Ella Range, Nelson Lakes National Park

8-11 March 2019

“They generally attack the fourth person in line”. Sonja was over from Australia, and had been regaling us with stories about snakes, leeches, ticks and March flies. We countered with tales of wasp attacks and sand- fly swarms, but our wasp warning sounded a bit feeble in response.

The NZ weather had already played its part with the 2018 Lake Unknown trip being rescheduled and still unknown in 2019, after an adverse southern forecast. Plans B and C were discussed before deciding on a traverse of the Ella Range between the D’Urville and Matakitaki Rivers. Lunch in Murchison was followed by packs on at the start of the Mole Track opposite Mataki Lodge. The first farm track section was accompanied by the sound of wasps in the trees. This diminished when we re-joined the river and found significant flood debris, few markers and a boulder bash up the middle. The marked track between two tributaries was a welcome sight and we gained height quickly to reach the delightful Mole Hut at 1200m. Realising that we had only completed half the height gain to the Mole Tops was a shock, and some weary bodies reached the top about 5pm to a fantastic vista of tarns and tussock.