Heaphy

What’s this? Three ‘Great Walks’ in a little over a month? Yes, although this one was kind of an afterthought. On our South Island trip last year, Raewyn and I had to forego an intriguing activity on our journey from Westport to Franz Josef, namely knifemaking at Barrytown. It was an all-day activity, but we weren’t able to fit it in at the time. We decided that ‘when’ we did the Heaphy track, we’d take an extra day and do the knifemaking – not knowing it would be this soon. After Milford and Kepler over the summer, we thought that would be enough. But I was going to a conference in Nelson, so we figured since one of us was half-way there (and I could take my car easily enough), Raewyn could fly to Nelson and we could go from there. The rest, as they say, is history…


Day 1
Drive Nelson – Brown’s hut road end, walk to Perry Saddle hut (16.8 km, 1246 m elevation gain, 5 hrs)

We used Derry Kingston’s car relocation service (Heaphy Track Help) and would highly recommend him! The Heaphy Track is one of the most remote tracks I’ve done. Milford is remote, but the bus/boat boat/bus connections are well set-up. Kepler is right on the back doorstep of Te Anau township. Tongariro has a shuttle service and finishes at Whakapapa village. Routeburn has good shuttle connections from Queenstown to Glenorchy, then from the Divide to Te Anau and onward from there. Even the Southern Crossing, getting to Otaki Forks is only 4-5 km of gravel road. The Aorere end of the Heaphy track is 59 km from Takaka, of which 12 km is gravel. From Kohaihai, you have 4 km of gravel, then 11 km of tar seal to Karamea, and 95 km from there to Westport. But in a way, it’s the remoteness that is one of the most appealing things about these places.

The Heaphy track is the longest land-based Great Walk, at 78 km. Despite the length, the gradients encountered on the main track are not at all difficult. It follows an old bridle trail from Tasman Bay to the Tasman Sea. The scenery is different every day – from the beech forest of the Aorere valley to the tussocklands of Gouland Downs, then descending to the Heaphy valley with nikau palm forest before following along the coast.

Unfortunately Raewyn wasn’t feeling well for most of the time, although she perked up on the last day. But I’m really proud of her for pushing through and not giving up.

A steady climb from the Aorere valley to Perry Saddle.

The track follows an old bridle trail through native beech forest.

From Perry Saddle I climbed to the top of Mt Perry (extra 3.4 km, 435 m elevation gain, 1 hr 23). This view is looking back down the Aorere valley (towards Golden Bay).

Summit of Mount Perry, looking south towards the Tasman Mountains


Day 2
Perry Saddle Hut – James Mackay Hut (23.6 km, 753 m elevation gain, 6 hrs 18)

All smiles as we left Perry Saddle Hut

A short distance from the hut we found a sizeable snail shell and were on the lookout for live snails for the rest of the day

Looking across the Gouland Downs. Bad weather coming.

Walking across the Gouland Downs, just before raincoats were required

Raewyn crossing a wire bridge

Red tussock on Gouland Downs, just after Saxon Hut


Day 3
James Mackay hut – Heaphy Hut (19.3 km, 496 m elevation gain, 5 hrs 33)

View of the Heaphy River mouth from James Mackay hut. It’s always nice to see where you’ll be going!

It might not be as big as the shell we found, but we finally saw a live carnivorous land snail.

The track passes through mossy banks...

... and over coal seams

From James Mackay hut, the track slowly drops down to the Heaphy River

On the banks of the Heaphy River

Our first taste of nikau palm forest

Being surrounded by enormous rata and nikau palms makes you feel like you’re in Jurassic Park

Thankfully we didn’t see any velociraptors

View from Heaphy hut, at the river mouth


Day 4
Heaphy hut – Kohaihai road end (16.3 km, 200 m elevation gain, 4 hrs)

Coastal section of the Heaphy track

This bridge felt like the gateway to Jurassic Park

Dense nikau palm forest all the way down to the beach

View from the lookout at Kohaihai bluff all the way back to the Heaphy River mouth

On the drive down to Westport, we took a side trip to visit the Oparara Arch. It was impressive, but if you want to visit, be warned – it’s 15 km of gravel road, which took us about 45 mins each way. Oh and you’ll be sharing said road with tourists, who usually don’t know how to drive, especially on gravel.

