The trip was scheduled as going to Nina Hut and Manson Nicholls Hut in Lewis Pass. However the huts were booked by early December so we considered alternative trips and camping rather than overnighting in huts.
We met Thursday afternoon at the railway station and then caught the ferry, driving on to Murchison for the night. On Friday, we got up early, stopped for a coffee and then headed to Lewis Pass to drop off the Medium group. We continued on to the Nina Valley track with the intention of camping at Lucretia Bivvy for the night and then going to Nina Hut on Saturday.
We started in good weather on the well defined track that undulated along the river valley. We passed the swing bridge and stopped for lunch near where the Lucretia Stream joins the Nina River. After lunch it was onwards and upwards, but after an hour or so we decided to turn and aim for a campsite in the valley. As we were making this decision a couple of large parties passed us, heading towards Lucretia Bivvy. We backtracked until we found a suitable spot for camping.
Along the way, we were joined by a variety of birdlife. A friendly robin kept us company while we paused for a break on the track. We also spotted what we believe were either Rock Wren/Pīwauwau or possibly Rifleman/Tītitipounamu. The ever-cheerful Fantail/Pīwakawaka flitted along behind us, and a Tomtit/Miromiro appeared near the end of our tramp. Watching them all was a delight and a wonderful reminder of why we love spending time outdoors.
The predicted rain arrived in the late afternoon, so it was a damp dinner before we retired early to our tents – both to get out of the rain and away from the sandflies. We were not entirely successful with the latter because several hundred sandflies got into our tents. Fortunately most seemed to be content to stay on the ceiling but even with repellant we couldn’t avoid getting bitten!
The weather cleared on Saturday morning so we set off to Nina Hut, backtracking over the swing bridge. On the way we encountered a large family group with several children ranging from 4 to 10 who were returning from Nina Hut. It was great to see families enjoying the outdoors – an advantage of being able to book huts.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Nina Hut in the sun and with a (relative) absence of sandflies. After lunch we set off back to the road end hoping to camp at a suitable spot on the way. This would give us an easy walk out on the Sunday. However we were too fussy, turning down camping spots because they weren’t perfect. We arrived back at the road end about 7pm and drove to the nearby Boyle campsite for the night. This was busy with walkers from the Te Araroa and St James tracks, but thankfully had few sandflies.
On Sunday we were in no hurry and went for a leisurely stroll on the first stretch of the St James walkway, before returning to the van and driving to pick up the Medium group. We then drove to catch the ferry with lunch in Murchison and dinner in Picton.