Rambles in South Westland

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Rambles in South Westland Warren Thorburn This is an account of discovery, struggle, We disembark at Hokitika and off-load our and wonder for Ian and Karen Bunckenburg, gear into a rental van for a fast trip Tom and Fendall Haliburton, Bruce McKinlay, down the West Coast. The Karangarua River Ian McLean, Lesley Marshall, and Warren bridge is reached in the late afternoon. Thorburn up the mighty Karangarua and Setting off, we are determined to put as rugged Douglas Rivers, over the Douglas much sand-fly country and signs of civil- Pass to the glacial source of the Landsisation behind us as soon as possible. borough River, to be followed by a siege We delay making camp until late evening of the Mueller Pass with difficult travel at a bush camp above the Copland River during a return down the Mahitahi Valley. confluence. The first view of Westland alpine grandeur is gained from here, with Our bus speeds towards the Southern Alps glimpses of the Bare Rocky Range. across Canterbury's dry and featureless plains, leaving behind memories of the Next day, following good travel up the Haliburton family's generous hospitality Karangarua, we reach Cassell Flat hut in a quiet Christchurch suburb. We slow where heavy Christmas packs are speedily eventually to grind up through the barren released from tired backs. The first foothills on the climb to Arthurs Pass. item of our equipment gives out here with Buncks's camera showing an obstinate For those of us who haven't travelled refusal to operate (or walk home by over this route before a marked impressitself). The reason for detouring around ion is left of the overwhelming contrast the lower gorge of the Douglas becomes between Canterbury's climate and terrain obvious at this point. Part of the gorge, and that of the steep, rain forest hills with its towering vertical cliffs, can and swampy flats of Westland, all of be seen a short distance further up the which we traverse from coast to coast on Karangarua and confirms all the stories the first day. we have heard about its impassibility to explorers from Charles Douglas through Our expectations for the trip drop a to A.P. Harper and onwards. little after crossing Arthurs Pass when we look down into the grandeur of the Following lunch we tug and heave ourselves Otira Gorge to see rain and mist shrouded across the Karangarua on a cage worked by valleys ahead. Westland's weather is to rope block and tackle. Much abuse is confirm its reputation for dampness for heaped upon the riders who refuse to help most of our trip. their sweating comrades pulling on either side of the river. From here we climb a Sefton and Douglas neve from Thompson Spur well marked track up beside Regina Creek. Between the Creek and the track, housesize boulders with trees growing on top are strewn. Your intrepid hon. sec, on venturing forth foolhardily into this unkind country and following futile crossings and re-crossings of the Creek, eventually rejoins a somewhat concerned party at the next campsite. A slow grind up the steep face of Conical Hill to its saddle begins the next day's tramp. A small flat area with a stream flowing through it, of which we were previously unaware, would have provided a superb campsite with views across the valley. Apart from a three metre vertical section of the track where bodies and packs are passed up hand to hand, the 600 metre climb goes uneventfully. The view from the saddle is impressive, if somewhat daunting. Our attention is caught by the sheer mountain walls rising 1400 metres to form the sides of the lower Douglas Gorge opposite us and the view to the distant Main Divide. The peaks of Sefton and Thompson are identified, embracing the Douglas Glacier neve at the head of the Douglas valley up which we are now to travel. The route plunges straight down from the saddle for 250 metres and we grab and slip in the thick undergrowth. Curses and shouts of "slow down" ring out as the infrequent discs marking the route are

