To read Dave's reflections on the trip... click here.
13th January, 2003
Up at 7am drive to Waikaremoana Vistors Centre for information on Mt Manuoha. Staff advise that it is a 12-14 hour return trip and impossible to do today with a 11am start. With the rain consistently falling we feel a bit discouraged but decide to give it a go anyway. Took 2 hours to get the top. Despite all the rain the track is in great condition (superb compared to Mt Anglem) but it was desperately cold on the summit. Down in 2 hours (car still there, which is a bonus in this area apparently) and drove to the Fat Dog in Roturua for a well earned burger and smoothie. Back in Auckland 10pm.
12th January, 2003
Dropped Lenka off in Blenheim to find some fruit picking type work. All in all she climbed at least 8 mountains and enjoyed 9 National Parks, not a bad effort on a backpacker budget. Well done Lenka!!
Caught the Picton ferry at 9:30pm and drove to Wairoa sleeping on the steps of the town hall at 5am.
11th January, 2003
Looks like the poor weather has set in for a few days. The forecast is for a high around the 14th to 16th then another depression on the way. After much deliberation we decided to head home. Both Nic and myself had much to do back home and there was the possibility of only 3 days good weather over the next 10 days. After some research on Mt Tutoko I felt that it would not do this mountain justice to cram it in with a host of others. It is a great challenge and something I would like to as a separate adventure. Somehow its not as much fun and maybe not as safe to climb some mountains (the bigger ones with the hardest access) when you seem to be rushing about trying to fit as many peaks in while the weather holds out. So for me it came down to enjoyment rather than grinding out a successful mission. Maybe a few years ago I would've enjoyed knitting together all the big peaks but on this journey of self discovery (isn't all adventure) I learnt that I actually like to slow down a bit to smell the roses, the importance of the journey over the destination etc…okay, sounds like someone's getting old. Certainly Nic was keen as mustard and what a great climbing partner to have - fit as, strong, fearless, loves discomfort and pain and a consistently wacky sense of humour which has been known to drive the odd person nuts but I have developed many coping mechanisms over the years so no problem for me. Lenka did extremely well too. Being a lot smaller than us she still pretty much managed to keep up on the long days and did of course make it to a number of the summits. In between mountains we travelled in a very small car packed to the gunnels, camped out or slept on the side of the road and ate pretty basic food most of the time. Details maybe, but even these small things seemed to make the whole experience less relaxing for me. Next time I undertake a similar mission it will probably be in a more spacious vehicle and staying in backpackers etc at least most nights. With an extremely busy year ahead I needed some chill out time so all these factors were taken into consideration. Mt Aspiring is a minimum 3 day mission and Cook/Tasman would require 4 days of good weather. Sometimes intuition dictates whether to climb or not and maybe a bit of this was involved to. Drove to Timaru.
10th January, 2003
Continued our Catlins exploration as the weather really started to pack in. The beaches are pristine and marine life abundant - hope it stays that way. Swam with the rare Hector dolphins and watched them surfing the waves. Picked up an exhausted German cycle tourer and camped out a wet night around a good fire and tales of Carson Napier, his unusual strength and the beautiful Duare.
9th January, 2003
Woke up in Te Anau and hooked up with Amy, Jen and Bushy who had 4 days off after their 10 day shift as hut wardens on the Milford Track. Weather forecast was not looking good for the next few days so decided to explore the Catlins Forest Park. Saw a 160 million years old petrified forest and camped out on the waters edge around a cosy fire, baked kumaras and a few beers…aahh…just perfect.
8th January, 2003
Climbed mitre Peak in perfect conditions...an easy 5 hours to the top...unbelievable views and exposure on the way up...wow!! best mountain i've ever climbed! pics and more details to b posted later. Mass whale stranding today where we were staying on Stewart Island.
7th January, 2003
ferry from stewart island, drive to Milford Sounds, camp high above the road on a rock shelf with views of Mitre Peak and valley floor.
6th January, 2003
Walk from Xmas Village Hut back to Oban in 10 hours...most impressed by Bungaree Hut which would be paradise to stay in for a few days good weather...good slide show by DOC that night about life on Stewart Island...
5th January, 2003
drove to Bluff, arranged Ferry to Stewart Island and water taxi to Xmas Village...walked to summit of Mt Anglem-a hard 5 hour return trip on the most difficult track i have ever encounted...clouded in at the top and hailed 1 minute after we left the summit...was very cold wet and windy.
