empty plastic water bottle with the airline.Then a night spent wandering around Hobart, shopping a bit as we still needed to fill up the food bag we would carry for the first 5 days of our hike, sleeping again in the same Astor Hotel we used on our previous trip.  The next morning early, a 4 hour bus ride to Cockle Creek, the start of our hike...
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Brisbane, Australia

A visit to David and Alisa in Brisbane.David came and fetched us at the airport, and Theo's blackberry was very helpful at helping David get back home (he got nearly lost in his own town, much to our amusement, or at least we all played it up that way).  It was nice when we arrived, but 5 minutes into the car drive our bodies suddenly realized the shock they had been placed into!  It was sooooo hot, and sooooo humid!  We went to David's place and drank water and watched his cat Tickle who had learned how to open the back door.  His fiance Alisa arrived from work, and then we went to a Mongolian BBQ place (very good, and as David had explaind to Theo years earlier, all driving distances in Brisbane are brutally far).  Then they took us for ice cream at the mountain over looking the city, and we slept underneath roaring fans (with a Charlie sleeping on Nadine's feet) for the night.  We failed to get any photos of Brisbane other than photos of their cats!!In the morning David took us to the airport and we departed to Hobart for the start of our Tasmanian tramping adventure!
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Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

It took us a while to fall asleep at the Sudima Hotel in Christchurch, mainly because the time had shifted by two hours again from Tasmania.In the morning we called our friend Ashley to see about heading over to his place.  We didn't have his cell phone number though, so we hung out in the hotel reception interneting and running over to the hotel for breakfast food until we contacted him (thankfully I found that Ashley did email his cell phone number the night before and we caught him at the university).  Turns out the kids had already started their new term at school on the Monday, but Feb. 7th was a country holiday and they would have the day off then.  Ashley came and picked us up at the Sudima hotel, and we dropped off our bags at his place and he ran us downtown near the Dept. of Conservation (DOC) office so we could plan our next hike.  The DOC had moved though, and after a bagel and cream cheese we discovered it closer downtown.  Theo and I discussed hiking options with the DOC people (they are somewhat helpful but not so much for any area not near them) and eventually we decided that hiking in the Nelson Lakes area would be a good bet weather-wise.  The hike we envisioned would be a combination of the Travers-Sabine Circuit with the D'Urville Valley Track, and then we wanted to hike up to Angeles Hut (about a 1350m hike uphill) to spend our last day on the trail with a grand view.After a stop for some groceries we were back at Ashley's and walking to the nearby school to pick up Rosie and James.  Oh my how they had grown in the last two years!  Rosie was now a tall 11 year old, almost shoulder height on me.  And James had also grown, and now at 6 years of age could talk a mile a minute and almost run as fast!  We chatted with them on the walk back to Ashley's, and continued laughing and talking all through a home cooked chili dinner.  Poor Ruffus, their cat, had just had all his teeth pulled out at the vet's because they were diseased, but seemed to be recovering okay.  Tomorrow was a holiday, so they stayed up later, and the plan was to head over to the beach in the afternoon to try out some surfing and boogie boarding (Rosie had learned to surf during her recent summer vacation to the Sunshine Coast of Australia). 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201682340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201682340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nadine/4/1201682340/tpod.html Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:11:54 -0500 Tasmanian devils, poisonous snakes, annoying large parrots called Keas, grand snowy topped mountains and serene beaches, wild unpredictable weather, friendly Aussies and Kiwis, and no work for 6 weeks

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Junction Port Davey Track/Alpha Moraine, Australia

