I planned a 50km route and bought some Hut passes from DOC (department of conservation) which would allow me to sleep in huts along the route. Ingrid dropped me off at Hackett car park at about 10 am and my first day was supposed to be a 16km hike to Roebuck Hut. As this is the first time I had done anything like this and as I was on my own I was a bit nervous, but after the first couple of kilometers the track was really good and i was making good progress, so i decided to take a detour to look at a disused chrome mine, which was supposed to be about 1km off the track. After about 1.5km of walking I had not come across anything that looked like a disused mine, so i decided to turn back and head back to the main track. About an 1.5 hours after setting off i arrived at Hackett hut, which had a nice stream running by it and i decided to have a break.
Having a paddle in Weka Creek
A Weka in Weka Creek.
These are a protected species of flightless bird, but are not particularly shy around Humans and this one kept pecking my bag to get food.
Roebuck Hut
Roebuck Hut is a 6 bed standard hut, which means it just has beds and a wood burner. When i arrived there was a couple already in the hut, and although i was hoping to have the hut to myself it was nice to see somebody as i had only seen two other people all day. I went down to the river to collect some water, and after managing not to slip over all day i slipped on a rock and ended up getting both my shoes soaking wet. By the time i had had my re-hydrated meal (yummy....) it was starting to get dark so i went to bed and started talking to the couple i was sharing the hut with. The couple were in their late 60's/early 70's and they had plenty of tips and advice to pass on about tramping as they had been doing it for the last 45 years. In each hut there is a 'book of intentions' in which you are supposed to fill in your details and intentions and can be used if you go missing. The book in this hut had only just been completed and it had been here since 2004, and it was interesting to see how people from all over the world had stayed in this hut.
The couple had gone before i woke up in the morning and after having some porridge i packed up, put on my still wet shoes and started day 2. Today was going to be a shorter day - about 12km to Rocks Hut, including a 2km detour to Middy Creek Hut. The first 6km was fairly hard going along the river Pelorus, again the track was not well defined and there were lots of exposed roots, loose rocks and sidling up hill but i only slipped/tripped over 3 times. At about the 6km mark the track split and i had planned to go right to Middy Creek Hut and then come back to the junction and on to Rocks Hut, but i decided against it as i had now remembered how to use contour lines and the last 3.5km had over 600m of climbing - which works out at an average gradient of about 17%! After what felt like an eternity climbing up hill the ground levelled out and i was only about 500m away from the hut. It had taken me the best part of 6 hours to walk just under 10km. It was 3.30pm so i had plenty of daylight and time to relax and recuperate. I started to gather some firewood to light the fire and i hung my clothes out to dry (it rained briefly earlier).
Rocks Hut, a 16 bed standard hut
Inside Rocks Hut - note my shoes on top of the wood burner.
View from the Hut, Mount Richmond in the background
After lighting the fire and hanging my clothes out to dry and putting my shoes on top of the wood burner to dry i had a lie down on one of the benches and drifted off to sleep.......only to be woken up to the smell of burning rubber! My shoes had started to melt on top of the wood burner, i quickly took them off and assessed the damage. The sole had started to come away from the shoe, so while they were still warm i stood on them to try and keep them stuck together while the glue cooled down. it sort of worked, but they did not look to good and i was unsure how long they would last the next day. After another re-hydrated meal and some scroggin it started to get dark again, and it looked like i would be sleeping alone in the hut. In the middle of nowhere. Near the top of a mountain. Maybe i was wrong to want the hut to myself! During the night none of the following woke me up and scared me - the wind, wekas running about under the hut and honking loudly, wild boar fighting and/or mating. After a brilliant nights sleep i had breakfast and packed up and set off on the final, and longest, leg of the trip - 21km to home. Today was the easiest going terrain wise - mostly downhill and mostly on well formed paths. After about 4km i reached Coppermine Saddle and i had the choice to take a detour up the the peak of Dun Mountian, i wanted to but my feet said no.
Coppermine Saddle
From here it was all downhill along the Dunn Mountain Trail, which follows the route of NZ's first railway line. The only thing of any note that happened on the way home is that i had been saving the chocolate pieces of my scroggin for the end of the trip, but ended up dropping them when i stumbled on a rock. i am sure i learned a lesson from this, but i am not sure what it was. Over all it was a very enjoyable trip (although sometimes did not feel like it) and i felt that i had accomplished something.
**this site doesnt automatically change lower case i into capital I and i cant be bothered to go through and change them all. Take that grammar.
Love it! Sounds awesome.
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