Since I moved to Auckland in November ’97, tramping trips have been few and far between so I was really looking forward to spending Easter with the club in Kahurangi National Park – Andrew McLellan was leading a trip to Kakapo Spur.
Andrew and the rest of the group, which included Shane Connolly, Stuart Palmer, Hugh Fyson, Grant Newton and Karen Sergeantson traveled from Wellington to Nelson on Easter Thursday by ferry and van. Meanwhile, I flew to Nelson from Auckland and met up with my friend Julian Dirou (ex WT&M) who lives on a farm near Ruby Bay, between Nelson and Motueka. I spent the evening lazing around the farm, eating, drinking and pondering the plight of the others who had to endure the crowds on the holiday weekend ferry and the long drive over the hills from Picton…
They arrived at Julian’s place about 11.30 pm and from there we carried on through Motueka and up the steep Mt Arthur road to the carpark at 950m. Most of us opted to sleep in the shelter, although Shane was lucky enough to be able to stretch out full length on the back seat of the van – I guess it was a situation where being vertically challenged was a horizontal advantage?!
We woke to a fine morning and set off fairly early for the gentle climb to Flora Saddle. From there it was quick travel down past Flora Hut and up to the Gridiron Shelters. The first of these shelters was really neat -like a hut built into an overhanging rock – well worth a look. The rock shelters around that area have rather strange names – shortly after leaving the Gridiron Shelters we reached Growler Shelter. Needless to say, we didn’t see any growlers…
From here we took the direct route up Starvation Ridge and across the Tablelands to Balloon Hut. This area is steeped in history and there are some neat caves along the way that were apparently used as a church in the goldmining days.
We had a leisurely lunch at the rather salubrious hut and carried on along the tops to the northwest. While it was still sunny, there was a strong cold southerly wind blowing which made it hard work. It was good travel along the ridge for a while, including good views over Lake Peel, but it became more difficult shortly after Mt Peel where the ridge became very narrow and steep vertical in places. We
had to sidle across some steep country and progress was very slow. Our plans to reach Kakapo Spur before dark became a distant memory as we were forced to find somewhere even vaguely flat to camp on this steep and rocky ridge. Luckily Andrew managed to find a spot down on the northern slopes of the ridge. It wasn’t exactly flat, but it was sheltered from the wind and at least possible to find a spot to doss down in the tussock without slipping off down the hill.
We woke early after an uncomfortable night and continued sidling around the ridge. The weather was great and it suddenly seemed a lot more enjoyable. It didn’t take us long to reach the junction with Kakapo Spur and from here the travel became much easier. The views were fantastic and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch halfway along the spur above some tarns. Andrew, our dutiful leader, and Stuart kindly volunteered to make a trip down to the tarns to get some much-needed water. From spot height 1497m we branched off to the south and back into the bush for a while. Our plan was to carry on down to Karamea Bend Hut, but there was a lot of bush-bashing ahead and it didn’t look like we were making good enough progress to get there before dark. With that in mind, we decided to stop early to camp on an awesome bench off the ridge. It was a nice spot, complete with running water (a small stream) and flat ground, which seemed a luxury after the previous night. We even had enough time to play frisbee before dinner!
We were lucky to wake to another fine day and once again made an early start, eager to make up time. We navigated our way down to the Leslie River and it was slow travel through the thick, entangled bush. It wasn’t too difficult and we reached the Leslie River in time for lunch. The Leslie is a beautiful valley and travel upriver was good on the well-formed track. We carried on from where the track leaves the Leslie up to Splugeons Rock Shelter for a short break. From there it was one more climb back up to the Tablelands and over to Salisbury Lodge, reaching the hut just before dark. The hut was fairly crowded and some of us chose to camp outside. It had been a long day and a big feast of Andrew’s standard vege curry and cheesecake combo was gratefully devoured. I must have been feeling groggy after Andrew’s cooking, as I let myself be conned into thinking that Andrew, Shane and Stuart were keen to get up early to climb Mt Arthur in the dark to watch the sunrise. I stupidly got up at 1 am, as agreed, by which time the others had all “changed their minds”. Yeah, right. By then Andrew’s curry coma had worn off and I realised the trick they’d played on me and scurried back to bed, feeling ripped off by my charlatan colleagues.
We set off before 7.00 the final morning for the climb up Mt Arthur. It was another fine day so it was good to be climbing in the cool of the morning. It was a steady climb over Cordons pyramid and up to Mt Arthur, reaching the summit around 10.1 S am. The views were fantastic in all directions – from Tasman Bay and the Richmond Ranges in the north and east around to Nelson lakes and the rest of Kahurangi National Park. After soaking up the views we clambered back down the craggy peak of Mt Arthur and ambled through the tussock to Mt Arthur Hut. From here it was a wheelchair track back to the van at Mt Arthur road. There were plenty of day-trippers heading in the other direction – it would certainly be a nice day walk up to Mt Arthur.
I got dropped off back at Julian’s place and headed back to Auckland the following day, while the others continued the long trip back to Wellington by van and ferry. I had been craving fish and chips for days, and that night I had fish and chips for dinner on the wharf at Mapua – a great way to end a fantastic trip.