The Landsbugger - Christmas 2001

The Landsbugger - Christmas 2OO

Let's set the scene immediately and explain why the Landsborough is hard work. Because yo can only walk half a kilometre per hour due to the severity of the tenain. Because it is near impossible to cross the fast flowing, milky Landsborough during the melt water and summet rai conditions - forcing you always to the true left to fight major sidestreams or thick alpine bus Because boulders the size of houses block the way forward and have to be climbed over, roun or frequently under. Because this is one of the rcmotest parts of NZ in an officially recognise

Wildemess Area with six days' walk to the nearest man-made structure - the dilapidate

Fraser Hut. And because nine days of rain showers (coat-on, coat-off) and endle t et us elaborate. The Maori named the l.andsborough

"Otoatahi" meaning "Pugnacious Weka". And .U pugnacious it was. The Landsborough is the longest river in New Zealand and is fed from glaciers at its head which hang off the Mt Sefton massif. The whole valley was first mapped in 1887 by Gerhard Mueller and Charlie Douglas but was earlier explored in 1863 by Julius von Haast. It is from Douglas Pass that Brett, Richard and Charlie followed the l-andsborough from near its head, down its course for 30km, past Whitcombe Creek and Zora Canyon before walking over the Main Divide of the Southem Alps into the Huxley and Hopkins valleys and out to Lake Ohau. We'd budgeted for 13 days of travel to accomplish this and accomplished it in 10.

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Examining the map sums up some of the difficulties. Names like Danger Stream, Adieu Creek, Omen Torrent, Rubicon Torrent (probably the hardest of all to cross), Repulse Creek, Romping Water, Bubble Creek, Baffle Ravine, Struggle Creek and Fiasco Creek conjure up an appropriate scene. All these were within 5 miles of the upper reaches of the Landsborough. It was Aat Vervoorn (author of Mountain Solitudes) who poignantly said of Westland, "lt was my inability to swim that saved me from drowning a number of times." Some white rapid side rivers snaking down the valley needed to be crossed several hundred metres further upstream and so, for the sake of 50 metres gain in distance, could take up to a half-kilometre detour and 40 minutes of manoeuvring to find a safe crossing point.

The upper l-andsborough gorge begins when the riverbed falls away as if weighed down by the massive boulders that choke it. The valley sides grow steeper and closer, hemming the river in with bluffs that force the traveller to sidle high. You had to find your way one step at a time, with infinite care and patience.

But the tramp was turning into a comedy sketch of mishaps. The first rock biwy took ages to find since so many equally large boulders proved false leads - and when it rained for several hours that first night, a faster and faster drip came lower and lower down into the pit. Oh how the keas laughed at us at 5am the next morning.

Day 2: Brett fell off a large, slippery boulder about two metres high and luckily landed on his backpack. He struggled to lift himself, as he remained pinned down by the weight

Charlie Bath swollen river crossings added to the experienc of his backpack. "Bugger, I knew that wasn't safe," he sa with only hurt pride.

Day 3: Richard, trusty trail-finder, route-blazer an general boulder-Houdini, fell on slippery rocks and, daze with birds tweeting round his head, managed to find a inspirational campsite where we could pitch the tent on level sandy base below two huge overhanging boulders. C course, by the time Charlie and Brett arrived at the scen of the accident Richard had fully recovered and started t behave inationally again.

Day 4: Why would a sensible person decide to wal across open flats with a wet ice axe poking out of the to of the backpack with sheet lightning so close and brigt that the effect was like someone taking a flash photo c you from one metre away. The thunder was strong enoug to cause some avalanches high up.

After six days of walking we arrived at the first mar made object outside the official Wilderness area - Frase Hut - to find that the door had been left open since th last people visited three week previously and a disgruntle possum hotted out of the doorway. The next injury involve a woodchopper axe - you may be thinking the worst. A Richard and Charlie played cards inside listening to th rhythmic tone of chopping wood they suddenly heard shar expletives and cursing from outside and the axe suddenl rattling to the ground. The worst was feared - had Bre chopped his finger off or just lacerated an artery? Whe Brett hadn't appreciated until now was the force with whicl wood separates when hit with much force by an axe. Lik a freak accident, the half piece of chopped wood flel straight onto (into) his forehead.

