Wanderings in the sun

Well, it seems like while the rest of the country has been having average weather, we seem to have stumbled upon the one place in New Zealand where the sun has been shining. We don't know quite what to do with ourselves.

Ben had the great idea that we would turn two or three decent trips into a mega trip of about 14 days. The plan was to start on the Caples, throw in the Routeburn, dash up the Dart river, hop over cascade saddle into the Matukituki, get to the Wilkin via some contrived route through the Albert burn and finish off with Gillsepie pass and the Young Valley (14 days or so)

This was a fine idea in principle, but the reality hit home when I tried to put on my pack at the road end. Mine weighed in at a chest crushing 24kg (and that was without water). Ben's was a cool 34kg or so but he wore it well (and with a bit of a grimace).

We started on the Caples track (thankfully the walk was gentle and pretty). I found myself stopping every now and again to breathe. We saw a yellowhead (mohua) bird which was pretty cool since they are kind of rare.

Our new years party was rather quiet. Our friend Tim was glad to get rid of the cask wine and a rather superb curry, and we had a few swigs from the hip flask. I'm sad to say we didn't make it to midnight!

Next we moved on to the spectacular highway that is the Routeburn track. We found ourselves at MacKenzie Hut at about 11am. We debated the merits of staying there that night (as we had planned). It is such a superb spot. The sun was shining and a swim in the lake was on the cards. However, if we kept going we could have a shorter day the next day. So we did. The track is wide and fast. If I did it again, I'd wear sneakers. The soles of my feet were bruised from carrying the pack (which didn't seem to be getting any lighter).

Sugarloaf pass was a nice diversion, away from the hustle and bustle and flush toilets of the routeburn. Can't say the same about Rockburn Hut. It is quaint, but infested with mice and the sandflies were abominable.

The Dart river crossing was fine. A waist deep affair, but nothing too scary. Although, it was a bit like crossing a road, looking left and right and waiting for a gap between the jetboats. The Dart was beautiful. And the sun still shining for the 6th day in a row. I must have leaked litres of water.

The next day we planned to cross cascade saddle. DOC says this is steep and exposed and dangerous and don't even think about doing it in the wet or in snow. So what does it do? It rains. BUGGER. We went up there (with full packs) to have a look for ourselves. The weather packed in some more and it was raining, windy and cold by the time we got to the saddle. Looking down the other side was like peering into a cloudy abyss. I wasn't too keen on clinging to tufts of snow grass and downclimbing rock slabs in the rain. The wind was knocking me about a bit too so I was keen to head back.

This screwed up Tim's plans a bit. It was Saturday and he had to be back at work on the Monday. With this in mind, we left early and went over Rees saddle (on another fine clear calm day). Tim raced on down to the road end, while me and Ben had a pit day at Shelter Rock Hut. We had a poke around under Mt Earnslaw before heading down the Rees Valley.

We scored a ride from Colin Rolfe (Ben's moutain running idol who had just done our last 3 days tramping in a day) and he drove us all the way to Wanaka where our car was. (We had previously handed over our keys to a random stranger on the Caples who kindly offered to drive it out for us. Thankfully the car was there, though there were a few moments of nervous anticipation as we pulled up to the address. I don't know how we would explain ourselves if it wasn't there...)

So that was the first trip. 1 day of rain. 9 of sunshine. Swims almost every day. Clean clothes and dry gear. You can't beat it.

Sorry, will try and keep it shorter next time.

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