Breast Hill

Rob on Martha Saddle

We awoke next day to a stunning morning and had a great time wandering up a well-marked track alongside the Avon Burn. The trail then followed a 4-wheel drive track that most remarkably threaded its way round rocky spurs high above the river up to Martha Saddle at 1700 metres. By now it was stinking hot and I was dragging my feet and gasping. Rob was simply a machine – he never seemed to flag. His back is obviously better.

Down the other side of the saddle we followed an even more unbelievable bulldozed road – built with Government  farming subsidies in the 60’s – which zigzagged forever down a massive scree slope to Timaru Creek. We made it to the brand new Top Timaru Hut to a friendly welcome from a couple of local trampers, Maurice and Phyllis. We enjoyed their company – and not long after we arrived our American trail buddies, Matt and Seth turned up!

Debby on a gentle section of Timaru Creek

We were pleased to be back in beech forest next morning until we realized what we were in for - a five hour nightmare of steep ascents, narrow sidles high above the river, ridiculously steep descents to multiple river crossings. Near the end we both quailed to see the track snake across a massive slip face with the river hundreds of feet below us. “Track?” - imagine a  faint groove in the slip face the width of a shoe and rounded off on the outer edge with loose material. A loose rock we dislodged bounced noisily down to the river reminding us what our fate would be if we made a false step....  The technique in these situations is to go into a trance, not look down and to place each foot and your walking pole with great care, sometimes kicking a step in the slip face.  I managed to avoid the dreaded freeze up; Rob experienced what he assumed was an extreme sports adrenalin rush through his body – not unpleasant but in no way addictive, he says.

Back in the river gorge just stepping across a pool of water Debby pulled her calf muscle.....arrgh.

A steep 600m climb took us up to Stody’s Hut with its long history of mustering, a dirt floor and a population of mice. My joy was complete. Really. Matt and Seth had beaten us there by a couple of hours. They had kindly written in the hut book  “Rob & Debby – you ROCK”. Slightly patronizing but very nice to get a pat on the back from a couple of fit young men after one of the toughest sections yet. Then at 7.00pm Gold, a  south-north trail walker joined us and helped fend off the mice.

Rob on Breast Hill

The track to Pakituhi Hut was easy and we had an early lunch there with a young Japanese tramper before beginning a descent to Lake Hawea on what was described in the trail notes as a “challenging” section. They declined to state death-defying and terrifying. Which it was.  A brand new track and they took it over a spiny ridge – imagine a dragon’s tail – a series of descending peaks that each looked impossible. My heart was in my mouth for two hours. I wanted to take photos but was too terrified to let go of my handholds – you will just have to believe me.  The solution was to take it step by step, ledge by ledge and loose gravel shute by shute. It was with huge relief we reached the end, high-fived and hugged.

Clutha River

But then all our spirits were restored - when we got to the control gates at Hawea we headed to the pub and there we were rescued by the wonderful Laurel and Colin. Since then they have run us around, sheltered us, fed us gastronomic delights and in general pampered us. I would give you a rundown of all the food we have consumed, but it would take another hour so here’s just a taste: - chicken cordon bleu, lemon and raisin lattice tart, manuka smoked bacon, French toast, greengages, gourmet sandwiches, jaffa balls, blue cod, banoffee pie, and pork pies. Not to mention a bottle or two of lovely wine.

It’s going to be very hard to leave tomorrow and get back on the trail  - and back to the dehyd....

Next stop Arrowtown.

Notes:

Day 48: Ahuriri River to Top Timaru Hut. 22.8 km
Day 49: Top Timaru Hut to Stodys Hut. 14 km
Day 50: Stodys Hut to Lake Hawea township. 22 km
Day 51: Lake Hawea to Wanaka. 24 km
Day 52: Rest Day, Wanaka