2756 Arthurs Pass: White River - Avoca circuit, 11-16 March 2018
THE PLAN - This trip gets off the beaten track and follows a circular route taken by two guys back in Easter 2012. They did it in 4 days, 3 nights, staying every night in huts. Our goal is to take 5 nights, 6 days and camp a few nights.
We plan to park our cars and meet at the Bealey Hotel in AP on Sunday 11 March at 12 noon. We will then get dropped off at Klondyke Corner, and walk up the Waimakariri River to Carrington Hut 4-5hrs to overnight. On Monday we’ll go off track and head up the White River to overnight in a rocky alpine environment at Barker Hut at 1550m. 5-6 hrs.
On Tuesday we’ll scramble over White Col (1,748m) and down Burnet Stream to Weka Burnet Biv 6-8 hrs. Wednesday we’ll hopefully be heading down the Wilberforce river valley and up Bristed Stream to camp up valley somewhere under Half Moon Saddle, 6 hrs. Thursday it will be over Half Moon Saddle (1,851m), down to the Avoca River to camp by the river 6hrs. And on Friday we’ll go up over Jordan Saddle (1,409m) and out to the Waimak, either by going down Jordan Stream or up to pt 1875 then down Hut Spur and Bealey Spur to SH 73, to exit just east of Klondyke Corner, 6-7 hrs. And walk back to the Bealey hotel to overnight and enjoy fresh food and cold beer.
THE PHOTOS - available on FACEBOOK
2751 Stewart Island Southern Circuit, 23-28th February 2018 + Extra Time
Day One – Oban to Rakeahua Hut
The water taxi picked up the seven of us as arranged from Golden Bay Stewart Island. It was a relief to be setting off on Saturday morning 24th February as planned. Last minute flight cancellations had thrown “a spanner in the works”. We arrived at Fred’s Camp Hut full of enthusiasm and after a chat with the hunters at the hut set off up a very steep hill with laden packs to Rakeahua Hut. I would have preferred to have found my tramping legs with a flat stretch first, but no such luck. This was the Southern Circuit not the touristy Rakiura. The undulating track followed the coastline of Paterson Inlet for several hours. We stopped at one of the small bays to admire the scenery and the serenity of the surroundings. Bell birds could be heard and seen along the way. Our lunch stop found us close enough to the shore to scramble down to explore. Later in the day David’s bright yellow pack cover slipped off unnoticed which meant he had to retrace his footsteps back to retrieve it. This gave me a chance to take a breather. Later in the afternoon the track left the coast and followed the Rakeahua River inland for about three kilometres. There were some short steep sections, marshes and some mud, but overall compared with what was to come on the next two days this was a comfortable leg. We did not meet other trampers and arrived at our destination to find we had the dinky little 6 bunk hut to ourselves with John tenting some distance away in a sheltered spot just out of earshot. Scribe: Lois
Day Two – Rakeahua Hut to Doughboy Bay Hut
I awoke in my tent expecting a dawn chorus at least as vibrant as the dusk chorus of Bellbirds we had enjoyed the previous evening - nothing! Maybe the bellbirds had been kept awake by the kiwi screeching and weren't keen on a sing-song. Rakeahua hut provided all the comfort necessary for breakfast and packing, and soon we were ready (as we would ever be) for the track to Doughboy bay. Weather wasn't wonderful or promising much so we were in wet weather gear pretty well from the start. The track follows the true right of the Rakeahua River - not that you would know it as river, track and swamp blend as one in this low, flat valley. It's a long slog up the valley and great fun was had slipping and sliding and disappearing into the mud thigh deep. Eventually, we began to climb a slow gradient up swamp on the side, or top, of a hill. The hill is only 400m asl but the vegetation became very thin, short and patchy leaving us exposed to the westerly (horizontal) rain in our faces. We had to press on or chill, and eventually got into better bush cover as we descended a rocky, twisted, and gnarly creek heading for the beach. Occasional views showed a stormy rocky coast, and it was a relief to get to the beach, and the hut (note: "Sea lion gate" on the boot porch). There's quicksand at the bottom of the track on the beach - which David found to his displeasure. We also found huge amounts of fishing rubbish along the beach and spent our evening stroll gathering armfuls to add to the rubbish dump near the hut. Scribe: John
Day Three – Doughboy Bay Hut to Mason Bay Hut
Wonderful - no rain as we started with a steady muddy climb through bush. Our reward was the amazing clear view missed the day before, this time from Adams hill. In the distance our goal, Mason Bay, looking close but still a lot of bush to walk through. The terrain had its challenges at times scrambling up and down muddy banks, the usual for trampers! Eventually we emerged onto beautiful Mason Bay beach for a pleasant 3 hour walk to the hut. Scribe: Helen
Day Four- at Mason Bay
It was good to have a day at Mason Bay. We climbed to the top of the hill behind the hut and were able to see a few of the bays. The day was clear so the view was grand. This dune area DoC are letting regenerate with native plants and we were able to get some great shots of a variety of plants. John tried one of the blue berries that was growing on the dune and said it tasted like grapes. None of the rest of us was keen to take the risk to try one but John survived. We came back for lunch and later went to have a look at the Island Hill homestead 10 minutes away from the hut. The volunteer DoC ranger was staying there and we were able to have a chat with him about volunteering and the history of the area. Scribe: Judith
Day Five – Mason Bay Hut to Oban
We breakfasted early and set out from Mason Bay Hut for the last leg of our tramp but came to an abrupt halt near the historic Island Hill Homestead and spent some considerable time watching a kiwi hunt out his breakfast. Not hard to see why kiwis were standard kai in years gone by, large chunky legs with a nice round body. This bird was quite at home amongst the remains of a long abandoned farming venture. There was an old woolshed nearby alongside which was a David Brown Cropmaster. Many moons ago when I was a schoolboy I drove one of them on our farm. We headed off towards Chocolate Swamp, following an old road that had been formed by cutting parallel drains about 3 meters apart. It had been constructed at the time of the Great Depression in the years of the ‘work created job schemes’. It must have been soul destroying work, progress was approximately 3 meters a day. After about 5km we came to a long board walk that crossed the actual swamp [don’t know how the tractor had negotiated that] then continued on the old road to Freshwater landing and our rendezvous with the water taxi that took us back to Oban.
