This ‘flat’ valley walk on the map turned out not to be the breeze we were expecting! Tussocks of alpine grass create thick hard clumps separated by gaps and drops of indeterminate depth, cunningly masked with sprays of grass strands. It’s a bit of a lottery when you step off one as to what might or might not be lurking underneath. Consequently there’s a lot of precarious balancing on tufts going on, and numerous slippages. The end result being something of a Frankenstein stride punctuated with squeaks, and swear words, and me disappearing from view occasionally down holes. The general experience evoking visions of those traps you see in movies where there’s a pit full spikes covered in twigs and leaves ;)
Yep these high alpine tussock flats can be a pain in the arse when there’s no cut track to follow.. The kick in the teeth is it looks a piece of cake on the map! A better view of the impending Waterfall Face from here.
As it’s a day trip I get to experience the day sans-pack! It’s very weird at first when you balance on things and there’s not the usual counter balance behind you. You feel strangely naked without your pack-buddy in a way. But you soon forget your plastic compadre. ‘No-packing’ is excellent for making swift progress!
Trail notes: “Whatever you do, don’t ever even think of following the poled route. It was made by gremlins and leads to an evil place where your soul will be taken and burned.” Hmmm we need to go down that valley though. Ok. “So these poles Cookie? Should we follow them then… Or no?” This was a tricky one. Our two maps, trail notes, and what we could see with our eyes didn’t match up in the slightest. It was to be a ‘Choose your own adventure’ type section this one. And I hoped it ended with Wanaka, and not a posthumous documentary about two hikers being divs in the mountains.
This section has been poled since the trail notes were written, and for the first time we’ve seen, been colour coded! The yellow poles go off to Dumb-bell Lake and the orange poles mark the Te Araroa and head over to East Ahuriri River. Don’t expect any cut track though, poles are your lot and they’re a bit few and far between too.. Also don’t expect to make fast progress on this tussocky Spaniard country, we only managed to cover about 3 miles by lunch time!
Last night Landey and DM tought me the tricky art of turning flax leaves into woven string. Two separate techniques. Tonight I was hoping to have a go at practicing the braiding and twisting ones – Level One and Two of Maori flax weaving. Level Three involved braiding four strands together. Technical stuff! And well fiddley by head torch after dark. Luckily the boys had got to spend lots of time with the ladies at Tieke Marae on the Wanganui river, as there was a flood on. And now they were furnished with some super desert island skills, and also packing the ever engrossing SAS Handbook! An awesome evenings Bush Craft learning lay ahead :) Next step, hammock weaving!