Swinging into Roebuck Hut
Up up up we went. Cream crackered we were. We were heading for Browning Hut but once we caught sight of Roebuck the thought of noodles for tea and a snooze seemed too compelling to continue. Way too hot today!
Hordes of Wasps! So many wasps. The hills are full of them. The ground is heaving with them. Why?! These small old-school huts are metal clad and collect the heat of the day a bit too efficiently. Stifling heat inside, we weigh up leaving the doors open to cool it ( and fill it with sandflies and wasps ) or leave the heat boxed up for when we loose the sun. Hmm…
Sitting outside we debate the evilness of wasps vs sandflies. “At least wasps aren’t literally trying to eat you”. “True, true”. Wasps have been officially downgraded from the worst thing to be trapped in the long drop with, to second place. In fact, I hear later that they eat sandflies? Maybe wasps are our friends after all.
Hot Wasp Tip! From our new hiker friend Andrew:
Never touch the black furry trees. The wasps’ll be following you! There are tiny hairs sticking out of the black fuzz on the bark. They’re termite bums and they’re dripping with a honey-like substance ( not for eating tho! ). Wasps love it.
Black trees = no touchie.
Crossing Boyle River and the last mile down to the road
At one point I didn’t think we were going to make it out today, but a lunchtime snooze re-energised Nicky to keep going and we made it out to the road about 5.30pm. 20 min of thumb waving secured us a lift down to the Hanmer Springs turn off with a lovely couple returning from a wedding. They were heading back home to Christchurch, crikey.. Hope they are ok.. The next hitch came along in a matter if seconds, first car in fact! We’re now in Hanmer Springs resting and resupplying for the next section to Arthur’s Pass.
Bog ‘Bridge’, well half-a-bridge..
This bridge fell a little short of our expectations this morning! Meaning there was a bit of bog big wading to be done shortly after breakfast. Cookie dove in first, quickly to discover that the mushy layer of floating mud masked quite a deep pool of suspiciously smelling water.. Ergh! It’s a bit early in the morning for squishy boots!
About an hour from Hope-Kiwi Lodge at the marshy headwaters of the Kiwi River, there appears the be half-a-bridge missing. It only looked about a foot deep, so I decided to run across employing the ‘less time my feet are in the water, the less wet my boots will get’ method, the amusing video clip I was filming at the time is testament to how surprised I was to find myself knee deep in mud shortly after.. Going to need some bleeping-out on that clip!Tight Rope Walking
Now this one… This one, I chickened out of. I’d been up for it on the way up, but, well, it was that slippy, polished, shiny wet cable sliding underfoot, and my general lack of faith in the strength of my grip should I end up dangling by the side wires, that put me off. Yeh. No thanks! I snuck back and did a wade through instead. Cold and wet, but all bones accounted for. And I’m happy with that.Crossing Young River North Branch
There’s some well posh bridges on this trail. Really surprised at the quality of the track. There’s been some DOC budget on this section for sure. Look at all that chunky wood! No chicken wire bridges here :)
We were slightly worried by warnings along the trail about a dam which had formed (after a huge land slip) further up this valley. It said that during heavy rain you should get out the valley and watch for rising river levels.. We later read that the geologists have checked out the dam and it looks like a permanent fixture, newest lake it the Southern Alps!Ollie Engages Warp Drive!
It was a long, long wobbly-wire and slatted-wooden bridge through the forrest from one side of this roaring river to the other. I took Nico’s Swedish Army training lead and we warped-it accross in no time. Well, my camera zoom did at any rate ;-) I on the other hand held onto the wire tight, only remembering to breath when the startling view below made me auto-exhale into the gleaming sunshine as it twinkled through the canopy of leaves and onto the meandering swash (technical terminology i believe for warp-speed water what wanders ;-) making me giddy with brunch o’clock fright ‘n’ delight.
Digger Bridge, I Shit You Not!
Ahhh a bridge-less river. We kept our boots dry all day and.. What’s this? A lift? The digger man wants to give us a ride over the water! Yey Hey!
I thought he was going to drive through the water and we’d get in the cabin… But no. “Get in the bucket” he says! Awesome! Haha.
I couldn’t believe it when robo-bridge sprung into action, it was a surprisingly smooth ride across the stream and much appriciated :) Our digger man wasn’t waiting around to pick up hikers though, he was fixing the road and just came over to offer his massive robo-hand of assistance!