Posts filed under 'Humpridge'
Just finished killing all the sandflies in my tent. Loads of them out tonight. Evil buggers indeed. I finished the Hump Ridge yesterday with a 35 km day, that’s 22 miles. Took me just under 12 hours in total. A nice hike with nice views in the early morning then everything clouded over which made for cool temperatures for hiking. Came down off the Hump Ridge and back into the forest then down to the bottom to Port Craig Village, an old saw milling village from the 1920’s with some interesting artifacts from the milling days as well as the old railway they used to take the lumber out on.
Hiked on and on and on and on and finally got to the trailhead at 6:30pm and went to the farmstay again to stay the night - big pasta dinner/ hot shower/ some conversation with the 2 other hikers there (1 Kiwi guy and 1 Scottish girl)/ then bed. I slept like a log.
This morning caught a ride to the main road (24 km) with the guy from the homestay then got another ride to Te Anau with an older Scottish couple whose son lives in Auckland and just had a baby and they were here to see their grandchild.
Resupplied my food then hitched from Te Anau to Gunn’s Camp at the start of the Hollyford Track, 88 km from Te Anau. The 2 guys who picked me up were quite feminine and often stopped to take ‘pickies’ or pictures along the way. Staying at Gunn’s Camp tonight, an early settler camp from the early 1900’s complete with museum and many articles about the nearby Homer Tunnel and Milford Sound. Very interesting place. Even has a hot shower that is heated by a wood fire - never had such a hot shower before.
Tomorrow I should start the Hollyford Track. It’s due to rain then and the next day but I’ve been lucky with the weather so far in the last few tramps so I can’t complain. I’ve got a few beers hidden in the river at Gunn’s camp for when I come out of this tramp in 5 day’s time - hope they’re still there!
Morning clouds on the Hump Ridge
Views from the ridge
Walking into the clouds
January 9th, 2003
18 km today from the Bluecliff’s Beach Carpark to Okaka Hut. Best of all besides the views and scenery was the weather - it’s been sunny with blue skies and no wind all day - unheard of for Fiordland weather. What luck!
I was at the start of the track at 7:30am this morning to avoid the crowds being dumped off by the shuttle bus at 8:30am. The plan worked. I didn’t see another soul on the trail all day! I kept a steady pace, working around the beach track and then going through the bush and eventually up the ridgeline to the hut. Made it here in 6 hours, which is not too bad considering I had a 1000 m (3000 foot) climb. Felt like I wasn’t even wearing a pack since I didn’t have to carry a tent or a stove or fuel. I was the first person to arrive at the hut and chose a bed, then made a cup of tea and sat out on the veranda to enjoy the view and silence before the masses came. I think there are 26 booked in this 40-person hut for tonight so I guess it’s not that bad. Still I’d prefer to be in my tent somewhere but I can handle this for one night. This is definitely a yuppie walk, complete with helicopter pack and people services. I don’t know how many trampers helied their packs up today but I think it was more than a few.
Just a 1 km walk up from the hut there are these really cool sandstone outcrops and the views from up there are unbelievable - to one side is the sea and Stewart Island and around the other are all the mountains of Fiordland National Park. Definitely worth the climb to get to see that.
Tomorrow I have a long day in store since I’ll be trying to combine days 2 and 3 into one day, making it a total of 35 km or 22 miles. It’s more just to save the money that they’re charging for these huts - at $40/night it ain’t cheap. The weather is supposed to be good like today and if I get an early start I’ll have a good 14+ hours of daylight so I’ll just plan to take my time and enjoy it. The first 18 km should be more challenging and the last 17 km is easy and flat so we’ll just see how it goes.
~ ~Maori legend has it that when one of the gods saw the beauty of the Southern Sounds she feared that humans would wish to live there forever. So, to remind them of their frailty and mortality, she liberated sandflies (namu), the mosquito and the flea, and commanded them to go into the Sounds. The sandflies have been doing their job particularly well ever since.~ ~
Heading up the Hump Ridge
Views from the top
Looking down into Fiordland National Park
January 7th, 2003
Well I’m in the town which is the start of the Hump Ridge Track, but I’m not sure if I like being here just yet. I decided to head down here today from Te Anau, and even though it’s only about an hour’s drive, it took me 2.5 hours because I had such a hard time getting rides. The worst was getting out of Te Anau which took over an hour! I tried three different roads and finally a Kiwi couple pulled over and gave me a ride to Manapouri, just 20 km south. From there it took 3 more rides to get here. The scenery on the road was amazing so I enjoyed the times in between just sitting on the side of the road and taking it all in. I finally got here around 2:30pm and the couple who gave me the last ride took me right to the Hump Ridge office which was cool.
I went inside the office to register for the tramp thinking it would take just a minute and then I’d be on my way to hitch the 30 km to the trailhead where there is a farm stay, my destination for the night. Sounds easy enough, but not when you’re dealing with the beaurocracy of the Hump Ridge Trust. This tramp is actually a private track on public land which essentially means they are not regulated by DOC and can make whatever ridiculous rules they want. I should have smelled a rat when I called them last week and they said there is no camping allowed on the track. And the huts are $40 NZ/night which is more expensive than the Milford Track! I was starting to worry that it was oriented more towards plastic yuppie outdoor wannabees but I though no, I’m not going to let that stop me from doing a tramp I want to do.
So I go in today and told them that I wanted to do it in 2 days instead of 3 and they gave me a whole lowdown about how they advise against it and I said look I just did 30 km on the Kepler yesterday, at least let me try. Finally they agreed reluctantly (more upset that they were only getting $40 out of me and not $80) and they told me that I had to come back at 4:45pm to pick up my ticket and go to the mandatory 15-minute briefing. I was like WHAT? Why can’t you just give me the ticket now and tell me whatever’mandatory’ info that I need to know? ‘Sorry I can’t do that’, answered the robot. So I’ve got to sit around for 2 hours and wait for a 15-minute talk? ‘Yep’, robot.
Oh my God, get me out of here.
That means I won’t even be able to try to hitch out to the trailhead until 5pm and there goes my nice relaxing rest day. These people amaze me. I don’t think they’ve ever dealt with someone who didn’t have a car before. I don’t even want to do the track now out of principle but I spent half the day getting here so I’m just going to suck it up and make the best of it. And I’ll make it my new mission to tell as many people as I can to NOT do this track - that it’s just a commercial excuse for an outdoor excursion. It’s all about the money! Let’s just hope I make it to the farmstay tonight and that I don’t have to pay for any Hump Ridge money-sucking shuttle.
9pm late edition: So I suffered through the pointless 15-minutes briefing which basically warned trampers about mud and advised to wear gaiters (thanks, they work well with sandals - hah!), ran out as soon as I could, walked down the deserted junction to the 20 km road to the trailhead and waited. 20 minutes later first ride from a sheep farmer about 1/3 of the way; another 10 minutes second ride from another farmer and his daughter who took me all the way. Now I’m at the farmstay at the trailhead and I’m a happy tramper once again!
Not a bad place to sit and wait for a ride huh?
A weird place in Te Anau
January 6th, 2003
