So I had been looking forward to getting out on a decent tramp for a while… and with Maaike back for the weekend it was time to show this Dutch hiker what NZ Tramps are really made from. Her last couple of tramps had been the Routeburn and the Kepler. Both decent enough tramps – but also both Great Walks. Now the great walks are a cunning trick of DOCs (Department of Conservation) to lure large amounts of unsuspecting tourists onto the same tracks – leaving the rest of the country nice and free for the rest of us to enjoy.
Ok, that’s not strictly true, the great walks are beautiful – but it’s not quite the same experience as Mt. Fyffe was to turn out to be.
It’s a bit of a slog for the first 4 hours – up a track which takes you from 200m to 1602m at the summit of Mt. Fyffe.
This was my third time doing the tramp. Once with Mhairi and Marcel a few years ago we got turned back by snow. And then a couple of years ago I did it with the tramping club. That turned out to be a little more interesting than I had anticipated as we were a little late starting and ended up having to do the last 3kms down the river by torchlight. Lots of fun.
For Maaike and I though, we had perfect weather. Almost too perfect for me though as I got reasonably sunburned and probably a little dehydrated (though I had drunk about 4L of water!). Once on the top of Mt. Fyffe the route heads North around some lovely aretes and then drops down a scree slope to Kowhai Saddle.
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After that it’s a boulder hop down the river. Not your manicured tracks on the great walks… Maaike seemed to enjoy herself though. Being in daylight definitely helped!
I pretty much flaked out after arriving at the hut (9 hours). Completely wussed out on going for a swim to clean off in the pretty freezing river outside. Dave Aubrey would have been in there in a shot! Definitely going to miss him when he leaves NZ (end of Dec).
The next day it was a pleasant walk out along the river. There were lots of river crossings but seeing as it hadn’t rained in a while it was all very manageable.
Maaike has now left to Marlborough Sounds where she’s working in a hostel. Sounds pretty good though – mountain biking, water skiing, mussels on Fridays.. One wonders what the transition to South America will be like. Still, I suppose there are worse trials in life to overcome.
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