Nelson Lakes - Christmas 1987

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Nelson Lakes - Christmas 1987 Marshall Clark New species of tramper? Marshall Clark We arranged to meet in Murchison in the late bridge over a particularly swift flowing stretch of afternoon of Sunday 27 December Bruce Taylor the East Matakitaki branch. The tensioning of leading with Bill and David Drake, Doris the bridge wires left much to be desired, and we Lampart, Craig Kurth and Marshall Clark. used ropes to provide a little extra security for the crossing. Heavy packs were taking their toll and We grabbed a quick meal in Murchison and then we made camp at a small flat in the East Branch. departed for the Matakitaki valley. A local rafting operator provided transport in his rather decrepit The next day, in continuing fine weather, we Commer van to the Matakitaki Station where we travelled past the East Matakitaki Hut to the shouldered our heavy loads and bravely struck bushline, ready for the ascent to Thompson Pass. out up stream towards the distant Spenser The hut is seldom visited; only three pages in the Mountains. We made camp that night at Windfall log were filled in for the past year. Apparently the Flat. avalanche danger of the passes during winter restricts usage of this route mainly to In the morning we came across several signs "No summertime. Our camp spot under the trees at shooting tame pigs". Sure enough, a little the bushline was idyllic but a little frosty in the further on there were a number of pigs running morning. freely in a large grassy area. They gave us a good checking out and then wandered off when they The climb the next day was long but the views sensed that they weren't going to dine out on our were most rewarding. We first climbed up to an dehy. unnamed saddle and then sidled round the head of the D'Urville River valley to Thompson Pass. We noted bulldozers and mineral prospecting activity at the park boundary past Downie Hut Bill had ideas of camping high up at the and later queried this with rangers at St Arnaud. picturesque and austere Lake Thompson, but lack of shelter, a very chill breeze and descending Just after entering the park boundary, David and cloud forced us to drop down to the head of the Craig stumbled onto a wasps nest and were badly Waiau River ready for our crossing of Waiau Pass stung. They were a little shaken by this but we the next day. were able to carry on after a short break, and the administration of some anti-histamines wisely Skeptics among us didn't think that we could find carried by Bruce. an adequately sheltered camping spot in the tussock, but an unpromising hollow eventually Near the forks of the Matakitaki River is a 3-wire was made to form a comfortable resting place for weary bones. As a New Year's Eve celebration, we feasted on Christmas pudding that Doris had bravely carried all the way. We awoke in the early morning to strange sounds above our heads - too late - keas had already sampled the taste of our tent fly. No-one was keen to get out of bed to chase them away, and the keas contented themselves with tugging on the guy ropes and sitting on Bill's ice axe. The ascent of Waiau Pass went fairly well; our team much fitter by now, and packs somewhat lighter. We had glorious views down the Waiau Valley on one side and to Lake Constance on the other side. There was still the odd patch of snow about, and we melted some for one of Bill's brews just over the summit. Bruce had started the trip with a bandaged knee, still recovering from an earlier injury. The descent from Waiau Pass to Lake Constance was hard on all of us and particularly on Bruce's bad knee. We stopped for lunch on the shores of Lake Constance where David sampled the ice-cold waters. We sidled round the edge of Lake Constance and climbed around the steep bluffs on the northwest shoreline before descending down the face of an ancient moraine wall to Blue Lake. It was somewhat of a shock to come across a number of other parties at Blue Lake, since we had only seen three other trampers since starting out. Blue Lake's reputation for beauty is well deserved, and Bill spent ages capturing its various moods and colours in the late afternoon and the next morning. We set off down the Sabine Valley the next morning, but it soon became clear that Bruce was not going to make the ascent over Travers Saddle. We decided he would be able to make his own way down the Sabine to Lake Rotoroa and an early trip home. We were late getting started on the climb up to Ascent towards Marshall Clark Travers Saddle from Sabine Forks Hut. The Thompson Saddle climb up the west face of Mt Travers in the sandflies who were now making their presence afternoon sun was extremely hot work. We felt. arrived at the summit in still clear and warm conditions and decided to spend the night on the The next morning Craig left with some others on top. the track to take up their offer of a ride to Nelson that night from the Mt Robert carpark. The It was a great experience to camp out and watch remaining four of us headed off down the east the sun go down over the tops from our lofty side of Lake Rotoiti and chose a lakeside resting place. We had a very leisurely start the campspot about 20 minutes short of St Arnaud next day, greeting a few trampers who had come for our final night under the stars. up from Upper Travers Hut before we finally broke camp. Doris insisted on getting spruced up for the trip home, and left early to make use of the showers We lunched at John Tait Hut and stopped for the at St Arnaud before the bus came to take us to night at a flat close to Hopeless Creek. We had a Blenheim and Picton. Our 10 day trip was sadly pleasant night, but had to start to cope with the at an end. Thanks to all for a great time.