The Pom’s get lost in the north of the south or was it the west

---

It was still raining as we left our Picton campsite late in the morning and set out along the Queen Charlotte Drive that wiggles its way west along the crinkly coastline of the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Still, we did get a few patches of dry weather and saw plenty of pongas (or tree-ferns as you probably know them) on the way. After another unlucky camp site spotting session we finally found a place, miles out of our way by the side of the Moetapu Bay Road. Once parked up we managed a quick walk in the rain to give us some fresh air and make us feel like we had done something useful before retiring to the jolly old camper for the night.

The next morning brought blue sky and sunshine and a lovely drive to the nearby Havelock. After a quick look at some expensive art and a chat with the nice Tourist Information man we continued westwards to Nelson, the biggest town at the top of the South Island. Here we hiked out to a place called Cable Bay, so-called because of the first electrical link to the north island being landed here. The walk turned out to be a bit longer than we anticipated and we did the last half an hour by torchlight, but made it back the van safely before driving a few km’s back out of town to a deserted picnic spot for the night. The following day we paid a visit to the centre of Nelson (in the rain again) for a quick look around and the now regular email correspondence with various companies in Ecuador about trips in the Galapagos, which it was becoming apparent were almost fully booked even though we were looking at arriving in 4 months time.

We had a slightly strange experience whilst in town, returning to the campervan to find the driver’s door wide open. Nothing seemed to have gone and we are still unsure whether we were broken into or I had just left the door open! It seemed very odd that I would do that considering how paranoid we are, with break-ins a particular problem at tourist spots where it is not uncommon to return to the car park and find your life’s possessions gone. I guess Lexa’s right and old age is kicking in earlier than I thought...

With little in the way of aims or objectives, I had started scouring the map for something interesting (and free) to visit. What I found were a couple of abandoned mine symbols just south of Nelson in the hills at the end of the Aniseed Valley and after an hour or so we were camped up by the Roding River in a car park at the end of a long unsealed road. With a few hours of daylight left we took the opportunity to get a quick walk in and started off toward the nearest old mine site shown on the map. With the swing bridge out of action due to damage by recent flood water, we had to walk past a house to get to the start of the track and as we passed a smiling lady came out and asked us whether we knew where we were going, how long we were going to be and to sign the visitors book. It turned out she and her husband were caretakers of the land and kept an eye on who was out walking. Anyway, she recommended a short walk, told us that it was fine to camp down in the car park and that we should pop in for a cup of tea when we returned. Feeling suitably welcomed we set off for a nice walk, a few rock-hopping river crossings (Lexa’s first ) and some fun exploring the abandoned mine workings. There were a few locals out with their kids who were surprised to see us in what wasn’t a normal tourist destination, but were very friendly all the same. Taking a slightly different route back along an old tramway we ended up tramping back down the main forest road just as dusk hit. To our surprise about 20 minutes from the car park a quad bike came trundling up the hill towards us and Neil stopped and introduced himself as the husband of the lady who had talked to us earlier. They had begun to get a bit worried when the sun set and we weren’t back.

In our defence we had torches and as we were on a vehicle width track we weren’t about to get lost, but all the same we weren’t about to refuse a trip home on the back of the bike together with his dog! With Ruth happy that we were in one piece, they gave us tea and cake, let us use the shower and then asked if we wanted to stay for dinner! We had a very pleasant evening learning about what being a forest caretaker involves, learning how to catch wild pigs (including being shown some of the recent kills) and being shown the river monitoring equipment that is part of the Nelson water supply system. Mentioning that we were interested in doing a longer walk the next day, Neil produced maps and photo’s of the area that we were heading into and described the route, warning us that the markers were rather hit and miss in one area, but that with a bit of luck we should be able to find the path OK. Suitably fed and watered we were driven back to van on the quadbike to save us tip-toeing through the ford in the dark.

The next morning we popped into say hello and after more tea, headed out into the hills. All went well for the first half of the walk and we stopped for lunch at another mine site before making our way an hour up through steep forest to a ridge where the ‘less distinct’ part of the route started... Neil’s instructions to head along to the 3rd ‘knob’ and then follow the ridge down to meet up with the main path again had made so much sense the night before... Twenty minutes later we found what we thought was the path breaking off to the left and down the ridge as planned. This clear easy track quickly dissolved and brought us to a hands-and-knees crawl to make headway. We knew Neil had said not many people come up here and that he needed to do some clearing, but this was ridiculous! I think we battled through some stunningly thick undergrowth for about an hour, reaching bluffs that sent us back on ourselves and areas of bush so dense that we couldn’t proceed. With the troops flagging, knowing that we were running out of daylight and with Neil’s words ringing in my ears ‘if all else fails retrace your steps...’ - we decided that a tactical retreat was called for. Getting back up to the main ridge was not an easy feat, being both steep and rather ‘off-road’ still. Anyway we got there, at about 3.45 - 4.00pm, with only 1.5 hours of daylight left if we were lucky.

At this point we were at the top of the steep and slippery forest section, well marked but not Lexa’s favourite! All credit to her, with the help of some sweets and despite her very painful knees that had already taken a battering, a bad cut to the hand that meant holding onto trees on the way down was painful and her will to live fading we made it down in record time. All this time we were thinking that Neil would be heading out soon to see if we were alright and it was still 45mins walk to the forest road which he would take. Whilst I knew that we could get back safely now, if he assumed that we had taken the route as agreed, he would follow the forest road straight past and go further into the park to look for us. So, once on the relatively flat tram track back to the forest road, I left Lexa with a torch, whistle and more sweets to continue at a slower pace whilst I ran on to catch Neil on the road and avoid a fruitless search. Getting there, I left our packs across the track to indicate that we were around and headed back to find Lexa. To my surprise she was only about 5 minutes behind, half way across the river and hadn’t really gone that slowly at all! Anyway, with dusk just falling and happy that Neil wouldn’t have passed that point yet, we headed homewards. Twenty minutes later, after the final river crossing we saw the now familiar and very welcome sight of Neil’s quad bike headlights coming toward us and we were soon whizzing home! You can imagine that there were plenty of jokes that night about not being lost, but geographically challenged and how the Cornish came over 120 years ago thinking they could tackle this land, then struggled horrendously with the landscape and conditions before finally giving up and going elsewhere!

After another lovely meal, we studied the maps and photos again and agreed that we had gone to about the 6th or 7th ‘knob’ rather than the 3rd, before striking off down a pig track through what Neil confirmed was a nigh-on impenetrable part of the bush... Oh well, I think it was highly entertaining for them, with Neil joking that he should have given us a radio collar that he uses to find his dogs whilst pig hunting! Lexa was just glad to be alive and ready for a few days of rest and relaxation! One additional bit of information I’d like to include is that a compass is next to useless in the area. Firstly it was impossible to follow a compass bearing due to the terrain and undergrowth, which sent you off at right angles every couple of metres and secondly this bizarre mineral rich belt of land was so magnetic the needle flew through 90+ degrees as you lifted it up and down, whilst facing the same way - not all that helpful really!

So, with hot water bottles supplied by Ruth we headed back to the van for a chilly night and our first real frost, very glad that we weren’t stuck out in the hills. The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed back out of the Aniseed valley, very sad to say goodbye to our new found friends.

---