Top Dingle
Fine weather was ordered, and delivered. Both days were sunny with blue skies – a rarity this season. Saturday started with a cool northerly breeze, which later swung around to the south. Sunday was calm and warm.
The two 4wd vehicles with seven trampers arrived at the bottom of the track to the Dingle Saddle at around 10am on Saturday, after a 2 hour drive up the Waitaki and Ahuriri Valleys. The climb up the well-graded zig-zag track to the saddle (thanks Maurice) took 1 ½ hours. A pause for an early lunch and to take in the extensive views was followed by the one hour descent to the Dingleburn Valley floor. The track down initially sidled at an angle to the south, then turned steeply down a ridge, the last section being through beech forest.
The six-bunk, ex-Forest Service Top Dingle Hut is situated by the forest edge at the top of a gentle slope leading down to the river. The surrounding open grassland offers excellent campsites, so three tents and one bivvy were set up to house six of the seven. The afternoon was designated for free activities and it was spent exploring, and photographing, the valley and the river. In the early evening, the two prior occupants of the hut returned from a successful day’s fly fishing further down the river with a large trout, which they cooked in wet newspaper over wood embers and generously shared with us. Tasting the trout, cooking dinner, and swatting away sandflies occupied the evening.
Sunday morning saw a leisurely breakfast and packing up, setting off around 8am up the steep 1 ½ hour climb to the saddle. There, packs were dropped and we headed north along the ridgetop for about 2 ½ km, stopping on a knob just above a small tarn. There we spent some time taking in, and photographing, the stunning million-dollar panorama extending from the mountains of the Barrier Range to the east, across the top end of the Ahuriri Valley with Mt Huxley at its head, Canyon Creek and the snowy bulk of Mt Barth, to the head of the Dingleburn and its saddle overlooking the Hunter. To the south extended the ridge, including Mt Gladwish and Puke Makiriri, which separates the Dingleburn and Ahuriri valleys. A return to the saddle for lunch preceded the one hour descent down Morrie’s Motorway back to the vehicles and then home, with an ice-cream stop in Omarama.
The relaxed introduction to the festive season was enjoyed by Bron, Phyllis, Maurice, Noel, Neville, Tim and John.