Moria Gate arch, Oparara Basin


Day 5
Knifemaking at Barrytown

Ever wanted to make your own knife, from scratch – steel, brass, glue and native timber? It’s not as hard as it sounds...

First you heat the steel and beat it into submission to shape and harden the blade

Then polish off the carbide surface

Drill holes and fix the brass bolster

Cut the handle pieces

Rough shaping of the handle

Having a break to take ponies for their daily walk

A 6-manpower swing...

... can make for a pretty big launch...

... as I shall now demonstrate!

After lunch we do our final shaping of the blades...

... and polish, polish, polish

... polish...

... polish...

All done! Any guesses which one is Raewyn’s and which is mine?

Kepler

So here we are - pictures from our walk along the Kepler track:

(Once again, click on any picture for a higher resolution image)

Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore Hut (15.8 km). Limestone bluffs on the way up from Brod Bay to Luxmore hut

Tussocklands above the tree line on the way to Luxmore hut

Similarly to Milford, we decided to leave our packs at the hut and continue to the peak, given that the weather forecast for the next day was not great. This is the view of the Murchison Mountains from the top of Mt Luxmore

Looking to the Kepler Mountains in the distance from the top of Mt Luxmore

Day 2: Luxmore hut to Iris Burn hut (14.6 km). After heavy rain, gale force winds and thunderstorms in the morning, the sun came out... for a little while.

The second day of the Kepler track crosses the tops

At times the visibility was like this...

... then just minutes later, like this.

The final push along the arête above Iris Burn was pretty tough going...

... before dropping down into the bush again to Iris Burn hut.

Day 3: Iris Burn hut to Moturau hut (16.2 km). I’m not sure if we were smiling about the weather, or the view

We saw numerous birds – riflemen, robins, fantails, tomtits being the most common ones to come near us. This robin took a liking to my boots.

The track down the valley from Iris Burn was full of moss, ferns, and switchbacks...

... before ending up at the hut, by a beach on the shore of Lake Manapouri.

Day 4: Moturau hut to Te Anau (17.5 km). This part of the track passes through wetlands...

... and along the banks of the Waiau River at Rainbow Reach.


We enjoyed the walking better than we did the Milford track – the track itself was mostly dirt and leaf litter rather than rock. It was a bit of a shame that our day across the tops was cloudy and wet, but the clouds parted every now and then to reveal views of the surrounding mountains. Although rain was forecast on day 4, we didn’t see any. So to have only 1 day of rain out of 8 days of hiking in Fiordland… you can’t really ask for much better than that!

Finally - Milford!

The day for starting the Milford track finally arrived - with a huge dose of deja vu. Picking up tickets at the Te Anau DOC office, strolling along the lake front, getting onto the boat at Te Anau Downs - all things we did back in April.

But this time we actually got off the boat!


(Click on any picture for a higher resolution image)

Start of the track at Glade Wharf.

Day 1, following the Clinton River (5 km). Pretty easy going – flat, wide track, comfortable temperature.

Nature talk given by the ranger at Clinton Hut, pointing out key landmarks, flora and fauna

Day 2: Walking up the Clinton River valley to Mintaro Hut (16.5 km). Started off mostly flat with a climb at the head of the valley. In places the vegetation cleared to reveal steep slopes on both sides, waterfalls, and snow on the tops. It was really hard to judge just how high the peaks around us were – average around 1500 m above the valley floor.

Reflections in the Clinton River

Clinton River

Waterfalls. Who needs rain to make the Milford Track special?

MacKinnon pass in view to the left, just after Pompolona Lodge

Even though the weather forecast for the next day was good, we didn’t want to take our chances, so after arriving at Mintaro Hut we continued on to the top of the pass (extra 8 km, 560m climb).

Memorial cairn at MacKinnon Pass, with Mt Hart (1769 m) in the background

Memorial cairn and view across the tarn to Mt Wilmur (left, 1749m) and Mt Balloon (1847m)

Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut (14 km). Tackling the pass again, this time with packs. Fewer clouds than the previous day, but we decided it had still been worth going up because of the different lighting in the evening.

View across the head of the Arthur River Valley from MacKinnon Pass

View back down the Clinton Valley from MacKinnon Pass

Descent from MacKinnon Pass into the Arthur River valley looking back up to the cirque at the head of the Clinton valley with Mt Hart on the far right.

