28 Dec Geraldine to Harper river
We decided to skip the section between the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers. Lots of snow grass and Spaniards (spikey plant) not much fun. The spikes go straight through gaiters, socks, skin, legs.
Wayne picked us up from Geraldine and took us to the Harper River Trust campsite. This avoided the 28km road walk from Lake Coolaridge.😊
It had been raining in Geraldine the past two days. The further we got into the mountains the better the weather got. The forecast for tomorrow was rain so we headed upstream towards Hamilton hut while the weather held. We made it up 10km where we found a sheltered spot next to a creek.
29 Dec Harper River to Hamilton hut
Overnight we had a shower or two but the tent was mostly dry. We packed up early and headed off to Hamilton hut (aka the Hamilton Hilton) before the rain started. Lots of crossing the Harper River! I lost count after 20.
The hut had a few SOBOs waiting for the rain to clear. Lots of stories. Murray joined in the card game they were playing.
The early SOBOs headed off after the rain cleared only to be replaced by a new batch. The 20 bed hut was almost full by mid afternoon. They were a fun group. We were in hiker overload. Seen more hikers in one afternoon than the previous couple of weeks combined.
30 Dec Hamilton Hilton to Bealey hut
All the SOBOs were up and gone at dawn. Their alarm went off at 5.30am. Excellent hut etiquette, we didn’t hear most of them leave.
We did hear the possums overnight. They spent hours scouring the outside of the hut looking for food and a way in.
Today was a 16km walk up the Harper River and over Lagoon Saddle. A couple of suspension bridges to start with followed by a lot of river crossings.
There are two huts along the way. The first is West Harper hut. It’s a historic hut built from saplings and tin and some mice. Mostly it is in original condition. A lot of SOBOs avoided staying there. The huts to the south are generally in poorer condition than the north. So they will have to Lower their expectations as they go.
The next hut is Lagoon Saddle A frame. It is a modern hut built as a refuge in case walkers or skiers get caught out by bad weather.
Fantastic views from Lagoon Saddle of Arthur’s Pass and the Wiamakairi River.
The last hut of the day is Bealey hut. A small 6 bunk hut. We stayed here the night.
31 Dec Bealey hut to Christchurch
Easy downhill walk to highway 73 and along to the bus stop at the Bealey Motel (way out of our price range). Where we sat around in the rain till the bus turned up. No bus shelter 😩. Pauline improvised in the hotels mail box.
In Christchurch we have a couple of days off organising the food for the last three big sections. Two of seven days and one nine day. They are also some of the most challenging terrain. We are trying to keep our pack weight down so lots of creative shopping to do!
3 Jan Christchurch to Klondyke Corner then Goat pass hut
NZ Post and public holidays have kept us in Christchurch longer than we wanted. The Kiwis take the 1st and 2nd of January off as public holidays so we can’t pick up our bounce box or the food drop Dave couriered to us from Oz till the 3rd.
Today we posted off a food drop to Boyle Village (7 days food) and another to St Arnaud (9 days food).
Boyle Village is a school camp that will store TA hiker food drops. We expect to be there in 7 days.
St Arnaud is a small town with only a small market in the servo. It does have an excellent lodge with a good restaurant. We stayed there last time we did the TA. They will also store TA food drops.
After all the logistics were done we caught the bus back to Arthur’s Pass.
The weather forcast is for rain in two days. We don’t want to come down the boulder field from Goat pass in the rain so we hiked in from where the bus dropped us to Goat pass hut that night. We arrived just before dark and were lucky enough to get a bed😊.
Goat pass is part of the famous Coast to Coast race. The track up (down for us) the river is full on.
4 Jan Goat pass hut to Morrison footbridge camp
This morning was special. Pauline actually ate some porridge! One of the other trampers had cooked up a huge batch and was offering it around. She never eats porridge🐷.
We were the last to leave. The plan was to walk out the 16km to near the main road and camp. Then walk the 10km to Boyle Village tomorrow.
Hours of bouldering and multiple river crossing later we camped for the night.
It took us 9 hours to do the 12km from the hut to where we camped about 2 km up from Morrison Bridge. Lost count of the river crossings.
The race is due to run in Feb so there are lots of runners doing training on the track. At least 30 of them passed us going the other way. Pretty tough race.
