Twizel to Lake Hawea

From Twizel the Trail roams out over Ruataniwha Dam, past the salmon farm, and westwards along Lake Ruataniwha then south to the Ohau channel.

There was a shady Kowhai just where I needed it when I reached the Alps2Ocean (A2O) track on the Lake Ohau shore. I inhaled cheese crackers (being chronically hungry now) whilst trying to guess which valley I was heading for (it turned out to be the first from the left across the water). Now I've seen the A2O track, I can say I never want to cycle it. Hot. No handy pubs.

From a bit further along I could see the opening to my old experimental block (Hopkins Valley at the head of the lake).

I camped beside Lake Middleton and got away early to climb past Freehold Stream.

It's a steep haul to treeline, then a handy spring cupped by a thirsty local, I guess. 

I tramped on, over into a tussocky basin.

 

A couple of Nobo hikers came by, so we swapped intel, and then a persistent light rain began. I simply yomped South Georgia style along the developing stream

until it was about 1600hrs and I could see Ahuriri River. There was a very strong wind, so I melted into the landscape, meaning I stealth camped in the lee of some pines.

The wee tent performed very well, I was dry in the morning even though it rained from 0300hrs. Well, no escaping the moment of truth - what state was the river in?

Discretion being the better part of survival, I elected to use the old bridge 5km downstream. 

To reach it I used the cliff top in front (and sometimes not in front) of the line of pines you can see in the photo below. Meaning, I started on the far left of the photo and walked 5km to the right before reaching the bridge. 

Of course, I did see a possible cross point about 3km along but the terrace was too high by then. Then I walked 5km west along Birchwood Road, back to the trailhead. 

The Trail then goes south along the Longslip Station boundary, following Avon Burn. Somewhere in there I tripped over and bent one of my poles with a Yorkshire kiss that left a bruise on my forehead. When I made it to Tin Hut I halted. Time to dry the tent, air the sleeping bag and retrieve my self respect. 

It coincided with fresh developments by Marcel. He finally got Swann over his passion for Odette ("how could I have wasted so much time pining for a woman of the wrong class") and I am back with the as-yet unnamed boy narrator, chez Hotel Guermantes. It's brilliant, sort of fruity... "what I want is to dedicate my life to perfection". I kid you not. Great entertainment for a summer's afternoon in the NZ back country.

But I digress. Next challenge was Martha Saddle (1680m), which I walloped in two early morning hours. 

Lots of dark butterflies that I haven't seen before flew low jerky flights around my feet. It's a Black Mountain Ringlet. 

Once over the saddle I found myself in a perfectly silent world. 

There was no running water, no insect noise, no wind, just Mt Aspiring in the distance. 

The day ended at Top Timaru Hut, where five of us sweated to sleep rather than give sandflies any blood.

Then it was the day I'd been dreading, the walk down Timaru River and then up to Stody's Hut. The Timaru was good fun, so nice to be in shade and cold water, 

but the route to Stody's was sketchy in parts and rather taxing.

The hut itself was a low iron sweatbox, so I found another gear and struck out for Pakituhi Hut. Another 200m elevation, another 3.5 hours, and I was there. Slept 6pm to 6am.

This morning there was a grand view of Lake Hawea, 

but I was far too frightened to look. The trail notes mention a "challenging descent" and I can only admit to terror. There is a tiny track over these bony knobs. 

Truly, one slip and ACC would be bankrupted. I descended 950m in about 1km. Think, rock ladder. 

The lakeside track, when I got there, was just a Van Gogh masterpiece. 

I repaired to the local café and ate like only the reprieved can.

Washing on the line, sheets on a bunk, fluffy white towel and my mojo returned. 

Tomorrow to Wanaka. About three weeks to go. Thank heavens.