Inland Pack Tract Days 1 and 2

Movin’ right along. I’m hanging out inside this very cool hostel with my tent pitched in the yard and I’ve just eaten bean burritos for dinner and all is good. Today I finished the Inland Pack Track, but it all started yesterday back at the motor camp with the bad neighbors when I woke up to rain…

I had wanted to get an early start on the track but waking up to rain was not exactly motivating and more importantly I needed to check the weather conditions and find out if it was still advisable or even possible to do the tramp since the trail itself follows a river bed down a narrow gorge and can easily be susceptible to flooding.

I had a hard time getting out of my warm sleeping bag with the sound of the rain on my tent, but I finally dragged myself out of bed and walked the 1 km up the road to the park office at 9:30am. The girl working there was new and didn’t have a clue what to tell me but the weather was only calling for chance of light showers so it was more of a question of did I feel like walking in the rain AGAIN. I knew I needed a jump start so I went next door to have a coffee (a’flat white’ which is a brilliant NZ version of a strong cappucino with less milk). Then I did some internet on a second flat white. It was just enough caffeine to get me jazzed and I decided then and there I was going hiking.

So I packed up my backpack and headed to the start of the tramp. I was able to walk to the start in less than 5 minutes and began the walk up the Pororari River Gorge. By then the rain had stopped and it was still cloudy but I knew I had made the right decision. Felt good to be walking in the woods again.

2 hours upriver to the first ford and the crossing was fine. The trail was really muddy but I’ve become used to that in New Zealand and it was a very interesting landscape - as the trail description says -’this section of the walk passes through some of the more dangerous parts of the Paparoa limestone syncline. The track winds between numerous potholes and sinkholes, crossing many narrow but deep chasms. For saftey’s sake, off-track exploration should be avoided.’ Pretty cool, eh?

As an added bonus to my decision to carry on with the hike I chose to carry my discman in case I needed some tunes for extra motivation. So I put the headphones and sang (very badly) while I hiked. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. It’s a good thing they don’t have bears in NZ or I may have scared off other hikers. I did run into 3 guys at one stage - they were heading out and I asked them how the Fox River was running. The one guy was like’you do have enough food to get you thru a few extra days if you’re stuck waiting the flood out DON’T YOU?’ I felt like saying’oh mi god, like there’s not a McDonalds at the beginning of the gorge? I thought there was a mall there too, I was looking forward to the shopping!!’ Yeah buddy, I’m cool thanks. I don’t hate men, I just hate testosterone.

Continued on another 2 hours from the big burly men encounter and arrived at the beginning of the walk up Fossil Creek. It was 5pm and there was a good campsite there and it seemed like a good idea to stop there and set up camp. The ever-so wise people at DOC suggested another campsite 30 minutes more downstream just at the convergence of two rivers, but I ask, in the case of a flash flood, would you rather be dealing with one river or two? I was happy with my choice. And there was no one else there, even better!

I set up my tent, made dinner, and then decided I was going to make a fire. It may be hard to believe with all the time I’ve spent in the woods, but I’ve actually never made my own campfire before! Usually when I get to a camp the guys are all fighting with each other over who’s going to do it so I never even had a chance. Well I was very proud of myself that I managed to start a decent little fire, especially considering how wet all the wood was. It was my own personal accomplishment. No one else showed up in the evening and so I slept at the campsite all alone.

Amazingly it didn’t rain last night. I woke up this morning to a semi-cloudy day and was happy knowing that given the conditions I could continue the walk up the gorge and I didn’t have to go back. It was a 2-hour walk up Fossil Creek and then through Fox River\Dilemma Creek where the actual gorge begins. One guidebook says there are 17 river crossings and another one says there are over 50 - I can tell you there are more than 17 but less than 50 and none of them were that bad at all, highest one to the tops of my legs and low current.

It was a very nice walk but I can honestly sat that it’s nowhere near as beautiful as the Narrows at Zion Canyon or the Subway walk up the right fork of North Creek at Zion National Park where I worked as a backcountry park ranger a few years ago. Nevertheless I enjoyed the walk and didn’t see any other people through the gorge which was cool.

After that it was another 1.5 hours to the trailhead and then I was out at the main road a mere 12 km north of Punakaiki. Managed to get a ride down with a NZ couple from Christchurch who were also hiking in the park. Picked up my storage at the motor camp and decided to try to get a ride south to Greymouth because it was still early in the day and I’d seen everything I wanted to see in Punakaiki. Got a ride right away with 2 women in a campervan - they turned out to be really cool (from the UK) and we talked the entire 50 km and arrived in Greymouth in no time. They were so nice to help me find the place I wanted to stay and took me right to the door. Thanks for that! I arrived here at the hostel around 2pm and set up my tent and then went to the supermarket to buy some food. After that it was laundry, shower, and interent, then dinner. Turns out the woman from Holland (Anya) I met at National Park and again in Wellington is also staying here so we spent a good part of the evening catching up on our travels. She’s been to Abel Tasman and Arthur’s Pass since I’ve seen her last.

Anyway I think I’ve already decided to take the day off tomorrow from hiking and spend an extra day here to relax and enjoy this hostel a bit. It’s a nice place, with good music, free kayaks and bikes, and a chilled-out atmosphere and it’s a nice place to spend a rest day. Wow it’s after 10pm now - that’s late for me - time to sign off -

One girl at her campsite

Walking up Dilema Creek

The gorge at Fox River

Add comment December 22nd, 2002