Three Dusky Maidens Go South

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THREE DUSKY MAIDENS GO SOUTH Kirsty Woods Jenny leaving Lake Roe (Kirsty Woods) What can I say about Summer in Fiordland? Grand The other occupants of the hut clearly had an appetite for landscapes, awe- inspiring views, mud, sandflies, rain - fish but would never get through that lot on their own. even snow. Last Xmas/New Year, Dale Parsons, Jenny We offered to help. Brown and I experienced everything Fiordland has to offer. If fishing is your thing, then Supper Cove is the place to go. But, as day two dawned, we agreed that fishing was The journey began on Boxing Day, with a flight from Te not our highest priority, and moved on to Loch Maree Anau to Supper Cove, which is at the far end of the track Hut, which is a reasonable days tramp from Supper Cove. at Dusky Sound. The flight was bumpy, the small plane having to push its way through wind, rain and patches of Loch Maree, which has been formed by a landslide into cloud. By the time we arrived at Supper Cove, at least the Seaforth River, is at the junction of two tracks: one one brown paper bag had been used. which leads from Lake Hauroko over the Pleasant Range; the other from Lake Manapouri. Our plan was to stay a Our insides restored to normal, we settled in at the hut. night at Lock Maree, do a side trip up to the hut at Lake It smelled of fish and was surrounded by sandflies, so to Roe, which is over the Pleasant Range, and then return. escape, we took the dingy out into the water to try our hand at some fishing. Dale hooked a small cod and we set We gained the Pleasant Range by means of an extremely about trying to overcome our "love of all life-forms" to steep track. The tops were misty but lovely, and as we prepare the fish for dinner. It took us some time to moved upwards, we caught glimpses of the surrounding overcome our conditioning. steep sided valleys, typical of Fiordland. Our hut was located in a pass at the top of the track from Lake Having agreed that one fish was enough, we rowed back Hauroko, but below Lake Roe a peaceful spot. into shore. Just as well too. When we returned to the hut and set about preparing our dinner, we discovered many different species of fish staring at us from the bottom of camp ovens, billies and pots.

We only intended to spend one night in the hut, and ate up large, thinking that the next day we'd head back down to Lock Maree and our plentiful supplies of goodies Next day dawned wet and gray, (surprised?) and we (including a New Year nip of Baileys). However, it packed for the trip over Centre Pass to Upper Spey Hut. snowed in the night and next morning, hailstorms warned The second steep climb of the trip introduced itself to us us to remain in our sleeping bags rather than brave the and begrudgingly, we got to know it well. The climb up tops in the cold. turned out to be enjoyable. As we reached the bush edge, we were pleasantly surprised to find mountain daisies The second night, we chopped a few slices of salami into sprinkled about the tops. The cold wind wasn't so pleasant some leftover rice - quite a contrast to the delicious meal though, so despite the grand views into the Spey Valley, prepared by four trampers who joined us during the day! we hurried down into the bush and shelter. Despite a chilly second dawn at Lake Roe, we packed up Our last night on the track was spent in Upper Spey Hut, and headed back to Loch Maree, tummies keen for a boil eating up large, and enjoying the lovely valley spread out up and noses keen for a whiff of Baileys. before us. New Year's 's Eve at Loch Maree was sunny and calm, one On our final day, we discovered that one should "never of the few clear days of the trip. However, New Years judge a valley by its cover "; or something like that. day was a typical gray damp Fiordland day as we moved Yes, our beautiful grassy valley was deceptive, and turned on up the Seaforth River to Kintail Hut. I realised that all out to be the location of the biggest bogs of the whole the water in Fiordland must drain straight off the steep trip. Thighs and knees would disappear without warning! hillsides and into the valleys, keeping them damp, mossy Nevertheless, I can't say that I was glad to reach the end and muddy. The first part of the track is frequently under of the track. Our week on the Dusky Track was most water, although we were lucky to avoid having to wade. enjoyable, with great company in awe inspiring I was thankful that the last part of the track climbs up surroundings. On the boat trip back across Manapouri, we through rocks around Tripod Hill to Gair Loch and hence sipped on hot cups of coffee, feeling satisfied that we had to Kintail Hut. found a new and vast region to explore. Despite our experiences in deep muddy bogs, we had really only We spent a pleasant rainy night in Kintail Hut eating up scratched the surface of Fiordland. large and chatting to two Americans who were heading towards Supper Cove. Dale at Loch Maree, New Year's Eve (Kirsty Woods)