Michelle and I are done working and we were anxious to get
back on the road and explore. We’ve been researching some walks in the area and
have decided on two really spectacular multi-day tramps. One of the tramps we
were looking into was another demanding 3-day tramp (The Routeburn), but the
other tramp has a more difficult rating and was a 4-5 day tramp. It just so
happened to work out that we jumped right into more difficult tramp; The
Rees-Dart Track.
Honestly we were quite nervous since this was 4 days and 3
nights out in the middle of nowhere, but those feelings are probably normal…
right? The bonus of this tramp is that we were able to stay in the backcountry
huts, which provide us with sleeping bunks, water, and toilets. We still needed
to bring our food, cooking gear, sleeping bags, and other essentials, but we
could leave the heavy tent in the vanJ
The tramp isn’t a circuit, so the end of the track is pretty
far from the beginning. We arranged for a transport company to pick us up at the
end of the trail and drive us to the start (this way we had our van when we
finished). During our transport the driver receives a call that a bus just
dropped off heaps of people. The problem with that is that there are only 22
bunks in the hut, and is first come- first served for a bed. So we might be
sleeping on the table. We have no idea
how many people were on the bus, but we knew they had at least a half hour head
start on us. So Michelle and I didn’t waste any time when we got to the trail.
There was nothing calm about the first few hours of our hike. We pretty much
needed to pass as many people as we could to secure a bed in the hut since we
didn’t bring our tent. Some people we passed seemed just as concerned as we
were, while others seemed clueless about how much bunk space there actually
was. We ate our lunch on the move and hours later we decided to stop to take
one break, but hikers closing in interrupted that. After 5 hours of literally
nonstop hiking we finally reached the hut to find that we were the 2nd
and 3rd people to arrive. Do you see what happens when you’re
ambitious? Coincidentally, there were 22 people for the 22 bunks.
The following days weren’t as worrying, but were demanding.
The track began in a grassy valley along the Rees River before reaching forests
and alpine vegetation. A demanding ascent of the saddle (low point between two
mountains) rewarded us with some breathtaking views before we descended into a
different valley.
We took a side trip through a glacial valley and got up real
close to the Dart Glacier. This was like nothing we’ve ever experienced before;
it was astonishing! The glacier was huge. The chunks of ice seen in the
pictures are the size of cars or bigger.
The remainder of the tramp led us down
along the Dart River, in and out of grassy flats and forests, along huge bluffs
with 200 ft drop offs into the river, and over huge avalanche and mudslide
paths. There were a few moments in which we were in pain and physically
exhausted. Fortunately, by the time we felt it, the destination wasn’t too far
away and we were able to relax. This was a hike to remember. We had the best
weather to experience the views and the views were some of the best we’ve seen
here.
We took off for the south coast and the Catlin’s in hopes
for some fishing and relaxation, but the weather finally caught up with us. In
between spurts of clouds, rain, and sun we managed to get a few small walks in
just to check out some waterfalls and local wildlife.
There wasn’t any
motivation to sit on the beach and fish since the weather was cold and windy.
The main event was seeing a yellow-eyed penguin, the rarest in the world. We
couldn’t get too close, but it was fun watching it waddle and hop around.
We stopped in Dunedin for a few days and we were able to
stay at our friends’ house (the orchard owner’s brother). It worked out perfect
because these few days were really cold and rainy. It was nice relaxing in a
big warm house instead of a tiny, cold, and damp van. Going to Dunedin was great
fun because this is where Michelle spent a semester back in 2005. It was
amusing seeing all the familiar buildings, smelling all the familiar smells
(coffee and chocolate from the Cadbury factory), and tasting the familiar kebab
from her favorite place. We ventured out on to the Otago Peninsula and took in
some other familiar views before we headed back inland.
Michelle and I wanted to do something a little different
from all the tramping and heard about the Otago Rail Trail. It’s an old railway
that serviced old gold-mining towns, but mining has ceased years ago. The towns
almost became ghost towns until someone had the idea to rip up the rail way and
turn it into a year round trail for bikers, hikers and horseback riders. “Most
people” take 3-5 days to complete the trail, but Michelle and I figured if we
do it in 2 days we’d save money (less for bike rentals, accommodation, and
meals). Another reason we decided to do it in 2 days was because the majority
of trail users are quite a “bit older” than we are.
It really was a nice change
to our trip. Because we were biking an old railway the biking was easy as. (The
saying “easy as” is quite popular down here) The grade of the track was never
really noticeable until we were a few hours into our ride. After a few stops to
support the taverns along the trail, we finally made it to our accommodation
for the evening (78 km and 5 hrs later).
Our asses were sore (still are too).
The best way to describe the room is cozy. It was small, but compared to our
van it was like first class. Fridge, electricity, SHOWER, real coffee, and all
the other perks expected. It was a real treat. The next morning was terrible
getting started again. Our bottoms were aching and our legs were pretty tired
too, but we made it to the “ highest point” of the trail pretty early and the
rest of the day was “all down hill”. Another 80km and 6 hrs later we finished.
We were both in quite a bit of pain, mainly our behinds, but we were glad we
pushed ourselves. Some of the highlights besides visiting the old towns were
viaducts, tunnels, and great desert views.
As I mentioned earlier, there were two multi-day tramps and
we will be tackling the other this Tuesday. The Routeburn track is one of NZ’s
“Great Walks” and we’ll be combining that with the Caples Track. It should take
us 3 days to complete, but these will be really long days. We’ll let you know
how it is.
There are quite a few picassa picture albums to look at. One
of them shows more pictures of our time working and a few of the sidetrips we made
while in the area.
A second album is the Rees-Dart trip.
Third album is the Catlins coast trip.
And the fourth is the Central Otago Rail Trail.
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