Anatoki Christmas

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Anatoki Christmas Greg Aimer The sweat dripped down our faces, down miserable for a while but cleared to our shoulders, down our stomachs, down reveal a deep blue tarn surrounded our legs - the sweat dripped! craggy rock and tussock covered peaks. by From Paul's inspiration and Trevor Glorious sun beat down in the morning. Bissell's account of the area in the The route along the Douglas Range was 1978 Journal, the Anatoki Range seemed forsaken when we sized up the an Dragons interesting place to explore. Teeth and the Anatoki Peaks. People do traverse the ridge but it requires Xmas Day was a good day to leave and more organisation and courage than we so it was that a bloated quartet drove had. We skulked down into the south through the last civilisation and branch of the Anatoki River. Good icecreams at Takaka to the road end travel turned to bad. Huge boulders at the Anatoki River. the size of small houses barred our way. The vegetation thickened, the The first few steps seemed - well rock became more slippery, our awkward. energy Tramping! Gradually was sapped by the heat. Ideas of momentum picked up as we crossed grassy climbing back to the tops to Drunken paddocks and climbed up the gentle Sailors were forgotten and we collapsed gradient to the bush. And as we did in the shade when the flats of the we noticed it - the heat. Boy, did we river were reached. We lazed the rest sweat. Summer tramping had come. of the day away. The first half day was a rather pro- We planned to return along the Anatoki tracted affair along a gorsey sidle Range. A good way up seemed to be track to Anatoki Bend. Not nice from a saddle between the Stanley and but necessary. The real grunt began Anatoki Rivers. The ridge did prove in the morning. We climbed up a spur good travel. It was covered in a cabsouth of Mt Christmas to the tops I bage tree like dracophyllum (later 4,000 feet away. The water for the identified as d. traversii) which proday was a mucky little hole on the vided much amusement with its long bush edge which we called an early flaxy leaves. As we neared the top lunch. After that until 8 p.m. there of the ridge, sidling some bluffs was along no more. The Haupiri Range precipitous ledges, we were able to once on the top - proved a pleasant look down to a startlingly beautiful and gentle stroll, full of interesting little lake set amongst rugged bluffs gendarmes and peaks to sidle. By and tussock grass. Lake Sparrow late afternoon we were admiring the proved to be the highlight of the trip. deep blue of Boulder Lake from The isolation and unspoilt wilderness Caesar's Knob. Twenty minutes walk of the dark green tarn with its rugged the next day saw us standing at the surroundings provided a great uplift. water's edge. The day was declared The mist drifted in and out, keas a rest and very little was done except screeched, the lake outflow cascaded for a wander around. off rocks far below. We camped the night and vowed to return. The next morning was a cracker. We tramped through long wet grass up to After a steep scree climb we followed Green Saddle. The mist closed in as the Anatoki Range in the morning. As we neared the valley head and our the ridge struck south we encountered navigation skill became paramount in all types of gendarmes in our path. saving the party from doom. (Appar- The ridge is a fascinating geological ently a party behind us didn't fare mixture with stratified sedimentary, so well and unwittingly circumnavihard metamorphic and strange gritstone gated Boulder Lake in the thick mist). conglomerates being fused at all sorts As we crept along the ridge the mist of angles. We took a ridge from 5358 cleared revealing spectacular drops at the end of the Range and began the to the valley floor below. Later long drop back to the Anatoki River. the mist returned and we were forced That night was the last camped in the to follow cairns, broken blades of bush. The sidle track was an antigrass, and the occasional footprint climax but the beach beckoned and to keep to the sidle route under the degeneration set in for two days. Needles. However, we knew we had come to the Needles Eye - a gully We all feel a desire to return and between two prominent rocky peaks, explore more in this isolated little and blundered more by luck than skill section of North West Nelson. down: to Adelaide Tarn. Those on the trip were: Paul Cooper, The little hut by the tarn was empty, Ian McLean, Claire Douglas, Greg Aimer. but not for long. The weather was