We are back from our adventures in Wanaka and the West Coast, a good trip catching up with family and friends and walking in some beautiful country
On Tuesday 6th we headed down towards the canals for a spot of fishing and camped at Lake Poaka, Aaron caught three fish - annoying some other fisherman in the process as they couldnt seem to manage to catch anything, as we always seem to do we forgot the net which made landing them a bit of an effort but was good fun!
Camping at Lake Poaka
The next morning we did a little bit more fishing before heading to Wanaka,
While in Wanaka we stayed with Aaron's brother Wayne and his wife Donna. We did some fishing on the way down to Wanaka but it wasn't great fun due to the amount of Didymo in some of the rivers, it is a bit sad to see the beautiful South Island rivers filling up with the stuff....
Wednesday 8th saw us heading into Mt Aspiring National Park to do a day walk up to the Rob Roy Glacier. The gravel road up to the start of the track runs through farmland, requiring us to navigate around some rather large Bulls and a stubborn Ram who decided the middle of the road was a great place to sit, and he wasn't keen to move along when cars came past!
It was a lovely walk up the valley, but very popular - I think we may have annoyed a few people walking up the hill as we were running back down in tramping boots :), its amazing how much energy you have when you don't have a big pack on your back!!
Friday 9th we packed up our gear and headed away for an overnight trip. We walked up the East Matukituki and up Kitchener Stream, there was a rock bivy up there were we planned to stay the night.
It was a beautiful valley with a massive waterfall and glacial basin, the rock bivy wasn't what we expected - more a big slab of rock which DOC had decided was their creation (see the picture of the sign below).
Walking up the East Matukituki
Apparently DOC built the Rock Bivy for us...
Not what I expected but still a comfortable night
We spent the night there with the Mice and Possums, before walking out and heading back to Wanaka
Sunday 11th we caught up with Byron, our old flatmate from Wellington and hatched a plan for our West Coast Adventure. After lunch Aaron and I headed towards the coast to camp, it was bucketing down with rain - and we hoped the clearing forecast was correct! We stayed at Pleasant Flat campsite 40km east of Haast, and spent the evening killing sandflies.
The view looking down Lake Hawea to the West Coast
West Coast
I left an empty Tuna Can on the bonnet of the car, which a wee friend found
Monday 12th we meet Byron and his friend Kirsten at Haast, we headed to the road end of our tramp into Cassel Flat Hut. The rain had disappeared and the sun was starting to show as we walked into the hut. After 5hrs we reached the Hut.
The next day Byron and Kirsten walked up to the tops to spend a night camping, Aaron and I went for a day walk up a creek near the hut to look for some Chamois. As we were heading up a creek towards the tussock tops a helicopter came in and circled the tops looking for animals to shoot, this was a little frustrating to say the least. It seems to me a bit unfair they are targeting areas that are accessible by people walking in - we made the effort to get in there under our own steam and that is all destroyed by a quick helicopter ride.....
We carried on up the creek a bit and then dropped into the bush to look for a deer. We saw a bit of sign but no luck this time. We headed back to the hut mid-afternoon a wee bit dejected, but it was still a beautiful place to be wandering around.
That evening we headed out for a hunt again, we sat and watched a river flat while getting eaten alive by sandflies, just as the light started to fade I noticed an animal move out of the bush on to the river flat - I got into position and shot at it across the river, I had my 1st Chamois! We dropped down into the river bed and tried to find a safe place to cross, the river had a glacial stream coming into it so was milky and fast flowing. We thought about crossing/swimming to get it but decided against it - Rivers (especially ones feed by glaciers) are to be respected and not under-estimated - thanks Dad for teaching me about rivers in my early days of tramping!
We decided to use the cableway the next day and bush bash along the river edge to retrieve the Chamois.
The next morning we walked upstream to the cableway and then bush bashed round the river edge to the Chamois - it was a bit of a mission but better than risking a river crossing
The Cableway, awesome fun!
The milky river
That afternoon we lazed around reading books in the sun, and talking to another hunter about adventures in the hills. Byron and Kirsten returned late in the afternoon from there trip up the tops which sounded exciting with ladders and ropes to get up the steep country!
The next day we walked out in the rain getting soaked through by the time we got back to the car, we drove down to Haast and the pub to warm up and dry out! A great end to an awesome trip. That evening we stayed with Kirsten and had a hot shower! the best part of getting out of the hills I reckon!!
Friday 16th we headed towards Cromwell to visit Aaron's Nana and then headed back towards Temuka with a car load of wet gear and some Chamois meat. It was a great trip on the coast and certainly a place to return to. As we were heading back the Corolla clocked over 250,000km! A picture worthy event
On Saturday 17th we meet up with some Canadians (Marley and Ruby) currently living in Fairlie for a spot of fishing, Aaron took them around some of his old fishing places - a fun day but a bit sad to see how much smaller the rivers are since more and more water is being taken out for irrigation, I wonder what they will be like when our children want to go fishing in them.......
It was great to meet Marley and Ruby, and we now have some people to visit when we head to Canada.
Well that is about it for this instalment, I will try and get another post done just before we head overseas on April 12th! Not long to go now :)
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