Douglas Pass from Thompson Spur Landsborough Valley

Tasman Sca SCALE 1 250.000 Karangarua YN Cuasi 00A a Perouse - M1 Cook - A Bruce Bay Comant Mahitahi FRRA VIDE RANGE à auplas GI S a homps BANK VOC BRAE RANGE The Mahisnit Hermi age R Oroka ette k R Mt Strachan - o A JE FEN dun MI RANGE A Dechen ONADE Mi Hooker * i AAU Cassell Flat Hut 2 Conical Hill 3.Lower Douglas Gorge 4. Upper Douglas Gorge Horace Walker Hut Terminal Lake 7 Harpers Rock Bivy 8. Douglas Pass 9. Karangarua Saddle 10 Hooker Range 11 Fettes GI Terminal Lake 12 Zora Canyon 13.1 Mueller Pass 14. Hut 15. Lower Otoko Pass 16. Mueller Glacier 17 Hooker Glacier found. The headlong descent ends abruptly progress there also. beside a disc with an ominous message scratched on it, "last disc, good luck!". Camp is made beside the terminal lake of Fettes Glacier. A stark, impressive scene From here the route follows a fairly with two icefalls poised above the lake constant contour up valley and well back and the tops covered in cloud. As rain from the river. We struggle on, hopes comes on Buncks burrows in beside a bouldraised temporarily for an easier life er and coaxes a warming meal over primuses with the discovery of infrequent deer for the hungry troops. trails. Lunch, quenched thirsts, a quick plunge, are enjoyed at mountain streams The art of breaking camp in a downpour crossing our path. while attempting to keep one's gear dry is practised on the morrow. An interest- The bush bash up the Douglas valley turns ing' days tramping leads us to the Zora out to be less difficult than we expected. Creek confluence and a boulder battered The day's most frustrating section is at air drop. Here my faith in compass travel the top gorge in the valley. A maze of is renewed during white-out conditions on side gullies, huge rock slabs and scrub a side trip to Tekoe on the Hooker Range. combine to force an unpredictable route Returning by the reflection of moonlight to the brink of the gorge itself. The on the Landsborough River below us also gorge ends and we drop to the river has its moments. beat! A small flat appears and we pitch camp, dine, and crawl off to sleep. Two days later our plans to cross Mueller Pass are cut short at the bushline above Morning breaks fine but overcast. We Zora Canyon by howling winds and a torrentravel up river to Horace Walker hut - a tial downpour. We recover from the dot in the middle of a vast tussock onslaught by passing the day in the pit. covered flat where the valley has at last During breaks in the weather an unusually opened out. Somewhere around are three large congregation of Kakas protest our air dropped containers, outer wrapped in invasion of 'their' territory. We eventu- 'tussock coloured' sacking!! Good travel ally grunt up to the pass. The rest of after lunch takes us to the head of the the party push off down into the Mahitahi Douglas Glacier terminal lake with spec- Valley while Lesley and I set out up the tacular views of the glacier and Main ridge for Mt Strachan. Our optimism is Divide peaks. Despite intensive explorafinally tempered by oncoming cloud and the tion we can't find a route over the realisation that 2 o'clock in the afterglacier and a swim across the glacial noon is probably too late to start climbing outflow is inevitable. a 2800 metre peak. Still, the view from 600 metres above the pass is worth the Fendall is nominated 'best swimmer of the attempt. year', ties on the rope, pauses for a gap between the drifting icebergs, and plunges Back at the pass Keas have found our gear across. Packs follow via a semi submerged cache. One has taken a fancy to some aerial ropeway. Trampers dive in and frilly red knickers which interfere with emerge on the other side with stinging his ability to fly. Hotly pursued by an eyeballs from the freezing water. An ice irate owner, while I watch laughing, the axe disappears in two metres of water at Kea finally lets go. the edge of a swift current. It re-emerges with a shivering rescuer. The route down to our bush line camp looks deceptively gentle. The reality is other- A somewhat precarious climb up the moraine wise. Waterfalls and rapids in the river covered valley wall soon warms us up force us into impossible scrub which is before we reach the shelter of Harper's broken by side streams, and twists and Rock Bivy. The scenery, with the magniturns in the main river. We join the ficent sweep of the Douglas neve and the others at camp exhausted! From here on Main Divide peaks, demands a rest day. travel in the Mahitahi Valley gradually I take mine at 2100 metres up a ridge eases during our three day journey to the leading to Thompson. For me this is the West Coast highway. West Coast weather highlight of the trip - a clear blue sky welcomes us with intermittent rain every with time to sit and absorb the superb day. view of Mt. Aspiring in the south, our route back to the Karangarua Valley and on We are forced to camp at a flooded sideover to the Landsborough. The view is stream. It drops after the first course accompanied by the continual thunder of of our dinner. Cries of anguish come from the Douglas neve breaking over a 500 metre those in the pit as a decision is made to drop onto the glacier floor below. break camp and cross the stream before the next downpour. Balancing jelly and fruit in billies we precariously cross and agree to keep moving in the daylight We cross Douglas Pass in cloud next day left. The half set jelly is demolished and enter the mighty Landsborough Valley. in the pouring rain and we're off! River travel down to the scrub level is frustrating. Impossible to maintain Two days later we are being greeted by rhythm on the boulders moving underfoot. passing motorists, cyclists, and sand- The others have taken to tussock covered flies - another memorable Christmas trip river terraces but deep gullies slow behind us.