The Backcountry hiker

Saturday 10th of June 2023

• Drive time from Christchurch – 2 – 2.5 hours.
• Walking time – 2-3 hours.
• Weather – Cold with blue skies.
• Hikers – Myself, Antonia, Barry & Nick.

It is another excellent weather weekend for a hike so I messaged a few of my hiking buddies to see who was interested in joining Antonia & I. Barry & Nick reached out to say that they were keen.

We planned to leave our house at 8:30am on Saturday, Nick was picking Barry up on the way & they got here slightly earlier.

We were all packed and in the vehicle before our scheduled departure. Stopping at BP Ravenswood for a coffee on the way. We drove to Culverdan & stopped at the bakery for breakfast & to grab a roll for lunch.

Arriving at Lewis pass car park just on 11am we could see at least another 15+ hikers (adults and children) getting ready to start walking. After Barry & I asked where they were heading (so we could avoid the masses) they told us that they would get to Cannabal gorge hut & see how they go. Leaving us with an unclear decision on what we are doing.

We started off just after 11am, walking initially on boardwalk & then descending through the Beech forest on a well graded track to the Cannabal gorge swing bridge. At this point the big group of 15 & two other ladies were just behind us.

After the bridge it was a gentle climb up to gain 100 metres before reaching the viewing area. The rest of the track was undulating from here crossing numerous slips & side creeks through permafrost before reaching the next swing bridge 600 metres shy of Cannabal gorge hut.

We then had a short sharp climb up through the beech forest before arriving into the clearing where the hut was in plain site. We could see the two ladies who passed us earlier sitting there having a late lunch. We also took this opportunity to have our lunch.

We then decided that since it looked like a nice spot to camp down by the river in front of the hut that we would. We set up camp, cut & gathered firewood from the dead trees down in the river (I had my electric chainsaw) & by 3pm after the sun had lowered enough for our spot to be in the shade we seen frost forming on our tents & gear!

It was a cold afternoon & evening, I managed to talk Antonia into claiming a bed in the hut & I would sleep in the tent alone, but also join the other 2 in tenting outside. We were all in bed by 7:30pm after hanging out around the fire trying to maintain warmth.

It was a long & cold night! I felt like I woke every hour from my cocoon with numb toes & cold knees. Ice had formed inside the tent & even on the outside of my sleeping bag. I would periodically check the temperature & it was generally around -5 to -6 degrees Celsius!

Once my alarm went off at 7am I got up & out of the tent glad that I had survived the night without it being too miserable.

I had left our cooking gear out on the picnic table overnight & it had formed ice crystals. Antonia joined me not long after from the hut & we had a coffee & breakfast before packing up & walking by 9am.

It was a cold walk out & it took until around 11am before the temperature had reached a toasty 0 degrees. We were at the car around midday & set back off towards Christchurch.

It was the coldest night in a tent I have experienced! What an adventure & definitely a memorable one at that. I’m actually looking forward to the next winter camping trip!

Thursday 23.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2030.5km
• Official kms: 16km
• Garmin kms: 17.24km
• Total time: 8:19
• Calories burned: 3543
• Body battery: 7/10
• Accommodation: Tent at Waiau hut
• Tent nights tally: 15
• Zero days had so far: 20

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

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I awoke to see snow on the mountain tops when I looked out the hut window, that’s concerning as we are heading over Waiau pass this morning. This is about 700 metres higher than the hut & is very steep terrain.

Liz & Sam left before us. We left at 7am & started the climb up to Lake Constance. From here we climbed high above the lake itself to get around to the head of the lake it is impassable otherwise.

It was getting quite cold as we started climbing, it was at this point I wish I had gloves. By the time we got to the head of the lake & the short 500 metre walk up the valley we were at the bottom & start of the Waiau pass.

At this point Sam walked towards us, he had been feeling dizzy & as soon as he started climbing had to lie down so he decided to turn back & go back to Blue lake hut. I assume it may have been because it was so cold at 1 degree at this point with presumably a wind chill factor of -7 degrees.

