tramping new zealand

Drizzle when I got up in the dark. But by the time it was light, 6 am, the skies were clear.

I was hoping the river wouldn’t be any higher after some overnight rain. In fact, the river turned out to be lower, but the crossings still took some thought.

I noted deer tracks on occasion over yesterday‘s footprints, so they are around. There were goat prints down on the other side of the climb, recognisable from the small hoofprints and round droppings.

It was easy enough getting down the first part of the river to the climb. Two river crossings and a scramble through a big rockfall. The forest has been affected by browsing animals, with the undergrowth sparse.

Also, large, old trees are absent, and it looks as if the earthquake shakes wipe them out on occasion. That realisation encouraged momentum.

The hill climb was maybe easier on the way out. The steep up had plenty of saplings to help drag me on my way. You get up in a hurry. The down is not quite as steep, so it is easier on the knees. There is also the knowledge that it’s gravel underfoot when you get back down to the river.

I’d learnt from my journey the day before about the river crossings and took a different route on the way back, at least to start.

The depth of the gravel is extraordinary. 6 to 8 m of gravel was washed down after the Kaikoura Earthquake, and much has now been deposited farther down the valley. Rather than cross at the dodgy point I’d managed on the way up, I kept on the true left for a while, bush bashing a bit, and scrambling along the top of gravel banks before having a point I could drop down to the valley floor.

I searched for a point to cross, made difficult by the steepness of the valley and the lumpiness of the rocks in the river. Ten more crossings, but my feet had remained wet from yesterday, so it didn’t matter much.

It always seems quicker on the way back, and soon I was back at the car.

Time for refilling the car and myself, then the drive to Hanmer for a couple of nights. To be honest, I didn’t mind sitting for a long drive one little bit.