Wangapeka-Matiri Tops-Matiri Valley

25-29 March 2022

Keen to get away on a longer trip, I seized on Raymond’s Lake Jeanette, Wangapeka trip. It sounded interesting, and it was an area I hadn’t explored. Keeping a keen eye on the weather the week prior, it appeared like it was going to be a stunner of a few days away. It did not disappoint us.

Early Friday morning saw us meeting at Raymond’s place and heading away from Christchurch by 7:30am, picking Peter up along the way. We had a pleasant journey to Murchison with the obligatory coffee and snack before heading up the Matiri Valley to meet with our shuttle which was to take us to the start of the Wangapeka Track. We rode through the back roads of Tadmor Valley to the start of the track, so it was nice to see some new countryside, instead of the usual scenery from the state highway. Unfortunately, recent rains had caused damage to the Dart River ford on the Wangapeka road and the van was unable to take us the full way to the Siberia Campsite. Starting at 3.30pm, we had a 7km walk up the road to the camp-site but, oh bugger, wet feet in the first 50m to get across the ford! Arriving at 5pm to a beautifully kept DoC camp-site, we had a pleasant evening, setting up, eating and chatting before retiring to bed.

Up and away by 9am, our destination for the day was Stone Hut on the Wangapeka Track. Our lunch break on a very pleasant morning was at Kings Creek Hut where we also dried the tents. Nearby was the historic Cecil King Hut. Cecil King was a gold prospector, who built the hut with local wood and lived in it in the warmer months of the year. A plaque describes the local history. After lunch, it was an enjoyable afternoon walk, up a very well benched track, on an ever-narrowing Wangapeka River to Stone Hut. On arrival, we met another group, who had arrived from Kiwi Saddle. The hut would be crowded so they decided to move on down to Kings Creek Hut. We had a pleasant evening with the only remaining occupant, a fellow kiwi, usually living in San Francisco but during Covid working remotely from NZ. Since he had just come over the route we would take, it was a good opportunity to question him on our day ahead.