http://www.john.chapman.name/tas-wa.htmlWe had just almost finished the Port Davey Track, eaten the last bit of our hummus, and were sitting at the intersection sign ... 10km to trailhead, and the Western Arthurs standing behind us... and the land around us was scorched from a fire in the last year or so.  Continue hiking through the burnt button grass of the north western Huon plains -- which could (would. did. and again on the way down.) get soot on our backpacks, or climb from 300m to 1100m up into a Tasmania cloud-forest alpine environment, pretty much unique in the world?  You can guess which we chose.The Western Arthurs are done by some people as a week long traverse (perhaps by us, on a future trip), but the best parts (or at least, most visited and best) are in the north end.  The main way up is nearly a 1km vertical steep ascent up Alpha Moraine, thereby gaining the ridge line.  Once one reaches the ridge line it does not go flat.  The trail continues to be steep, up and down continually, as it tries to gain and lose the ridge line around rocky exposed sections.  Little alpine lakes tuck into both sides of the ridge line.  Or so we had heard :)  Details are sketchy.  Tasmanian parks does not publish any information for the hike, they recommend you "contact them".The best information is in Chapman's book... which is so badly out of print that every hiking store will (1) tell you to go to the library and photocopy it, and (2) moan about his next edition being late.With the sun beating on us, we started hiking up the ridgeline.  First, off, we had to climb through about 300 vertical meters of burnt eucalyptus forest.  The thin trunks are remarkably resistant, and scratched a lot against us.The steps up are nearly knee breaking -- 80 degree steps every single step.  The soil (mud when it rains) is perhaps only half a meter thick, and underneath the rock is quartz boulders and such.  The footholds are remarkably good and trustworthy.  With a 17km pack on the back, it is a formidable effort.  Luckily we had a wind from the north east to cool us a bit, and we climbed rapidly out of the dry lower levels.  We started seeing our friends the skinks (little lizards, which we saw so many of on the Overland Track two years ago).  Various other flowers started showing up.  Then we started seeing flowers we had not even seen on the Ironbound crossing of the South Coast Track.The hike steeped through giant boulders and gained a ridgeline of sorts, with views to all sides.  Being at 1100mnow, able to see bits of ocean peeking out in various places, Theo tried to see if his blackberry could get reception.  Nothing.  We could see perhaps 1/4 of Tasmania,and could not get cell phone reception.  Apparently such places still exist!In recent years this first section of the ridgeline track has been upgraded slightly by placing large flat stones (from the local area) to form a track, so that the boggy heath does not get too degraded by the traffic.  This probably also makes the walking a bit faster than it was in the past.  We continued over various dips and climbs, and the third lake we could see below us was Lake Cygnus.  To get there we had to climb something like 800m, then gain and lose 120m three times, and Lake Cygnus was a bit more than 200m below us!  We hiked down to the lake, where there was noone, and set up our lovely yellow tent on one of the wooden platforms (these also recently added to protect the area).  We filtered water, and basked in the sun.  Such a lovely area!  Nothing could go wrong! The lake had thousands of tadpoles swimming around in it, and the fields were full of insectivorous tendralled little plants.We ate a bit of extra food, since we had worked so hard that day (we were fools).  Some more people arrived later, but it was so lovely that we could ignore that.Early the next morning, it started to rain.  Looking out the tent, we could not see ... anything except fog.  We went back to bed, and checked again an hour later.  Then we checked again another hour later.  It seems like every 20 minutes it would rain, then start to show improvement.  We finally made oatmeal in our vestibule at 9:30am.By noon we had accepted our fate, and declared it a tent day (mainly because we believed tomorrow would be nice and we could still dayhike and hike out).  Our hope had been to day-hike to Lake Oberon (three lakes further along the ridge).  It became a much needed rest day.  Nadine read her book, and after finishing it, she stole Theo's book and finished it too.  Theo mostly napped.  Meals were looked forward to more eagerly than on previous days as there wasn't much to do.  Of course, some rationing had started, because we had eaten too much yesterday!Around 7pm it did finally start to clear up, and Theo jumped into his goretex and tivas, and ran up the next ridgeline.  There, he was surprised to see a fantastic sunset setting over the mountains and sea to the west.It rained again, and the tent was covered in large settled droplets, because the wind had slowed down.  That night was very cold -- we had to huddle very close in the sleeping bags.  The next morning revealed an incredible sight.  Over night the frost had settled so hard, and the tent had millimeters of ice caked onto it; dimpled with the rain droplets from the previous evening.  Everything that had been left out was frozen.  Plants around the area were also covered in a layer of frost.  These are very tough little plants -- able to be wet, and cold, and frozen all at once, and then the next day, in direct sunlight!The storm had passed, and we still had an opportunity to do our Lake Oberon daytrip, as long as we made it offthe mountain today as well.  We hurried onto the trail and found that the next section onwards (southwards) was even more up-and-down than the previous section had been!   We stopped for a numerous out of breath views, as the clouds and sun kept dancing around the ridgelines and summits.  We could see islands in Bathurst Harbour (which we had hiked all the way around on the Port Davey Track), and even the ocean beyond that, way in the west!  To the east the large Arthur plains stretched out, and various unknown peaks stood out in the distance.We paused for a while at Square Lake to catch our breaths, then headed up the big climb towards Lake Oberon.  (As you climb up that way, it becomes pretty clear why Square Lake is named thus, and from which direction it was likely named --- the south).  We reached the ridgeline to view Lake Oberon!  Wow.  It is not just the lake that is amazing, or the location, but the ridgelines visible behind it, and the vegetation one stands amongst that make it feel so unique.  It makes us really excited to do the whole traverse in the future.At this point in the trail, it is possible to do a quick little side trip, so we climbed up onto Mount Orion, scampering on the rocks most of the way up.  Then we turned around, and slogged our way down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up, back to our tent.  We packed it up as quick as we could, happy that the sun had come out and dried it up very nicely.We placed our (perhaps 15kg now) backpacks onto our backs and were basically in system shock going upthe climbs again!  Day tripping is so much easier!  We climbed the 200m out of the Lake Cygnus bowl, and started doing the ridgeline traverse back towards Alpha Moraine.  At that point, we decended it rather uneventfully back towards the burned out area on the plain, and roughly 3km later we were nearing Junction Creek campground.Two fellows who had just finished a 7-day Arthurs traverse told us that Junction Creek campground was full,so we found an isolated flat spot in the eucalyptus forest just a ways in from the edge of the burn, got water, and ate our very last dinner!  (The rationing system was fully in force now).A warm evening and coolish night without any rain was followed by eating reconstituted potato flakes instead of oatmeal for breakfast (all the food we had left), with the last of our coffee and hot chocolate, and then we set out (fairly late, since there was no point arriving early for the bus) towards Scott Peak road.  7km later of fairly hot (and mostly flat) walking saw us walking into the Huon River camp ground (ie. car camping), but a few times we were kept company by little birds that kept flying ahead of us down the trail and twittering.At Huon campground we washed up a little bit and hiked down the road to figure out where the bus might come from.  We eventually found it arriving entirely empty, and we were the only people who rode out on it -- all the way to Hobart!  We talked at length with the bus driver David about all sorts of things, and he was nice enough to stop somewhere for us to buy a snack since we were starving hungry!  On the way back to town, he took us on a cherry hunting expedition -- visiting farm after farm along the road hoping to get fresh cherries (sadly, the previous day was the last day that cherries could be bought at all the farms!)We arrived at our hotel in Hobart (Old Woolstore) where we had a little apartment booked for 2 nights... and immediately started cleaning our gear.... then we went to Fish Frenzy and had fish on a greek salad.  One glass of wine was almost enough to have Theo reeling :)  What a grand adventure we had!
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