We all took measures to warm up such as hats & hoods & I also put my spare socks on my hands as I was starting to lose feelings in my fingers.

We all started heading up the pass, slowly. It was a cold ascent but within 3.5 hours of leaving Blue lake hut we were at the top of the pass. We didn’t stay long up here as it was cold with snow that had settled last night.

We started making our way down the other side, I’m pretty sure this took longer than coming up! Stopping for lunch at the Waiau Forks campsite. This was most of today’s descent done!

After lunch there was a few kilometres of boulder fields to walk across before the valley started opening up, we also seen a couple of deer on the other side of the river at one point.

It wasn’t long before we reached Waiau hut, unfortunately the 6 bed hut already had 8 people staying in it, meaning our group of 4 as well as Liz & another person were resigned to tenting.

Oh well this is only night 15 in my tent & the 1st night on my new air mattress. Hope this one holds up!

Wednesday 22.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 2014.5km
• Official kms: 15.5km
• Garmin kms: 16.65km
• Total time: 8:17
• Calories burned: 3935
• Body battery: 6/10
• Accommodation: Blue lake hut
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 20

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

I felt like I had a pretty bad sleep last night. When the alarm went off at 5:30am I wasn’t to impressed. This morning we are leaving at 7am oh & Sam turned up last night after walking all the way from St Arnaud, it was good to see him again.

We started walking just after 7am as planned and within a kilometre we had reached a big milestone, 2000 kilometres!

Straight after this it was a steep climb up through rocks to gain the saddle, I managed to get there just under an hour and a half of leaving the hut, I felt good about this timing. We stopped at the top for a break & it wasn’t long before Sam had caught up, he stopped & joined us also.

After hanging out at the saddle for 20 minutes we all started to feel cold so decided to start off again, this was a section I wasn’t looking forward to as it’s a steep descent down. The knees suffered through this bit but held up ok. It was slow going to gain the river at the bottom. This is where I caught up to Sam who was having a break.

It was only 3km to West Sabine hut from here & seemed a bit easier than the previous part. I got to the hut just before midday, Alina & Ladina arrived about 20 minutes before me & Mark about 10 minutes before me. It was good to stop here for a 30 minute lunch break.

We all left together after lunch towards Blue lake hut, but it wasn’t long before we all set off at our own pace, mine seemed to be slow as my knees were quite sore from the earlier descent of the Travers.

The hike up to Blue lake hut has some magnificent scenery & I could often see Mark & the two girls not too far ahead. It was good to get here at 3:25pm & beat the rain.

Pretty much a full hut here tonight, with all but 4 going over the pass tomorrow.

We are starting off at 7am tomorrow, hopefully the pass doesn’t have too much wind at the top.

Tuesday 21.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1999
• Official kms: 21km
• Garmin kms: 20.95km
• Total time: 6:56
• Calories burned: 3251
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Upper Travers hut.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 20

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

We started the day early this morning. The plan is to leave at 7am. We were on time. It was initially a nice fast easy walk on big open flats.

The plan is to stop for breaks every 2 hours so it would work out perfect to have a break & then the second break around 11am at John Tait hut. This was 14km in & was a nice easy gradient & track. We stopped here for 30 minutes for an early lunch before taking off. The sign said 3 hours & 6.7km to Upper Travers from here.

Just over 2km after leaving from lunch, Mark, Alina & Ladina decided to stop for a swim at Travers falls, I decided my legs were feeling good & it was only 4.5km to our end point with 350 metres of elevation still to gain, I carried on & tackled this last bit.

I managed to push on at a pretty good pace & even passed a group of 6 on their way up. The scenery as you got further up was amazing!

I arrived at the hut at just on 2pm, Alina & Ladina were about 20 minutes after & Mark about 20 minutes after them.

It was good to get here early, have a wash, rinse & dry clothes & just relax the legs.