5 Jan Morrison Bridge to Kiwi hut
It rained a lot overnight. Not heavy just consistant. Not enough for the river to be up.
So we packed up in the rain and headed off. We crossed the Deception River twice more before we made it to Morrison Bridge.
At the Bridge we could see some other TA walkers on the other side. They had just come the way we wanted to go so we worked out from them the best route with local Intel.
The reason we wanted the Intel is there was a lot of conflicting notes on the best way to do it. The high water track is painful, lots of up and down and muddy roots. One section is over cliffs above the river that you can’t avoid. The result was we followed the north bank of the Otira for a couple of km. Then scaled the bank up to the high water track. Traversed above the cliffs then dropped back to the river.😜
Then it was follow the 4×4 track up river through the gorse and rock strewn river bed. There was one more big river to cross, the Taramakau. Again we used the local Intel instead of the conflicting notes and picked a good line about 1km East of Pfiffer Creek. I think this was probably too early but worked out OK. From there it was follow the old 4×4 track to Kiwi hut. A long day!
6 Jan Kiwi hut to Locke Stream hut
Kiwi hut is being refurbished so we slept amongst the building materials along with another couple. The hut was surrounded by the most aggressive swarm of sandflies we have encountered so far. Every time the door was opened a new batch would descend on us😩😩
The walk up river from here made up for the sandflies. Really pretty valley with long grass pasture surrounded by mountains covered in beech forrest.
Only 8 km for the day. Seniors day off lounging around Locke Stream hut.
7 Jan Locke Stream hut to Hurunui Hut No 3
A steady start to the day following the river upstream. We had dry shoes socks and pants for a whole 15mins before the first river crossing.
The river must come up a lot as there is a suspension bridge over the Taramakau. Even though we had spent 30 mins walking in the river bed as any trail had long been washed away.
The Trail then left the river for a 400m climb over Harper pass. No problem for the seniors 😉.
The afternoon was a steady descent through ancient Beech forrest. Really pretty!
We are seeing more and more SOBOs each day. All nationalities. Mostly German, Dutch, French, American, Japanese and Australians.
8 Jan Hurunui Hut No 3 to Hope Kiwi Lodge
Blue sky day today😊. We started out wandering along the grass river flats. After the first creek crossing the track headed back into the forest for more mud and roots. I decided it was easier to stick to the grassy flats. We crossed the Hurunui river and walked the length of the valley down to Lake Sumner in open fields. Much easier and faster than the forest.
By lunch time we had made it to where I had planned to camp. So on we went all the way to the next hut. All up 28km for the day. Great effort by the seniors!
Hope Kiwi Lodge is an old pine kit home with a huge kitchen and two bedrooms. We spent a comfortable night with a very interesting group of TA walkers.
9 Jan Hope Kiwi Lodge to Boyle Village
Pretty easy walk through Beech forrest for the morning. While we were having lunch a few other TA walkers and some day walkers went past. The day walkers suggested they could give us a lift if we were out at the main road car park when they got back. So out to the road we went and tried out hitching. The first car we saw came out of the car park and gave us a lift😁. Pauline was a happy camper. 10km later we we arrived at Boyle Village for a day off and a shower.
10 Jan Boyle Village
Seniors rest day. Lounging around in the cabin. Washing clothes, shower, eat, sort out food for the next section.
11 Jan Boyle Village to Boyle Flats hut
We had a slow start to the day. Said goodby to the SOBOs we shared the cabin with. Then headed off with 7 days of food to get over Waiu pass to St Arnaud. We seem to be carrying more food. Not sure if it’s just because we are hungry.
The TA Trail here is part of the St James walkway. It has formed paths and bridges! Very civilised compared to what we have gotten used to. So civilised that we can walk at normal pace of about 4-5 km/hr. We did the 15km to Boyle Flats hut by lunchtime.
A lot of SOBOs dropped in after we arrived. They were all heading through to Boyle Village. That’s a 32km day if they stopped at Anne hut the previous night.
Overnight we shared the hut with a Nepalese walker who is doing the TA to raise money for schools in the Kumbu region where he comes from. He met up in the hut with his mentor who stayed overnight. He had bought in a lot of treats for him. We got the leftovers a Back Country dehydrated desert.
