tramping new zealand

After the heavy rain of yesterday, this morning was almost cloudless.

A good day for a short day walk into one of the old gold mining areas around Reefton. Plenty of old tracks to explore and the odd unseen hut.

Today was the Murray Creek Hut, which isn’t located in Murray Creek for some reason, but rather Burkes Creek.

I left from Reefton, on foot and marched up into the hills, mostly on well-benched tracks in the beech forest. Views over Reefton and then high views were splendid.

Several gold mines were passed, one started in 1871, and the heavy machinery, steam engines, and various massive winches had somehow travelled in pieces from Birmingham or wherever, and then been hot riveted together up some remote valley.

The Inglewood mine had some intact pieces of machinery from that era, with the shaft going down 167 m, more than 50 stories.

That was the end of the line.

I was greeted there by two conflicting signs.

One indicated the stamping battery, where I wanted to go, was 400 m or a 10-minute walk, and the other stated Track Closed.

It seemed that track maintenance had been forgone for the last 20 years, as the track was severely overgrown.

Finding the hat wasn’t easy, as it wasn’t visible from the creek clearing where three old cyanide settling ponds were located. I thought it would be best to avoid them and bash up the hill until the decrepit hut came into view.

I guessed the last person had stayed there many years before.

A narrow benched track headed back along the contour, but ¾ of the way, it hit a stream and it became hard to relocate the contour.

Instead, I dropped, almost literally, to the creek 50 m below and climbed up to the stop/start track on the other slope that I’d come down. I don’t think this took 10 minutes.

For some reason, mostly because I enjoy exploring, I continued on a circuit to Woodspoint. This part proved more populated as I encountered eight self-propelled mountain bikers, powering up the hill past me as I descended.

Almost at the bottom, I ran into a couple who had two weeks in New Zealand and had decided that a walk in the woods behind Woods Point was the exact place they wanted to be. We walked together for five minutes, and then they reached their car.

Did I want a ride to Reefton?

Yes, Siree.

It was only about 3 km, but before 5 pm, I was at my car, changing my grubby clothes and heading for Marble Hill.

Somehow, this day walk hadn’t been as crazy as I’d anticipated, but it was just the Little Adventure I enjoy.