Ahuriri Valley To Lake Hawea (Otago Anniversary)
Group 1 – Ahuriri Valley to Lake Hawea via Timaru Creek 24th March – 26th March 2018
The group consisting of Uwe, Mark and Sylvia left from Oamaru at 6am in the morning and set off under cloud from the Ahuriri Valley on Birchwood Rd at about 8am.
The track this end started with a very gentle incline on farmland until the privately owned Tin Hut was reached where we consumed our Morning Tea. Now the more serious tramping began as we climbed up to the Mt. Martha Saddle 1680m on a well formed farm road. The lingering clouds cleared for a fine view over both sides at the top of the pass. Among patches of snow we had our lunch, boiled the billy and enjoyed a strong hot coffee with a view! The sun was very welcome! Another couple of hours following the farm track, crossing a few creeks, took us down to the Top Timaru Hut.
A couple of hunters had occupied two bunks, these guys had been flown in by helicopter for 5 days apparently shelling out 1,500 bucks for the trip! No wonder an 18 pack of beer was part of their food supply! Two TA trampers from Canada were added to the hut occupants later in the day.
The next morning we left about 9am only to realise that the day ahead would be quite a hard one. The first km was relatively easy continuing the farm road down the valley, however once we left the road and entered the bush it was slow going. Steep sidling, bluffs and numerous creek crossings to negotiate, some slips to cross (just don’t look down) and more steep sidling up and down made the going slow. About 1km an hour!
The TA trampers were still in bed when we left, but caught us up by lunch time (O to be young again). Another couple who came towards us told us about a dangerous fresh slip between Stodys Hut and the junction, so after about 5 hours we were wondering what had happened to the other group. Did they get across? At about 2.30 we eventually met and it was reported that the slip was not that bad, but a late departure and slow progress may require torches to reach the huts in the dark, not ideal!
So we didn’t linger and continued down Timaru Creek track. About 5pm we reached the turn off to Stodys Hut. Unanimously we decided that we would carry on down river and find a good camp spot. It wasn’t too far away and we actually had a real good night’s sleep.
The morning dawned mild, the tents were almost dry, just before 9am we continued our journey along Timaru Creek. The track was comparatively easy, the odd sidle and slip through the gorge, but mainly along the river bed. The numerous river crossings slowed us down somewhat as the water was murky and made it hard to judge how deep the river was at that point. Walking poles are wonderful! It took us about 4 hours to reach the end of the track at Lake Hawea. Our standing joke now is : ‘This must be the last river crossing.’ The track description on the DOC sign at track end/start did not exactly match our experience, it rather understated the difficulty.
While Mark watched the packs and walked in circles for about an hour to dodge the sandflies Uwe and Sylvia fetched their car, add another 6kms brisque walking to the bottom of Breast Hill Track. Mark was relieved to see us arrive when he was able to escape the pesky sandflies.
Sylvia
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Group 2 – Lake Hawea to Ahuriri Valley
The Hawea team of Robbie, Phyllis, Steve and John arrived at the car park on Timaru River Road at 9.30, having left Oamaru at 7 o’clock. At 9.50 we set off up the impressive zig-zag, the first stage of the day’s 1050 metre climb. Above the zig-zag the track crossed a shallow saddle, then scrambled up a steep rocky ridge to sidle across a basin and pop over the top ridge (1400m) to reveal the modern Pakituhi Hut nestling in a shallow tussocky basin below. It was now 1.20pm so lunch was taken on the verandah to admire the vista and ponder the next move.
Two routes were available to the next hut; over Breast Hill (1578) or following a lower 4wd track, the two tracks meeting after about 3km. Given that Breast Hill was shrouded in cloud, obscuring any potential view, the lower track was chosen. This wound across the undulating tussock tops, offering glimpse of views towards rivers and mountains, heading north for the first two kilometres before turning east for about four kilometres to a fork. At this point we turned north again to wind downhill for a kilometre or so until a glimpse of smoke wafting above a beech grove revealed the presence of Stody’s Hut – 3 hours after leaving Pakituhi Hut. As we got closer we could see the old hut nestled at the tree line. This is a former musterers’ hut, clad in corrugated iron, with a dirt floor and two sleeping platforms designed for six. As evening came on numbers grew to ten, so Robbie and John unpacked tents to relieve pressure on the hut – though finding two reasonably level pitches was not easy.