It’s been awesome having Mark on the trail with me. We have a big 4 days ahead of us though, hoping the weather works in our favour!

Monday 20.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1978km
• Official kms: 9.5km
• Garmin kms: 9.62km
• Total time: 2:27
• Calories burned: 1033
• Body battery: 9/10
• Accommodation: Lakehead hut.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 20

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

My brother Mark is flying in today & we are starting Nelson lakes, Ladina & Alina are also joining us.

Well the morning didn’t go to plan, my brothers flight was canceled, he was able to rebook on a flight landing in Blenheim at 11:15am. Fortunately for us Lester is ok with driving to Blenheim then around to St Arnaud & then home again. This does make it a 4 hour+ round trip for him though!

I don’t think we will start walking until 1pm. At least there’s 2 options of huts to stay at.

Alina & Ladina turned up at 9am, we left Aunty Briars at 9:15am & headed for Blenheim stopping at Havelock to get lunch & a coffee from the bakery before arriving at the airport to collect Mark.

We then headed to St Arnaud & arrived just before 1pm. The walk to Lakehead hut was fairly quick as it’s only 9.5km. This took us just over 2 hours. About 700 metres before the hut there’s a jetty at the end of the lake. We decided this would be a perfect place for a swim & all made the decision to go to the hut, unpack & then go back for a swim.

Surprisingly the water wasn’t cold & we all enjoyed a dip & jumping off the jetty.

Even after this it was still early so we sat around eating snacks (lightning our packs) & talking. It was nice to have a chilled out afternoon.

Tomorrow we have decided to leave here at 7am & are walking to Upper Travers hut, this is 21km & should be nice & easy hopefully with some swim stops on the way.

Saturday/ Sunday 18/19.02.2023

Weekend off. Stay tuned for Monday 20.02.2023 blog (could be a week away due to reception). Also if you haven’t already, please donate, any amount can be life changing! Thanks

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

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Friday 17.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1968.5km
• Official kms: 25.5km
• Garmin kms: 25.84km
• Total time: 5:38
• Calories burned: 2407
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Aunty Briars.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 18

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Today I’m finishing off the last section to St Arnaud. My uncle Mike is down at the moment & is coming for a ride to drop me off. We are taking two cars one to leave at St Arnaud & the other one for Aunty Briar & Mike to get back after dropping me at the start point.

After car shuffling I started walking at just after 10am. Today I have just under 26 kilometres to go & about 600 metres of elevation gain. I think this should take around 6 hours including a lunch break.

It was all tar seal again today, the stuff that make the feet sore at the end of the day. I pumped out just over 15 kilometres before stopping for my 1st break, where I sat under a tree beside the road in the shade & had a couple of pre-made wraps of lettuce, ham & cheese. After about 20 minutes I started off again to get the last 10 kilometres completed.

It didn’t take too long to reach St Arnaud & the last 1 kilometre was on a nice track in the bush before reaching the lake where the car was parked. I got here at 3:50pm jumped in the car & drove up to the local store to get a well deserved cold drink & an ice cream.

After treating myself it was a 1 hour drive back to Nelson. Arriving just after 5pm. I’m taking the weekend off the Trail & blogging allowing for some down time.

Restarting the trail on Monday with lack of reception so my next blog will probably be a week away. Until then…..

Thursday 16.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1871 + 56km
• Official kms: 0
• Garmin kms: 0
• Total time: 0
• Calories burned: 0
• Body battery: 9/10
• Accommodation: Aunty Briars
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 18

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

This morning I didn’t wake up until after 8am. Biggest sleep in that I can remember in a while. I don’t really have any plans today apart from going to have a wander through Gearshop & see what goodies they have! After pottering around this morning I went up the road to have a look.

I probably spent a good hour looking at all the gear, I also refrained from buying everything! The one thing I did buy however was a knife, sharp & weighing in at only 37grams. I needed something & had already sent home a couple of knives over the course of the last few months due to being to heavy. This should work out perfectly!

