Friday:
Although the trip had been cancelled due to the terrible weather forecast, some of us were still keen to tramp, so we met at the club rooms at 6 pm to decide our destination. Several other options were put forward, but I was still keen on going to Fiordland as we were staying in huts, all of which were close to the road, so even if the weather was foul it was not necessary to spend too much time out in it.
Just south of Balclutha, Paul excitedly pointed out a rainbow in the sky ahead. As you can imagine, this caused a little amazement, as no one in the vehicle had ever heard of rainbows at night!
Saturday:
Saturday dawned overcast with showers. Not to be discouraged the group donned their wet weather gear and started up the Gertrude Valley with intentions of reaching the snowline. Just up from the hut the Gertrude Stream tumbles through a series of rocky areas. The solid rocks, fast flowing water and mountains peeking through the mist provided some rather nice images for me to record on film. The drizzle had turned to a steady rain and the stream was beginning to rise rather quickly, so we decided to flag and head back to the vehicles.
As a few of us had never been to this area. Alan suggested that we drive through the tunnel and have a look at the Chasm. So up and through the hill we went with me gawping out the windows at the scenery. The Chasm is a sight to behold ? I rattled off a couple of shots, but as it was now raining hard I really didn't want to get my camera wet. Back at the vehicles we decided that the best option was to head for the Divide shelter for lunch and then on to Howden hut for the rest of the afternoon.
Howden Hut is one of the least frequently used of the Great Walk huts and therefore still retains some character. We arrived at the empty but carrying large amounts fuel for the potbelly, and plenty of food for our bellies (soon to also be 'pot' Ed). While Chris and Susan headed off for a short trip to McKellar Hut, Liz, our chief fire starter, set about cranking up the potbelly. After a little repair work with some #8 wire to hold the door in place she soon had the living area of the hut warmed up.
As we settled in an Irish chap arrived, followed shortly by the arrival of a gentleman from Ethiopia (now resident in the USA), giving our little party an international flavour. We discovered a new soup flavour (any Maggi vegetable soup we could find all thrown into the same pot), revelled in stir?fried chicken and vegetables, with caramel and custard for afters. It was about then that three lads from Dunedin turned up and joined right in, though I must admit that carrying in a large bottle of spirits is taking things just a little to far! While they partied on into the night the rest of us hit the sack about 10 p.m. I was woken by a bright flash of light, then stunned by a huge clap of thunder that shook the hut. The Lads let out a huge whoop and yelled "Bring it on!" as the rest of our heart rates dropped to a more restful level and we drifted back to sleep.
Sunday:
While it was still overcast outside, the day held promise of clearing and I was keen to use up some of the film I had bought along. After breakfast and the necessary coffee fix, it was out and about looking for some nice ethereal shots of Lake Howden. As I headed back to the hut there was a loud cry from along the track to Lake McKellar. "Oh Hell!" I thought, "what now?.I looked around and saw Chris D running at full speed towards the sound and, thinking the worst, I started running as well, thoughts of first aid courses and getting choppers into the hut filling my head. As it turned out there wasn't a problem ? Margarita had thought that the Irish chap had taken off with her gloves by mistake and was calling out to him. Well it sounded like "HELP!!!!" to me. As it turned out Susan had picked them up with some of her stuff, so apart from a little adrenaline hit on my part it all ended well.
Paul, Susan and Chris had decided that on the way back to the vehicles they would head up to Key Summit and then explore along the ridge tops, and invited me to join them. Dumping our packs at the turn off we headed up the track to Key Summit. The going was easy with a well?formed trail heading slightly uphill past the scrub and tarns and onto the tussock covered ridge. Once you have gained the ridge there are magnificent views into three valleys ? the Greenstone, Hollyford and
Eglington
The ridge itself has numerous large tarns and large obelisk like rocks. Geologically this area is more than fascinating, running along the centre of the ridge is a series of large cracks which are the surface expressions of gravity?induced slumping. All the valleys in this area were glaciated, and when you take the supports away (e.g. the glacier) something has got to give, so some time in the future the ridge ,will collapse into the valley. (Hmmm, remind me not to spend too much time in McKellar Hut!). Time was starting to catch up with us as we had promised the others we would meet them at the Divide at 12.30 p.m. It was now just on noon and very much time to head back. These "Great Walks" tracks are wonderful if you are in a hurry, Key Summit turnoff to the Divide shelter in less than 20 minutes. After lunch, we headed down the Hollyford Valley to where the track to Lake Marian starts. The first portion of the track is very well graded and board-walked so that the tourists can get to view the Marian Stream rapids without getting their designer shoes muddy, whereas the rest of the track basically follows a small stream course as it sidles up the valley. Unlike most tourist areas, believe the DoC sign when it says 1.5 hours to the lake, because even at a good clip that's what it takes.
Lake Marian itself was a real disappointment for me. I had seen Paul v K's photos taken in the summer with lovely blue skies and lots of light, while we were presented with heavy overcast which flattened the colours. Still, I had finally got to another of those places I hadn't been.
Time was again getting on and it was starting to chill down, so Alan and I started plodding slowly back to the vehicles, admiring the bush and bird cans. Quite a nice way to wind down a weekend that had turned out to be much better than we all expected.
Andrew MacKay for Chris Dyson, Alan Thomson, Liz Clark, Susan Shannon, Margarita
Wilding, Ann Burton and Paul van Kampen.
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