The fourth consecutive day of injury came from shee poor timing. This was the day when we pushed over th top from Fraser Hut on the west side of the Main Divide tr Brodrick Hut on the east side. It was to be a huge day a the Landsborough drops to 2B0m on the west side bu Brodrick Pass was 1,650m high which only drops to 1,000n to reach Brodrick Hut. But when we came to the point ir the river where we were meant to cut up through a stee track onto a spur, there was no cairn as shown in the writter directions. Brett and Charlie therefore decided to make i cairn. Mistake no.1 was both guys placing heavy stone onto the cairn at the same time with Brett's finqer cominr

Tramping and Mountaineering 2001 /200

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e said r and lazed rd an r o n a rs. Of ;cene ed to walk off worse than Charlie's rock though the rock did flake stightly. More sharp words and an apology, first aid and the burying of the finger nail (ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Brett sure as hell did curse and curse) before resuming again.

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The progress up the spur to Brodrick pass was solid, simple and unrelenting until exiting the bush and again, the apparently clear directions failed to identiftT ,,a cair-n on the skyline". Deciding not to build another cairn, a sharp descent into a side valley which led to the foot of Brodrick Pass proved unproblematic until the rain started, clouds lowered, and temperafure dropped making it too miserable to stop for lunch on top. Instead the warm fire of Brodrick Hut beckoned, as did a welcome from Simon, Gabriel. Roger and Grant.

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The other memorable times were trying to bush_bash through thick forest vegetation (including wind_blown trees) whilst one's ice axe and walking poles got stuck in the undergrowth and bush lawyer. Traversing the Toetoe Flats area and having to sidle along a steep wood_clad section to avoid the rising river took the best part of one hour to cover 150 metres distance. As said in Mountain Solifudes, "it was sometimes possible to walk for brief intervals without watching every step". Time passed quickly as we passed slowly.

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This type of terrain was taking its toll on our gear and bodies. Brett's pack, which was already beginning to show wear and tear after 15 years of abuse, was now on its last legs, rather like Charlie who had not done such a stuenuous tramp in over two years. Richard had literally walked his tramping boots into the ground as the soles were coming off. We'd all got scratches and bruises to the legs and one,i feet looked like an Egyptian Mummy with all tie tape and bandages. But let it be officially minuted that three guys

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Tramping and Mountaineering 2OO1 /2002

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.1 used handcream as a necessit5r on a tramp when one rarely dried out from the rain, river crossings and moss on the l-andsborough boulders. Itwas as if one's fingerprints flaked off for days after the tramp ended

The excitement the day after arriving at Brodrick Hut was that a member of the North Shore Tramping Club (who seemed to dominate every hut in the area by sending six of their members to all corners) had become separated from the party and had not been seen in over six hours. So they conducted their own search and rescue and gave the poor boy such a scolding that he was put on the next plane back to Auckland as a punishm"ni fo, not delibeiatelv getting lost!

Finally we'd made it down to Red Hut for New year in the Hopkins after various radio communiqu6s with Sue and Craig. With a storm brewing, a heavy rain warning forecast, and seriously dark clouds brooding over Elcho Pass where Grant et alwere, it was good to have a shelter over our heads for New year's Eve. Now Charlie was always apprehensive of this tramp ever since Sue decided not lo join them after she studied the maps and believed that it was not her cup of tea - Sue's a smart woman and if she wasn't happy, then something had to be wrong. What she was really wondering was whether those hard taskmasters called Brett and Richard would lead her over another knife_ edge ridge like Manakau, or up another near verticar cliff like The Ramp on Mt Aspiring. What Charlie appreciated only later was that he was that Sacrificial Sue like a lamb to slaughter. But would we do it all again? Of course we would - tomorrow. And thanks to Sarah who let Charlie go off when she was six months pregnant.

Troops: Brett Longley, Richard Minson, Charlie Batho.