What I did in my Holidays

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What I did in my Holidays Anne Greenwood Why (I ask myself) was I volunteered panic (an unfortunate habit of mine to do the trip write-up? In the when under stress). We spent the evenings while others in the party night in Christchurch and were at the were writing down the thrills and bus stop before 8.00 the next morning; quotes of the day, I would be idly our earliest start of the trip. En reading books while squashing sandroute to Twizel Buncks told us he had flies between the pages to act as forgotten to pack one of the most bookmarks. I did point out to my essential bits of tramping gear - a fellow trip members that this is spoon. Janine and I loyally came to hardly the ideal basis for an accuhis rescue. By the time we had rate record of events, but I was finished lunch in a roadside restauoutvoted (a curse upon democracy). rant we had acquired a spoon for him. Our exit was highlighted by a pot I'll briefly introduce the crew at plant which carelessly strayed under this stage - in random order, as Janine's feet, a mistake it lived to usual. regret. Buncks: trip hero, chief organiser, We caught a minibus from Twizel to navigator, and firelighter. Started north of Lake Ohau and reluctantly the trip with some new gear but climbed out into the rainy, cold didn't seem to finish with any. afternoon. However, we set off bravely, passed Monument Hut and Janine: self-confessed possessor of decided to head for Forks Hut, about low moral standards. Fond of 22 hours further on up the Huxley licorice allsorts but unlucky with River. In fact there were two huts macaroni cheese. Irresistible to there. Murray, Janine, Michelle and sandflies. Picks at her feet on Peter slept in the main hut while buses unless I am there to stop her. Buncks, Marion and I (chaperone) slept in the dog kennel next door. Michelle: Usually found hiding under The following morning we followed the a balaclava in cold weather. Emerged north branch of the Huxley up to briefly for meals. Not fond of lime Brodrick Hut where we paused to Refresh or lime instant puddings. admire the climb up to Brodrick Pass. I quickly ate my chocolate ration in Peter: tall, dark and (well, two out an attempt to make my pack lighter. of three ain't bad). Possessor of However, we were at the top by lunchhairy legs ideal for collecting hook time after a steady climb, and from grass. Teller of (mainly clean) then on it was all downhill. Buncks jokes. Trip nickname I gannet found an ideal campsite up on a ledge garbage guts. just below the bush line on the true left of McKenzie Creek. Marion: always cheerful even when wet and cold. Maker of quote of the trip "Please can I have a torch to see if During dinner we noticed something the candle has gone out". Tendency unusual - in fact almost unheard of to float away in rivers unless on Christmas trips where every restrained. sultana is carefully counted and weighed. There was too much food! This turned out to be a disadvantage Murray: assistant trail-finder. Fond when cleaning billies. Also I did of jam half an inch thick on Tararua not lose any weight over the whole biscuits. Often travelled at the two weeks (deep sigh). rear to pick up fallen fellow trampers. The next day we crossed McKenzie Creek and climbed high before sidling Myself: charming, attractive and round onto a spur leading down to witty except when fallen over. Owner Creswicke Flat. At first we did not of the palest legs at the start of climb high enough and had all sorts the trip. Owner of the palest and of fun with scree slopes and the most battered legs by the end. local plant life which attacked my Poorly co-ordinated. legs and caused some abusive language. Buncks said I must have been tramping I suppose the trip officially began with Kev too often as I used some of at Wellington airport where we his favourite phrases. weighed our gear in (looking at the scales in horror) and waited anxious- We had lunch at the top of the spur ly for Buncks, Marion and Murray. looking down onto Creswicke Flat. They arrived after the first boarding Buncks set off with a billy and a cali by which stage I was in a mild determined expression, in search of water. He arrived back some time later with snow. We all lazed about in the sun. Travel down the spur was quite fast through open bush. An attempted crossing of the Landsborough by the guys on arrival proved that it would be too much for our party to handle. We pitched camp by Frazer Hut and decided to radio for a plane lift the next day. However, in the morning the river had dropped so we made a serious attempt at crossing, but we were unsuccessful. A helicopter went by with canoes strapped underneath it we waved to it and made our way back across the section of river we had crossed. The helicopter went by again so we waved and went back to the hut. The helicopter went by three more times. We waved some more. Then it came back and landed. Talk about panic packing! Murray coped well under stress and was ready before me. And so we managed to cross the Landsborough. The pilot even refused payment, noble chap that he was. We Broderick Peak and were thrilled - now there were no Landsborough maj jor obstacles between us and our Valley from the Solution Range food drop. We travelled up river an hour or so We had lunch on top of the Solution and camped on Toetoe Flats. Janine Range. Peter and Buncks spotted our tried unsuccessfully to mend the airdrop tins on Marks Flat way below holes in her longjohns - the sandus. After arriving on Marks Flat we flies were homing in on the exposed made our way over to the rock bivvy, bits. Michelle inspected her feet crossing some extremely boggy tussock and said they didn't like all this ground to get there. The guys set sidling. From then on they were off to get the airdrop tins while the thickly coated in Sleek each day and rest of us checked out the bivvy. It were only let out in the evenings. looked okay for five people - pity there were seven of us, but we were The following day was an official sure we'd cope. As soon as the guys rest day. The sun shone and we all arrived back with the food we were had baths. Some canoeists came down into the peanuts. The meal that the river and said they'd come in by night was superb, featuring cheesehelicopter the day before. I tried cake, tinned fruit, Baileys Irish and failed to save my chocolate Cream, real coffee, and Christmas ration. More sandflies came visiting cake (cooked by Buncks' Mum), as well that evening. Peter, Janine and I as our dehy meal. crept into our tent, sealed the exit, and blasted them with