Day Six – Ulva Island tour
On a rather damp morning Fiona, Judith and I caught the water taxi from Golden Bay wharf for the short trip to Ulva Island for our guided walk with one of the locals. From the wharf you can see the only buildings on the island, the old Post Office established in 1872 and the meeting point of the Paterson inlet community until it closed in 1923.
Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara is one of the few pest-free open sanctuaries in New Zealand. The bush was not milled at all and cats, mustelids and possums never inhabited the island but rats were a problem. In 1992 an eradication programme began and in 1997 the island was declared rat free. The highlight was seeing a large flock of yellowheads (mohua) move through the bush feeding and calling to each other as they went. I was amazed at how bright the yellow is on their heads. We also saw plenty of raucous saddlebacks (tieke), screeching kakas, nosey wekas on the beach, kakariki, bellbirds (korimako), Stewart Island robins (toutouwai) and heard riflemen (tītitipounamu) but couldn’t spot them. A great place to visit and worth paying the extra for a guide so you know what you are seeing. Scribe: Margaret
Day 7: Port William to Oban
With one day left to explore the island, Margaret and I caught the 8am water taxi from Halfmoon Bay north around the coast to Port William Hut on Rakiura Track. It was the first day of the oyster season and when we arrived at the jetty near the hut there were 3 boats of cowboy oyster fishermen from the mainland tied up side-by-side along the whole jetty where they’d spent the night. Our handsome young taxi driver gave them a short shift and then we were deposited like royalty on the end of the Port William Jetty with all the very grumpy boaties looking on. The walk back towards Oban followed the coastline all the way. Some of the small sheltered bays we passed along the way had such clear blue water and idyllic little rocky islands that we could have been anywhere in the Pacific Islands, … not in the deep … deep south.
The sands on this side of the island were golden as opposed to the white sand down near Mason Bay. We exited the NP via the iconic massive orange steel chain which arches over the entry/exit to the NP and disappears into the sand onshore, symbolising the link between Stewart Island and the South Island. We were enjoying the sunshine so much we decided to take the long road home via the coastal track between Horseshoe Bay, out to Horseshoe Point and back past Braggs Bay and Butterfield Beach to Halfmoon Bay and Oban. The day turned into a 17km/ 8 hour hike in the end. A quick stop at the Salmon Shop with the honesty box – again, then we finished the day off at the South Sea Hotel. This was becoming a regular stop for us all during the week we’d been on the island. Our home away from home on Stewart Island. The South Sea Hotel was the coolest spot. The place was buzzing every day with a mix of locals and tourists all happy to rub shoulders and eye each other furtively from their respective corners of the bar. The locals were a mix of weather-beaten fishermen and oyster farmers in old woolly hats and thick fingerless gloves, DoC workers and the various foreign casual staff employed on the island during the summer season.
To cap off our trip, our flight out next morning was grounded due to fog - so we were advised by Stewart Island Air that we had exactly 10 minutes to get ourselves down to the jetty to catch the 8am ferry off the island or we’d have to wait until noon for the next ferry or for the fog to lift. (Margaret and I sprinting down to the wharf fully loaded wasn’t a pretty sight). And of course, we’d miss our connecting flight from Invercargill. This was on the back of our whole group having our flights down to Invercargill cancelled the night before we flew out of Hamilton and we all had to scramble to get there the long way around in the first place! Not as easy to get to and from as you’d think is Stewart Island, but absolutely worth the effort. Awesome week. Scribe: Fiona
Trampers: Lois R, John McA, Helen M, Judith B, David P, Fiona G and Margaret R.