This trip started with a long hot wait on a Friday afternoon to get on the ferry to Picton. After several sailing time changes, we were glad to see the ship arrive in Wellington Harbour, and even gladder to get on and get settled. I made good use of the wait time, however, signing up as a WTMC member using my phone and the new online membership system – which worked a treat. David was able to use his phone at the same time to see what was happening at the admin end.
The seven trippers, accompanied by Amy, who was off on a separate jaunt in the same area, stayed overnight at cabins in Blenheim before heading off the next morning – after a café breakfast – to the Leatham conservation area.
The walk started on a swing bridge over the Leatham River, then a gentle uphill walk along a four wheel drive road that hugged the river. The weather was fine and the walking was easy, with plenty of stops to enjoy the scenery at streams running from the hills. Vegetation was mostly beech, kanuka and a number of pine varieties. David said he had read it looked like Canada. I think it was the steep pine covered ridge on the other side of the river that gave it that look.
We reached our destination – Griegs Hut – in just under 5 hours. The hut was clad in pine logs, apparently bought for fencing by DoC, and was a comfortable 15 bed three-roomer, with a cute pot belly stove, which was put to good use when the temperature dropped and the rain set in on Sunday afternoon. There was plenty of reading material left behind – mostly hunting, fishing and shooting mags, but also an eye opening Readers Digest from 1994 which did the rounds. The river provided a welcome and refreshing bath as the sun continued to shine for the rest of the day.
On Sunday morning we set out to climb Mount Morris, a 1,300 metre climb, over around 6 kilometres, which I now know is fairly steep. The route starts on a four wheel drive track, which turns into a narrow walking track after Mt Morris Bivvy (about half way up). The second half of the track was rocky and required a bit of scrambling over trees that had come down.
The weather thickened and the going was treacherous, so the group decided to turn around before the summit, heading back to Mt Morris Bivvy for a lunch break, before descending through pine plantation back to the hut.
A pleasant afternoon was spent watching the rain, getting warm in front of the fire, yarning and napping. Some of the group ventured out for an easy 500m walk up the river to a swing bridge. On the other side, there are two paths. On the right, it’s a minute’s walk to a side stream and ford (and some nice posed photos were taken here). On the left, the track, (again, like a 4WD track), winds upstream towards Siberia hut. Karen may have seen a black goat on the track when she went up, but the others didn’t meet any creatures.
David’s rehydrated vegetarian cottage pie, followed by chocolate mousse and marshmallows brought a fine dining vibe. We finished the evening with a game of cards – Down the River, Up the River – which introduced some of our party to the concept of left and right bowers, leading to some confusion and hilarity.
The walk back on Monday started in rain, lifting in the afternoon. We were in a hurry to get back because whenever we stopped we were attacked by sandflies and were very pleased to see Amy with the van at the appointed time. Our schedule afforded us an hour or so in Picton to wander about before another calm ferry trip back to Wellington