Hanging in Christchurch/ Woolentines Day!
Trip Start
Jan 11, 2008
1
15
16
Trip End
Feb 22, 2008
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
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)
01) Hanging in ChCh...
. 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
02) James packed up to go to Canada!
. 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. 
