It is always difficult to write an article when the newsletter editor was actually on the trip. She will firstly change the text so that the truth is actually recorded and secondly will also be suspicious of any of my future articles.
I had wanted to go to Sawcut gorge for a long time. Katy co opted me into helping her with her first trip as leader. So this was a great chance to have a wander through the wonder.
We had whittled down the punters to six by the time we met on Friday night for the ferry. Luckily they all had their jobs allocated to them as below (from left to right in photo):
Chief Navigator – Ashley Pendree
Chief Leader person – Katy Glenie
Chief Instructional Officer – Sarah Young
Chief Sitting Bull – John Price
Chief Insubordinate – Me!
Botany Specialist (and Chief Photo
Taker) – Paula Vincent
We arrived in Picton and with no rush to get to a road end for an early start we settled into a nice cozy back packers.
Morning came, and with it the chance to get some good coffee and the papers, there really is something to be said for easy tramping.
Still we all left at the anointed time of 9am and drove down SH1 to just south of Ward where we turned up the Waima Valley. As you park your vehicle in the farmers front yard (thanks for the access again) we stopped for a yarn with him before setting off at 11am.
The route follows the old homestead 4 WD track to the river and once feet are wet just follows the river the whole way. As an introduction to river travel this trip is ideal for gaining confidence in crossing the stream and selecting a route. It was good to see the more novice trampers go from nervous doubting looks to beams of sunshine.
Exploration was helped by the chief instructional officer deciding to spend the afternoon in the challenge of not using any of the sidle paths.
We stopped for lunch in the last of the sunshine just before the turn off to isolation creek. As we progressively headed up stream, the side walls got taller and closer in.
The high light of saw cut gorge is the knife cut section. Here the stream is gentle but the walls close in to about 3 to 4 m across rising above you about 100m they twist a bit forming an effective roof and blocking the sunlight. It only lasts about 100m horizontal but is well worth the visit. You are definitely going into Indiana Jones territory here!
The walk up the gorge continues to be spectacular with large rock faces looming on one side or another for another hour or so of walking. Eventually a fork is reached and on a bench above the stream is Isolation hut our stop for the night. Sarah opts for the tent and the rest of us grab a bunk.
A bit of lazing around followed by a good Thai curry takes us into the night time and soon everyone falls asleep.
In the morning we went for a bit of an explore up to the Brian Boru saddle and introduced the group to hook grass. (We will save Spaniard for another day.) We stopped at a good view spot, overlooking Isolation hill and the valley below.
Then it was back to the hut and pack our bags. We retraced our steps down the river moving more quickly with new founded boulder hopping confidence. The fantails were more numerous than the day before urging us along and we made good time allowing us to have a quick swim.
An important chat to the farmer got us a very nice place for coffee on the way home at the East Coast Inn (state highway 1, just south of Ward). Soon we were on the ferry dozing off before arriving back home in Wellington.