The descent to Roaring Burn was hard going – long and rocky. 970 m descent from the pass to the hut that night.

Sutherland Falls, at 580 m, the highest waterfall in NZ – well worth a visit if you’re in the vicinity...

Topo map of the area around MacKinnon Pass. Each thin orange line is 20 m elevation (thick lines 100 m elevation); each blue square is 1 km to a side.

Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Milford Sound (18 km). Reflections in the Arthur River. At the start of the trip, the weather forecast for this day was rain, but as you can see, we didn’t have any.

MacKay Falls. Apparently MacKay and Sutherland flipped a coin to decide which of them this waterfall would be named after, and after MacKay won the toss they agreed that the next one would be named after Sutherland...

Arrival at Milford Sound by boat from Sandfly Point. We made it!

We spent the night in Milford Sound and took a cruise early the next morning, the idea being to beat the rush of day trippers from Te Anau. It worked – there were only 6 of us on the boat.


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We are now back in Te Anau to recover, wash our gear, restock food and get ready for Kepler starting on 30 Dec. At the moment the weather forecast is not fantastic, but there's still time for it to change...

June-November

A quick update to fill in the gap between the last post and now:

The jaw is ok, not great. I've made an appointment to see the specialist again early in the new year. When the DOC hut bookings for the Great Walks opened in July we booked tickets etc. to do Milford and Kepler over Christmas/New Year.

Work has been reasonably good. I had several months with no synchrotron trips (hence no blog posts), but that gave me more time for some hefty data analysis and writing papers. I've also been invited to give a plenary talk at the Small Angle Scattering conference in Berlin next September (a conference I was planning to attend anyway). There are still changes afoot but not a lot of clarity.

Church has been good. Raewyn and I went through an apologetics series (of topics we chose) with the youth, and they all seemed to get a lot out of it, which is good to see. If I can get my butt into gear I'm thinking of posting the lesson plans (or more formalised versions thereof) on my other blog so others can use them also.

We took part in the Brisbane Bridge of Hope marathon for a third time, joined by Jan, another lady from church for 27 km of the walk. Raewyn and I raised over AU$8000 between us, which has meant that we have been offered the opportunity to travel to Nepal sometime next year to see the Bridge of Hope in action. Still trying to sort out the details on that one (including how much trekking we want to do while we are there).

I signed up for the Taupo Cycle Challenge again this year, specifically the 160 km solo road course around the lake. This was to test whether the Huka Challenge (which I did last year) is on par with the Solo, as claimed by the organisers. I finished it in 6:38, and felt quite good at the end. I formulated two conclusions: (1) the Solo is easier, (2) I'm not a road cyclist.

At the beginning of September, Raewyn got stroppy with a door in the middle of the night and kicked it. In mid October she found out that it was actually broken... (where have I heard that before?) At the time it put our Milford plans in doubt, but a few Sunday afternoon walks and a weekend up in the Tararuas satisfied us both that she would be able to do it. Which brings me to the next post...

Update on the trip

I went to see my GP on the Monday after I got back from the trip, as the doctor at the medical centre in Queenstown had said if my jaw hadn't settled down in 2-3 weeks I might need to see a specialist. He poked and prodded and agreed to refer me. I rang up to book an appointment at a private clinic a couple of days later, and was told the earliest appointment they could make was the 24th of... June. But they also offered to put me on the 'short notice' waiting list. Since my work hours are quite flexible, this was not a problem. A little over a week later I got the call asking me to come in the next day (Tuesday 13th). They did a CT scan of my jaw, which showed that it was actually broken.

The good news is I don't have to have my jaw wired shut, or surgery or anything at this stage. There is a bit of a kink in the bone at the fracture (which is located about level with the earlobe on the right hand side of my face) but providing I don't chew too much and refrain from contact sports and don't fall off my bike again (just as well it's winter ay?) it should heal reasonably well by itself. The soft tissue in the joint will supposedly sort itself out but might take a year or two.

I go back for a quick check on 4 June.

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In other news...

1) I'm now an auntie to Aaron Stuart, born 24 April. Congrats to Stu and Nicola!

2) This weekend we start training in earnest for our marathon walk in Brisbane on 2 August

3) I go to Melbourne next week for a workshop and to give an invited talk