Fiordland

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Fiordland Jan Cox Our Christmas trip took a little while River) was not SO ideal we discovered to get off the ground last year but the after 3 to 4 hours of vertical leather- 23rd December saw Owen and I on the wood and cliffs. But we were rewarded shores of Lake Te Anau with maps and by the view at the top. We made Lake Moir's Guidebook. The route was chosen Hankinson in the late evening. A and a few bits and pieces bought before beautiful place and it is the beginning we spent our last sandfly free night of an easy track to George Sound. for 14 at the Te Anau motorcamp. We travelled up the Wapiti on the track, The Milford Track walker's launch took a pleasant change from finding one's us to the mouth of the Worsley River. own way. We left the track at the Getting off the launch down a near forks and carried on up the Wapiti to vertical ladder was no fun with heavy Moir's easy pass into the Henderson packs but we managed and scurried to Burn. We had the choice between steep the hut for lunch. We left the hut rock faces or a steeper slope covered in rain and our 18 day packs made the in scrub. We chose the scrub covered track up the Worsley hard work. We side - at least we had something to pressed on until our backs would let haul ourselves up with. We reached us go no further and camped on the the pass just as the mist and rain track. The next day we left the track reached us. The other side was no at the forks of the Worsley and made easier but we struggled down onto the our way to the pass at the head of the first set of flats and camped. We south branch. The sandflies followed were back at the Glaisnock the next us all the way up to the top and down day. the other side into the Bernard Burn. We met a hunter who had been in the The Bernard Burn flows into the Wild Glaisnock for two weeks. He had a Natives River which flows into Bligh float plane coming to pick him up. Sound. Our plans were to get to the We excused ourselves from the last forks by the next night but boulders five days tramping and sandflies and as big as office blocks (if you don't hitched a ride out with him. Within believe me, go and see for yourself) thirty minutes we were back in Te slowed our progress down to nowhere Anau with tourists taking photos of for a few hours. We eventually camped us as we got off the plane, a bit on some grassy flats about 12 hours depressing. up from the forks. The forks were reached early next morning and the This was our second trip into Fiordjourney up the other branch was much land in two years. It is a great easier. We lunched beside a small place for birds, scenery, remoteness lake and like all small lakes in and sometimes rain. If you plan to Fiordland this one was well populated go. there, do not believe Moir's with Paradise ducks and Canadian geese. Guidebook, and remember that humans Rain at lunchtime tempted us to camp can only tolerate sandflies for a but we went on over an easy saddle certain number of days. (which was scattered with a climber's wardrobe - a bit daunting) into Water- 24 December - 9 January 1978 fall Creek. This is a side creek of the Glaisnock. We camped at the scrub edge at an old campsite filled with the usual rubbish. An after lunch start the next day was regretted when we did not make the Glaisnock Hut that evening and spent a night (all except six hours) with sandflies. Two hours the next day saw us at Glaisnock Hut where we met some people off a launch. They plied us . with pickled goose, tinned fruit and took us fishing all afternoon. They cooked up a dinner of trout and vegetables followed by fruit salad and cream. The next day they dropped us off at the Lugar Burn. The Lugar Burn is a very pretty valley and certainly deserves another visit. Beech flats at the head make ideal campsites. The pass out of the valley into Canyon Creek (a side creek of the Wapiti