Morning dawned after a night punctuated by rain showers and screeching possums (for one camper at least). The party got under way just before 9am, heading on an eastward sidle toward the ridge with the track down. This was very steep, winding through sparse beech forest and at one point disappearing where a slip had destroyed track markings. It descended 500 metres in under 1.5 kilometres and we took 3 hours to reach the junction with the Timaru River Track. Time for lunch.
As we set off up the river, it soon became apparent why track guides suggested 5-6 hours to cover the 12 kilometres to the Top Timaru Hut. The track left the river to sidle high up the true left, sometimes up to 100 metres up the steep-sided valley, dropping down to cross side streams, then climbing up again. Progress was slow – about I kilometre an hour and we were becoming concerned about reaching the next hut before dark. Eventually the track came back to the river – thigh deep and swift – and crossed and recrossed it only to revert to sidle mode. At 2.30pm we met the other party who told us they had been on the track for 5 ½ hours (expressed with greater precision and feeling as “5 hours 20 minutes” by one of the party), which exacerbated our concern and made us determined to press on.
It was shortly after this that things went awry. John, at the back of the group, had stopped to fill his water bottle at a particularly clear side stream (as other members of the party had also done), losing touch for what should have been a few minutes. A little further on the track dropped down to the river and the main party stopped on a grassy clearing above the river bank to wait for John. They never met up; what appears to have happened is that John carried on along the river bed and only climbed up the bank past the clearing. Imbued with the exhortations to press on, he did, expecting to meet up with the others sooner or later. The track sidled again, but not as high as earlier, then came down and embarked on another eleven crossings, considerably shallower and less swift than the first few. Finally, the track crossed a major tributary and climbed up its true right for what proved to be the toughest sidle of the day – the valley side was very steep, the track very narrow, rocky knobs had to be clambered over and slips navigated. At the end, the track itself climbed very steeply to come out to the very welcome sight of a bare saddle and an old gravel 4wd track. It was now about 6.40 and the Top Timaru Hut under one kilometre away.
Meanwhile, back down the valley, the main group were becoming increasingly concerned about John. Searches for over an hour back to the point of last contact revealed no sign and at 5pm the decision was made to activate the PLB. In little more than an hour, the Search and Rescue helicopter arrived from Wanaka, operators briefed and search launched.
The helicopter spotted John on the open saddle, landed, confirmed his identity and explained the situation. The pilot confirmed that the hut was only 15-20 minutes down the old road, and said he was going back to fetch the main party to ensure they were not stuck out overnight. There was much waving as the chopper returned with the passengers and relief as the party were reunited at the hut, ten hours after the morning off.
After that, the night was relatively uneventful. Eventually there were seven guests in the modern six bunk hut, but all were accommodated except for the local mouse, who was shut out.
Next morning, reveille was at 6am and the party were on the track by 7, walking with aid of head torches for the first half-hour. The track- still an old 4wd one – initially rose very gently up the tussock-carpeted valley, but ahead we could see it climbing up the steep, scree covered mountain. After about four kilometres the serious climb started. The track was wide and well graded but the strong north-west wind at times threatened to blow walkers across or off it. Progress was slow with John feeling the effect of the previous day’s exertion but, after dosing with dark chocolate, dried bananas and Tim-Tams, the 1680 metre Martha Saddle was reached, some 800 metres above the starting point. From the saddle, an encouraging glimpse could be seen of the Ahuriri valley in the far distance.
From here it was, as they say, all (or mostly all) downhill. The going on the old 4wd track was generally good, initially down scree-clad slopes then on to tussock country. We were passed by what seemed to be a constant stream of Te Araroa walkers, only one of whom was Kiwi, heading up the pass. Eventually signs of civilisation appeared, with a mob of cows and calves coming down off Pavilion Peak in the autumn muster and, at the bottom of the hill, a set of cattle yards with an old, but well-furnished tin hut. From here the route followed the Avon Burn on a farm track until, to the south of Ben Avon, it left the road and crossed the stream to the true left to follow along the bottom of the hill, past a hunting lodge and finally, with great relief, to reach the car park on the Birchwood Road, 54 kilometres from Lake Hawea, at 3.45pm on Day 3.
One commentary describes this as a particularly demanding track due to its exposed nature and physically demanding terrain. It does not lie.