After returning & having lunch with Aunty Briar we went into Stoke as she had an appointment & I needed to send my excess food & other stuff home via courier.

A hiking buddy messaged to say she was heading to Nelson this afternoon & would I like to catch up for a beer. I drove into Nelson & met up with Peach for a beer & we chatted about what we have each been up to on the trail & future plans. It’s always great catching up with hiking friends!

After returning back to Aunty Briars we had a beautiful roast lamb dinner with all the trimmings! I really need to get back on the trail to work off all this amazing food!

Tomorrow I’m finishing off the last 26 kilometres of road walking to St Arnaud & will take the weekend off before heading back on the trail through Nelson lakes on Monday with Mark, Alina & Ladina.

Wednesday 15.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1871 + 56km
• Official kms: 26.9km
• Garmin kms: 27.21km
• Total time: 5:56
• Calories burned: 2404
• Body battery: 9/10
• Accommodation: Aunty Briars.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 17

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Got to have a nice late start today. Aunty Briar cooked an amazing Breakfast of bacon & eggs, always a good start before a hike! Cuzzy Zhan picked me up at 8:30am & drove me to today’s start point on his way to work.

It wasn’t until about 9:15am that I started walking. Today’s target is 27km but I may not make that, it all depends on what time Zhan will drive past again on his way back from work.

Todays detour is completely on tar seal road, I’m glad I have good inner soles! The first 5 or so kilometres was pastoral before turning into forestry.

My plan is to pump out 15 kilometres before stopping for a quick lunch, the more kilometres I get done before I’m picked up the less I have to do Friday.

I found a nice shaded spot to sit & have lunch, drink & reapply sunscreen. After this I want to get as much of the 12 kilometres left done.

I stopped at one point to filter some water from a nice clear looking stream. I also took this as an opportunity to dip my feet shoes & all in as it was another fairly hot day.

It wasn’t long before I finished off the last few kilometres & to my surprise I got there before Zhan was ready! I’m so glad I got it done. This leaves me with just 26 kilometres on Friday.

I sat on the side of the road, relaxing as I waited. We had been in communication via my Inreach so I knew he wasn’t going to be long.

On the drive back I noticed how the dark clouds have now covered the ranges, this is the tail end of the cyclone & there is a bit of wind & rain expected on the hills tonight.

Zhan dropped me back at Aunty B’s where I had a shower a nice cold beer & then we went up the road to the local Indian restaurant for dinner.

After returning back to the house I called Antonia & whilst on the phone we had an earthquake, it felt quite strong. Nothing fell over or was damaged so that’s a bonus.

The rest of the evening we watched tv & now I’m ready for bed & a sleep in. Zero day tomorrow!

Tuesday 14.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1871 + 29.5km unofficial
• Official kms: 0
• Garmin kms: 0
• Total time:0
• Calories burned: 0
• Body battery: 9/10
• Accommodation: Aunty Briars
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 17

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

Another nice easy morning, watching the news on Cyclone Gabriel & the damage it’s caused for the far north so far.

We are expecting a bit of wind here this afternoon/evening.

Today I’m going to finish my video for the 1st section of the South island & post it & heading into town to organise the last of my supplies needed. I also need to post stuff back home that is excess.

We went into town & on the way there stopped off at Gearshop to see if I can get some more Wright socks. They are now a retail store! I plan to go back in on Thursday for a look around. I also bought Aunty B some flowers, wine & chocolates from both myself & Antonia as it’s Valentine’s Day & just a thank you for putting me up.

I spent some of the afternoon mindlessly scrolling on my phone, making my next video (below) & watching tv.

Aunty Briar made very nice chicken burgers for dinner, then we watched tv & had an ice cream each for dessert.

Tomorrow Zhan is going to drop me at my start point on his way to work & I will walk as far as I can until he drives past again about 5 or 6 hours later. Hoping to get around 25kms done. The weather is looking fairly good tomorrow, maybe just a little windy.