Raid. Powerful One slight cookery problem was the stuff that. Janine got a bit carried lack of a pole to hang billies from. away and just about finished us off, We solved this temporarily by borrowtoo. ing the pole from the cairn on top of the bivvy. "I want that pole up The next day we had rice and apples there," said our leader, resembling for breakfast (yuk yuk). Peter and the pirate chap in a certain TV and Murray had brought muesli as an film advert. There was a race for alternative - a wise decision. the top, won by Michelle. We climbed up the spur beside the Unfortunately, the pole let us down creek at the north end of Toetoe (or rather, let the billies down) Flats onto the Solution Range. Buncks rather badly the next evening. It and Murray pushed rocks, logs, and was immediately burnt to teach it a anything else handy into the stream lesson. Murray set off with the axe gully far below. The rest of us to get us a new one (which is now quickly moved our packs away from back in the cairn on top). We did them. usually try to leave things as we found them, although we all managed We crossed Marks Flat and climbed up to destroy perfectly healthy looking to Lower Otoko Pass, following the trees just by leaning on them. spur and then sidling round. The travel was much easier than it had However, back to the first night in appeared from a distance. We had the bivvy. Four of us spent the lunch on top of the pass, sheltering night in one compartment with Marion from cold wind and rain behind a and Michelle in another. Buncks large boulder. Then we nipped over slept outside. A kea played with his Otoko Glacier, pausing for Refresh new parka the following morning and and Christmas cake at the glacier ripped a hole in it. (It's rough mouth. We followed the stream down trying to keep your gear looking and pitched camp above Lake Otoko, respectable when even the animals hoping for views in the morning. gang up against you.) However, this was not to be, so we set off in the rain, and scrambled down to the lake through some partic- We had our second rest day at Marks ularly grotty scrub. Then we boulder Flat, and again the weather was hopped down the true left of the really hot and sunny. Peter, Marion Otoko River but after a couple of and Buncks went up to look at some hours we'd had enough, so we camped tarns and stroll along Kea Bluffs below the bush line by a stream. while Michelle, Janine and I washed, The primus threatened to go on read and watched avalanches. Murray strike but we persuaded it not to. guarded the rock bivvy from kea vandalism. Janine and I slept out We set off after lunch the next day that night under a fly - we couldn't into the rain again. However, after take another night in the bivvy. a couple of hours' travel the sun came out and we found a campsite. We Marion's food bowl started to come couldn't resist this chance to dry apart the next morning - it obviously our gear so we moved in immediately couldn't handle the quantities of and soon had the place looking like a food we were getting either. bomb site. Mt Hooker from the Solution Range

By the next day the rain was back. Railways bus. However, we soon came We set off early, hoping to cross the across a large unexpected side creek, Otoko later that day. We climbed and feared the marked streams might onto a bush terrace 400 feet above be impassable. This was terrible. the river and travelled quickly down Not only would we miss the bus but we through fairly open bush. We left would also have to eat rice and the terrace to attempt a river crossapples for breakfast the next day. ing, opposite Stag Flat. Despite all Fortunately, the streams were all the rain, the crossing was (as Buncks quite easy to cross. We had lunch said) a piece of ease. under the bridge, as it was still raining. The bus was, of course, We had lunch by the river and travellate (Railways have a reputation to led on through some much more diffimaintain, I guess) but we got to Fox cult bush in the afternoon. A possum okay. Shame our clean clothes had trapper or some such person had been sent to Franz Josef. marked out a rough trail with orange spray paint so we followed this and We rented a cabin at the motor camp arrived at Reynolds Flat at 5.00 pm. and unpacked our gear. I looked into my pack cautiously - what was going Buncks and Peter were next seen 50 on in there? I could see things feet up a dead tree with the axe and moving. Buncks put his soggy sleepa rope, collecting firewood. The ing bag in the drier. I think he was rest of us kept to the ground and tempted to climb in there too. We carried rocks to and fro, and set up ate fish and chips in the local camp in a less spectacular fashion. restaurant, and after a drink or two, danced back to the cabin. The following morning we set off to the hut near the junction of the The next day we travelled to Hokitika Otoko and Paringa Rivers. There were by bus. Our packs sat in a steaming an amazing number of nettles on the heap in the baggage compartment, giving off evil We them we track followed down (not marked on odours. left the latest NZMS 1 map). There was in the Hokitika air cargo depot when also a fair bit of hook grass. Peter we arrived. The staff assured us and Buncks both travelled behind the they would send them out to the airmain bunch, hoping we'd remove at port for us - in fact, they could least some of the seeds. Apparently hardly wait to get rid of them. we didn't do a very good job. We kept going bravely through the After lunch Michelle and I set off on rain and were at the hut for lunch. a giant licorice allsort hunt, but Disaster = it was locked (sob). We eventually had to settle for the ate a damp meal outside in the wood standard size. We all walked out to shelter. So did the sandflies. We the airport and arrived back in the camped beside the Otoko half an hour capital city after a bumpy but unlater on. eventful flight. However, Peter, Janine and I were asked to change The next day we set off, full of seats as we were making the plane determination and cold congealed unstable. macaroni cheese (the primus died near At the airport we all rounded our the end of breakfast preparation). packs up. and said our farewell. We aimed to reach the bridge over the Sadly, it was all over - till the Paringa River by 3.00 pm to catch the next time anyway. The rays of the newly-risen sun gleamed like stars on thousands of shining dewdrops hanging from the soft-tinged web of fern. Then the forest awoke. The multitudinous voice of birds, the rustle of trees, and the murmur of the waters voiced the eternal song of the living earth. (from Yesterdays in Maoriland - Andreas Reischek)