Our trip kicked off to a luxurious start. While we had been planning on staying under a fly on Friday night, weather forecasts of high wind and possible heavy rain led us to take advantage of a well presented backpackers on Ure Road. After soft beds, electric lighting, warm showers and microwaved breakfasts we were ready to depart.
Our trip was aiming to walk up Sawcut Gorge, while the other trip went off on their alpine adventure. Sharing use of the van, they dropped us off at our road-end and headed on their merry way. We paused to sign the DOC book, located inside a farm house, and collected a hand-drawn map from the owner which was really well prepared and covered things like slips and places to cut the corner of the river.
Off we set, happy about the untimely good weather and restful sleep at the backpackers. No sooner had we made our first river crossing however, then poor Jane had an incident involving an object coming into inappropriately close contact with her head. Rumours abound, one suggestion is she was sucker-punched by an Alpaca.
Recovering from this untimely attack, we pressed on, Jane not letting it slow her down for a moment. The walk itself was a pleasant one, lots of river crossings but none of them much above knee height. The surface of the track is almost entirely pebbles and small rocks, with quite steep hills rising to either side. Some of the rocks along the river bank took on amazing shapes and forms and we took our time taking photos along the way.
Arriving at the gorge seems reminiscent of entering a Greek fable. It has towering cliffs on either side and a narrow cut running down the side of the hill as though it were hewed by lightning. We took our time taking the obligatory selfies, notably more fun without the presence of bus loads of tourists who must descend on this spot during summer.
From the gorge it is only another hour to the hut, where we settled in listening to the gale-force winds and dining on coconut mango tuna curry. Many a game of 500 (or rather one incredibly long game of 500) was played to pass the night away.
The next day we woke to find the rain hadn’t been too heavy, and we didn’t have to climb over the tops. All that was left was a careful but pleasant walk out of the gorge. This is an amazing place for an easy-easy medium tramp – everyone should add it to their list. The rain set in that afternoon, but by that time we were safely ensconced in the club van and on our way back to Wellington.