Kiwi Saddle Hut is in an attractive clearing. It had been meant to be sited by Taylor Stream but Max Polglaze's team chose to put it up on the ridgeline instead. The clearings in Taylors Stream looked enticing, but the track down there ends abruptly. Andy had himself an outdoor fire and slept in the woodshed to get away from the snorer(s) but was disturbed by sandflies in the early morning. We could see Mt Luna to the west and climbed towards it via a defined ridge, initially through beech forest, then up over point 1578 where we stopped for lunch. I couldn't find my big pack of cheese in my lunch bag but Andy suggested I look in my pack, as he knew me better than I did and voila, there it was. The bag had developed a split so the cheese had escaped. After all that, I never needed to eat it on this trip anyway! Chris loved speculating on what peak was what as we lingered on the summit of Luna after a straightforward scramble. However, the descent through high tussock to the head of Stone Creek was not to some of the party's liking with our dodgy, aging knees. The track down to Stone Creek was well-marked and pleasant going. I'm sure I heard a fern bird ticking away. We each elected to have a freshen up in the creek, where later a male blue duck sat and whistled in the dusk. Andy wanted to know what was edible, so as well as snowberries, he got to enjoy the abundant konini around the hut. The hut had been threatened by the river, so was shifted back against the forest with a picnic table on the old hut site.
We had a pleasant, gradual zig-zag up to Wangapeka Saddle, where two of us elected to stay travelling up the Wangapeka to Helicopter Flat Hut, while three climbed over Biggs Tops, taking the poled route on the tops to the steep but now dry, track to Trevor Carter Hut. Chris and I ambled along, having a late lunch at Helicopter Flat. Our anticipated 1-hour journey via Lost Valley Creek took longer than anticipated due to nasty tutu growing over boulders from the base of an extensive old slip. The track was initially overgrown and vague but the middle section was sublime, with a classic “nuked” 2m NZFS green vegetated tunnel from the saddle.
We arrived later in the day to meet up with our concerned Biggs Tops buddies who'd had an enjoyable traverse, with Andy being buzzed by a helicopter as he was swimming in a tarn up there. Every hut had a resident weka. This one swiped one of my little gaiters smartly. Sandflies attacked Andy down by the river, so I had a wipe-down at the hut instead. Trevor Carter is a newish hut built to replace the old Luna Hut that I'd visited in New Year, 1989 after an intrepid crossing of Biggs Tops.
In the morning, we ambled up-river to cross the placid, shallow Karamea to the true left, stopping for lunch in the shade at Thor Hut. Andy found what he thought were wild strawberries growing prettily over a boulder down by the swing-bridge, but they were actually prostrate bush lawyer fruit. The side creeks had signs by them - a legacy of the amazing team of Max Polglaze and other worthies.
The attractive Venus Hut was high on a terrace at the confluence. Andy found a way down to the river and others followed but I was too lazy to descend to what I could already see. We set off the next morning, crossed the Karamea on a long bridge, and ascended around the back of Point 390 then along to Crow Hut for lunch. Route descriptions here suggested alternative travel alongside the river in low flows but the glaring white boulders looked uninviting unless you were a fisher. We saw a party in the distance, crossing the river, probably heading south. We looked forward to reaching the Slippery Creek bridge which would let us know it wasn't long to Karamea Bend Hut. After the bridge we passed the staff hut, all battened up to save it from vandalism. It was tempting to think about a deviation to Roaring Lion Hut but the sign warned the journey would take eight hours to go 7km one-way, so best not, although the river was so low. Entries in the hut book showed even speedy trampers were taking 3½ hours to get there in low flows. Another time...
The Leslie River down by Karamea Bend Hut was very low. We figured a lot of the water percolated underground here, as it seemed wider and deeper further upstream. Andy in particular was good at spotting blue ducks—one time seeing a group of five. We travelled through the Leslie Clearing where the old hut used to be. At Wilkinson Creek a sign denoted the track climbing up to Baton Saddle. After crossing Leslie Creek, Chris and I elected to stop for lunch by a shady side-creek—the final source of water before Spludgeons Rock Shelter, where the others had headed.
The track up here was beautifully benched through red beech forest. We enjoyed a hot drink at the shelter, though the day was still warm but increasingly overcast. The shelter is three-sided but the front wall consists of clear, thick plastic sheeting, so is well lit. The waterfall supplying water there was a mere trickle. It began to spit as we followed the graceful track to the bush-line, so folks, strung out, stopped to put on their rain-jackets for the first time on this trip.
Pete and I caught up to Bett as she headed back to look for her walking pole, which we'd found and were carrying for her. We hoofed it down to Salisbury Lodge and couldn't believe our luck, as no-one else was there. Chris arrived soon after and asked, "Where's Andy?". He'd taken the wrong fork at a junction, thinking Flora was our destination, but on seeing a sign saying there was a further 10km to go, doubled back as he thought Salisbury Lodge was the more logical destination for the day. We decided to have a modest fire in the wood-stove to help our dampish gear dry out. Big rounds of wood were supplied but there were enough smaller logs that we didn't need to use the axe. As dusk approached, so did two trampers in the light rain—a very pleasant father and daughter from Motueka. This was the first time we were sharing a hut on the trip.
Andy, Pete and Bett were travelling separately back to Christchurch in Pete's car, left at Flora Saddle, so they got up and left earlier than Chris and I. The other two went out over Gordons Pyramid. After quite a bit of rain overnight, it was initially sunny, as we travelled past the three rock bivs, but light drizzle came back just before arriving at Flora Hut for lunch.
We got to Flora Saddle a bit after 1pm when Frank was scheduled to arrive, but I anticipated travel would have taken him longer than he expected. It turned out to be so, as he'd had road works enroute, slowing him down on his journey from Christchurch. Meantime we had the company of a chatty bohemian lady who'd just dropped off her husband for his 12-day pack-rafting and exploration of the Karamea area. Chris and I brewed a cup of tea, while we were waiting and made inroads on the left-over food. Frank and son, Al arrived and we drove to Tapawera to meet Graham, Chris's other half. They were off to Totaranui for a mountain biking adventure.
