Just passing through
Trip Start
Dec 06, 2006
1
41
188
Trip End
Ongoing
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Hurunui,
New Zealand
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The next day I thought I'd try and get to Lake Sumner. The only route in was a gravel road which after a very dull straight section soon lead to a very nice valley. This continued for some time until Lake Taylor where the road was closed off by a gate. I went to open it, when a woman sat in a 4x4 asked if I was planning on driving around the lake. Yes, I was planning to, was my cunning reply. She then told me that after so long I'd reach some sheep and asked if I'd drive carefully. As far as I could tell she spends her days doing this as she was still sat there when I got back. So, off I went and sure enough there were a load of sheep, so I belted my horn, revved my engine and got out and chased after them screaming and firing a gun. Just jesting, I drove carefully, but then I was driving carefully anyway.
Whilst she was sat there, smug in her high ground clearance 4x4, she failed to tell me that my Subaru didn't have a prayer of making it along the road around the lake. I knew it was a 4wd road, but thought I'd give it a go. After a few bumps and scrapes, and thuds and clunks I thought better of it, abandoned hope of seeing Lake Sumner and turned back. If only my roadster was fitted with bad boy hydraulics, useful in farmer fields as well as traffic lights aiii, I'd have been alright.
001 on the attempted drive towards Lake Sumner
I then had to think of where to head next so I decided on heading in a loop around Lewis Pass.
I drove around to Lake Daniels to do a walk. Magic. It was 8.4km to the hut and was fairly level easy going apart from one section where the track disappeared for a bit leaving only boggy wet stuff. I chanced my arm, well, my left foot and planted it in some green stuff. Previously I'd learnt that green stuff usually has roots of some description and so it's usually solid enough. I was wrong, green in this case meant lush and wet and my foot got wet. I then panicked and stepped on to my right thinking I was fleet footed enough to simply float on my tippy toes to drier land. Shock of shocks, the right foot went in a pile of mud and I panicked and before you knew it I was jumping around like a maniac dipping my feet into a variety of wet and muddy boggy stuff. This viscious circle of jumping ended abruptly when my right shoe came off. After a couple of hops I was back on terra firma but realised that there was nothing for it but to get my toes thoroughly soaked and recover my shoe. That was it for excitement, the hut was hut-like and as I was nearing the west coast, I was attacked by several ever friendly sand flies as I tried to munch on some sarnies.
I got back to the car and set off around Lewis pass. The drive through the pass was very nice indeedy and by the time I was on the other side it wasn't far off starting to get dark so I had to think about where to lay my head. I had a look at a DOC campsite but didn't fancy it so decided to head straight to my next destination; Arthur's Pass.
It was then a race against the clock, could I make it in time to get my tent set up before darkness fell? Nope. I stopped at Lake Brunner as the sun was setting and took some photies. I then took a few more not far down the road as it was disappearing. It was a nice sunset, but it of course meant that I had limited time to bomb around the corner to Arthurs Pass before darkness.
I've not done much night time driving so it maybe wasn't the best place to start, but I got there about 9.30. I ignored the various brown signs telling me about the great viewpoints as by then it was pitch black and headed straight for the DOC shelter to get my tent set up using my headlights
