Far Flung Fiordland

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FAR FLUNG FIORDLAND After two days' travelling from Christ- The next day found us tramping church, dusk found our trip arriving Pleasant Range which is true its along at the outlet of Lake Monowai. These until the end where it to down name two days included the Christchurch- steep bush-covered bluffs drops of the Sea- the Invercargill (yawn) express; sleeping out forths Valley wall. beside the museum and sunbathing be- flats at the head of Upon reaching the side Loch Maree, Allen "Dirty Mary" whilst being looked shot a young deer, while five hind over by the office girls. a stag looked on, quite bewildered with and A high blanket of cloud heralded the our presence. first Fiordland day, making good tramp- The rain ing conditions through open beech. that night bought the river Green Lake provided a great panorama up at least eighteen inches and put a of the mountains on the other side of stop to our day trip down to Supper the Grebe River, but the view from Cove. The rest day we had instead turn- Island Lake surpassed all that in beauty. ed out to be not much of a rest since From here the ground underfoot we were "wrestling" with sandflies, even gradually became damper and moss en- though only hands and face were excroached upon the trees and eventually posed! We found that at about twenty these were soaked too. The open valley feet above the ground they started to floor at Clark hut was both spongy and thin out and you could see through the boggy. This real bush hut was devoid black haze. of a log book which, I am sure would have told many an interesting tale. The next day we attacked the swampy and scrubby Seaforth River to gain an- An hour farther down the swampy other difficult campsite near Gair Loch Grebe brought us to Jacquiery Stream which is literally alive with bird life, which we followed without much diffi- deer and weka. culty. The south branch was followed to the bush-line in the thickest scrub we The base of Pillars Pass was our next had met. Meanwhile the weather started objective, which we were in doubt about to clear in readiness for our assault on until we reached the bush-line as we the Merrie Range. We had some mis- had followed a stream which led to a givings about the crossing from here to waterfall and turned out to be an unthe Seaforth River, but on top of the marked tributary. However, we arrived first saddle we met two men from Inver- at the pass and decided to go over that cargill who attempted to allay our fears. day. The pass itself was classical U No real trouble was met with, as sec- shaped, complete with tarn. tion by section of the route opened up Snow before us. Before reaching the Merrie fell that night and next day was Range itself, a deer was sighted from a This spent struggling to keep the fire going. point where we could not be seen. The was our most difficult campsitefirst shot scared it off, but disturbed not at all flat and it meant sleeping with a whole herd, which came galloping in our feet against a log to hold us on the our direction until Allen shot two at slope. Even more snow feel the next a range of twenty yards. Up to this night as if telling us it was time to go stage, all the deer we had seen had been and try our luck in the restricted area. very scary. A view of icebergs enter- This proved no difficulty, and within tained us for lunch at Snowy Lake. ten minutes of arriving at the jetty, we were away. on a launch-no questions On the Merrie Range, we did not go asked. A bludged bus ride landed us in high enough and had to descend a rock Invercargill once more, to sleep on the and grass slope in the direction of Loch verandah of the bowling club and then Roe. Here we looked back to see where take the (yawn) express to Christchurch we had come down and it looked almost homeward. vertical! Camp was made near the new Those hut site at the head of Deadwood Creek who romped through the land and Hauroko Burn. The ground here was of lakes, deer, and dampness were Allen very boggy and swampy, making camp- Higgins, Mac Riding, and Dave Ryrie. sites difficult to find. -Dave Ryrie.