12 Jan Boyle Flats hut to Anne hut
A blue sky day. An easy walk along the river flats up to Anne Saddle. Then a long descent along more river flats. Another easy day for the oldies. 17km all up, we were in the hut before 2pm.
Anne hut is another example of what should have been built on the Grampians Peaks Trail. Sleeping platforms for 20 people. Insulated, double glazed, big eating and cooking area and a large verandah to dry stuff on.
13 Jan Anne hut to Waiau hut
Another blue sky day. We are watching the weather again. Tomorrow we go over Waiau pass 1860m and very exposed.
Off early, just after 7am before it gets hot. Today is good 4×4 tracks and river flats most of way. All up it’s 27km for the day.
Really scenic Valley with large mountains on all sides. Only one significant river crossing for the day. The Ada River. It is lower than last time we did it. Only knee deep.
We got to the hut about 3.30pm. In time to get a bed each😀
14 Jan Waiau hut to Blue Lake hut.
An easy start to the day, 3km of river flats. We knew this wouldn’t last. The valley got narrow and a lot more rocky. We left Waiau hut at 6.45 and made the forks campsite by 10.
From forks campsite the real climb starts. It’s a 750m climb in 3km. Parts of it are basic rock climbing.
The weather held out till we got to Waiau pass so we got good views. The wind was howling and we could see the cloud coming in. Pauline lead the descent. 500m down on scree and rocks in about one km. Lots of scree skiing.
By the time we made the bottom at Lake Constance the rain had started. So it was a wet 4km traverse to Blue Lake hut. Lucky for us the fire was going and we could dry every thing out.
The Docs sign at the start advise this pass takes 7-9 hours. The oldies did it in 6 hrs 😉..
15 Jan Blue Lake hut to West Sabine hut
The hut was full last night (20 beds). Lots of SOBOs hoping the weather would clear.
A seniors day off. 8km following the West Sabine River downstream. Still took three hours of roots and rocks. So only a partial day off.
Meeting lots and lots of SOBOs. The huts are now full of them. We also met another walker doing the TA for the second time. She is doing both islands. Like us she is now hitching or bussing around a lot of the road walking. Apparently a lot of the forrest walks on the north island are closed due to kauri die back. She has advised that there is a lot of SOBOs in the Richmond Ranges now. The huts in the Richmonds are typically 6 or 8 bunks so not much chance of a bed.
Tomorrow we have a big climb up over Travis Saddle. 1100m climb over 7km. Followed by 1000m descent over 7km to John Tait hut. The SOBOs are saying the descent is a good track.
16 Jan West Sabine hut to John Tait hut
West Sabine hut was packed last night. It sleeps 30 people. There were a lot that camped as well. Will see if we get a bed at John Tait hut tonight.
Today was only 14km but took 9hrs. The big climb only took 4hrs. Spectacular views from Travers saddle. The track down to John Tait hut was slower and rougher than we anticipated. A long day!
The hut warden at John Tait hut (Mike the legend) had cooked up a batch of scones with jam and was handing them out to everyone. Trail magic😀. Some different food.
Tomorrow we have a 24km walk down to St Arnaud along the shores of Lake Rotoiti. Planning on camping in the Motel for a couple of nights.
17 Jan John Tait hut to St Arnaud
Murray had a bed for the night. We chose to sleep in the tent. The hut was hot inside and the mattresses were worn out. As they are in every hut.
The track to St Arnaud via Lakehead hut was an improvement but still slow going. We made Lakehead hut by lunchtime. The locals let us know the water taxi was leaving in 30 mins. So quick lunch and on to the boat. Saved us 10km of flat walking around the lake. Pauline and Murray are happy campers.
The next section is the Richmond Ranges. It is brutal for 9 days. Pauline had a fall this morning and jarred her back. Murray has had a nagging issue with his knee. I am really tired. We all decided that our old bodies are telling us to stop the madness! So we have decided to stop at St Arnaud. We have done the trip SOBO already so don’t need to prove anything. Best to preserve the old bodies. There are lots of other places we want to go so the Richmond Ranges can wait.
Off to Nelson tomorrow and on a flight home Friday. Going to eat and sleep a lot. 🙂