Leader: Ray Salisbury PLAN B : THE LONG & SHORT OF IT
Some wise soul once said:
“Long weekends were created cos you can’t fit that much bad weather into two days.”
Thankfully, the bad weather was restricted to the West Coast region, and we had a backup plan. My scheduled trip to Cedar Flats was shelved – for the 4th time – so we opted for a shorter drive, shorter tramp, and shorter long weekend.
To cut a long story short: Ian Morris kindly collected us early on Good Friday, and whisked us away for coffee at Beechwoods. On up the Mariua Valley, over Lewis Pass, to the NZDA hut beside the road. The row of about six cars at Palmer Lodge suggested we carry tents.
A greasy but easy riverside romp up the Nina River was delighful. Two swingbridges over the Boyle and Nina Rivers give access into this, the most beautiful valley in the region. Most other valleys had been hugely modified by farming, but here, there was only silver and mountain beech, draped in sphagnum moss and complimented by the odd celery pine.
Four leisurely hours put us at Nina Hut, built in 2002, and exceedingly popular with Cantabrian locals, which included a fair sprinkling of children. The Outward Bound instructors, with kids in tow, opted to tent outside on the dracophyllum plateau, graciously allowing us bunk space.
On Saturday, the valley was shrouded in mist, so our start was delayed. A short drop and wet crossing soon saw us sifting through the remains of the old Nina Hut site. Now on the true left, we followed the old cullers track over river terraces and along eroded banks, up to the Upper Nina Bivouac, (3 hrs) painted in the original rescue orange, presumably so choppers could spot the tiny abode from the air. As I perused the visitor book, which began in 1993, I noted the last official NTC party had visited in 2010 led by the illustrious hut bagger, Dion Pont.
Seven hours had elapsed when we returned to our base at Nina Hut, to greet a new entourage of occupants. More families from Christchurch were camping, and the boys from Hurunui College in Hawarden were back. The school has a voluntary scheme whereby the students check and re-load the stoat traps. Recently, kiwi have been released here.
On Resurrection Sunday we awoke, reviving ourselves with coffee and fried breakfast. Ian and myself embarked on a hut-bagging mission down the true left of the Nina, dropping our packs at the confluence with Lucretia Stream. We followed this rough route over a shoulder into the headwaters, where Lucretia Biv was hidden on a grassy shelf. Again, it was painted in the same colour as the carrot I ate for lunch. The visitor book dated back to 1991, when Shaun Barnett had visited. Predictably, Dion’s party had frequented this facility too on their hut-bagging trip six year’s previous. (Our detour up and down Lucretia Stream took us 4 hours.)
On the way over the spur, Ian was stung a dozen times by wasps. On the return journey, he cunningly navigated around the wasp hive using his GPS waypoints.
Long story short, we raced back to SH7 and were reunited with Uta and her daughter Gisela at the NZDA lodge. The tearooms at Springs Junctions beckoned.
Easter egg eaters were: Ray Salisbury, Ian Morris, Uta & Gisela Purcell.