Saturday, December 27, 2008

A Tramp in the Mountains near Hokitika

The original plan was to go up the Whataroa and Perth Rivers, over Dennistoun Pass and down the Havelock to Erewhon Station. My companions were Fischer Thomas and David Waugh. Fischer is from the Black Forest in Germany and is spending a year in New Zealand. David is an ex SSNZAC member and a very experienced climber and tramper and resides in Hokitika. At the last minute we switched our objective, as the weather forecast was grim.

Arriving in Hokitika on 17th December we had a look at the maps and decided a nice possible trip was up the Toaroha River over Zit Saddle and down the upper Kokatahi, up Crawford Creek, over Lathrop Saddle and out the Styx. Three days should do this 4-5 day tramping trip we thought.

We started in the afternoon up Toaroha Creek under a grey sky and reached Cedar Flats Hut in the evening. Nearby were some ‘hot’ springs but this was a disappointing tepid pool beside a freezing cold creek. David said that on an earlier visit he had to get water out of the creek to cool it down. We had a pleasant evening at the hut and a restful night.


Next day we set off up the valley and soon came on 2 Whio ( Blue Duck) in the Toaroha just past a gorge. Soon after we started the steep climb up Adventure Ridge and came to the Adventure Bivouac just above the bushline. There was drifting cloud on the tops as we set off into the dense scrub and up a narrow gully to the tussock slopes. There were masses of eyebrights and Giant Buttercups in the tussock.

















The terrain got steeper as we approached Zit Saddle as we were enveloped in cloud. There was loose shale on the other side as we lost height and spent some time trying to find route markers. In a brief clearing in the cloud I spotted the Upper Kokatahi Hut. We made our way down the creek and arrived at a spanking new hut where we had a spell.

Then it was down the creek boulder hopping and crashing into the thick scrub on the riverbank for the next 6 hours. Later we grew alarmed at the lateness of the day and ominous sky and the last 2 hours were a dash the remaining section to Crawford Junction Hut just on dark.

That night it deluged down and this continued next day. The rivers rose and any prospect of moving evaporated so we decreed a rest day. This was not a bad idea as we were clearly in need of a good rest. The following day the rain was easing off but the rivers were still huge. We decided to start in the evening for the upper Crawford Valley but the Farquharson River was too big so we retreated back to the hut.













There was no rain on Saturday night so we left early on Sunday down the Kokatahi. We
went up valley to cross the swing bridge and headed down the true right of the creek. It was slow going boulder hopping and struggling through the thick bush. After some hours we came on the swing bridge below Meharry Creek. Once across there was a track that climbed steeply through the bush and which led to a wide creek. Here we had difficulty locating the track, which was below us. Then we climbed again up to a clearing and lost the route. Eventually this was located and we carried on along this disused overgrown track to Boo Boo Hut, which was a welcome sight. From here the track dropped steeply to river level and further on we crossed a swing bridge over a spectacular gorge. It took us 13 hours to reach the road.

A tramp in the ranges behind Hokitika by David Waugh, Fischer Thomas and Stanley Mulvany 17-21 December 2008