4th January, 2003
Decided to utilise the next few days of forecasted poor weather by going to Stewart Island and climbing Mt Anglem. Drove to Invercargill and caught a flick that night.
Plans-wait out next period of forecasted bad weather at Caitlins Park then maybe head up to Cook/Tasman area.
2nd January, 2003Went to the Arthurs Pass N.P visitors centre around 10am to collect some information on Mount Rolleston. Obviously the DOC information officer was not impressed with our laid back appearance and clearly doubted our abilities with anything involving the outdoors. We sought to reassure him by saying we did indeed have lots of sun block. Mount Bovis was a great climb but Mount Rolleston was better. We left at 11am and were quickly plugging our way up steep snow. At times we put our ice axes away to enjoy some solid rock climbing, traversed the head of a glacier, climbed along a narrow ridge. We arrived at the summit at around 2pm and shared perfect views with two other climbers. We could have stayed up there all afternoon. The descent was swift including a loss of altitude of 500 metres in five minutes at one stage which is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. After ensuring we had sufficent icecream. We drove to Tekap! o for the night. Even with all the sunscreen the fatkid still got burnt legs (maybe the DOC officer was right).
Special Note from Nic - For the sake of any chance he may have of continuing to hold Dave's sisters attention, Nic would like to state that all photos posted have yet to do him justice and he is in pursuit of a touch up photo studio to help him with his effort to display his best side and true self.....this may take some time.
Plans....Wait for weather to clear in Wanaka/Queenstown. The depending
on length of fine period forecast we will attempt either Mount Cook/Tasman
or Aspiring. Looking towards Mitre Peak on around the 10th of Janurary.
1st January, 2003
Happy New Year - Lazy morning checking out the sites, then climbed Mount
Bovis, taking three hours to summit. We all agreed it was one of the most
pleasant climbs being sheltered from a hot day by beautiful cool native
forest canopy from 200 to 900 metres. We even got the treat of seeing
a Weka on our way. The last section of climbing provided some nice up
and down narrow ridge straddling. Again it was a perfect day with not
a breathe of wind. Among the hundreds of mountain tops we could clearly
see Mts Rolleston and Cook. Stop we drove to Arthurs Pass N.P via a few
icecream stops and giant burgers in Greymouth.
31st December, 2002
Walk and water taxi out of Nelson Lakes N.P and met Lenka along the way
who was finishing the Sabine-Travers Circuit. Somehow we squeezed three
people and alll the accompaning gear in the three door hatch and drove
to Paparoa N.P to camp near the beach and treat ourselves to a mega feed.
30th December, 2002
Biggest day yet. Walked hard from 6am to arrive up at Blue Lake Hut and
1pm. After an hours rest we left for Mount Franklin. Starting with a strenuous
off track mission to access the alpine regions. We choose a direct route
up the west face, but at 2170m we judged the route to be too dangerous
(very steep, consistantly loose rock) so carefully retraced our steps
170m short of the summit. In hindsight we did not afford Mount Franklin
enough respect thinking we could climb it after what is normally considered
a one to two day tramp. We gathered route information along the way which
should of been sufficient but in my tired state i made some dubious decisions.
We could have pushed on towards the summit of course but like a Blue Mountain
guiding mate always says, 'better safe than sushi'. The exciting thing
is that the challenge of being the first (as far as we know) to climb
all the peaks in one month is still up for grabs. We woul! d have tried
for the summit again the next day but were out of food and hut passes.
29th December, 2002
Up early and climbed Mount Owen (1875m) in three hours return from the
hut. Enjoyed an extensive maze of razor sharp eroded rock formations (like
being on another planet) near the summit, but being in the clouds we had
no view. Walked back to the car and drove to Nelson Lakes N.P in time
to catch the Rotoroa Water Taxi service and spend the night in Sabine
Hut with five billion sandflies.
28th December, 2002
Dropped Lenka (extreme backpacker) off in Nelson and picked Nic up from
the airport then drove straight to Harwoods Hole carpark in Abel Tasman
NP to climb Mt Evans. I was quickly reminded of the fat kids distaste
of perfectly good tracks as a series of 'shortcuts' took us thru thick
vegetation and some high speed boulder hopping down rivers on our descent.
The summit was a granite and marble outcrop which provided views out over
the tree tops (thank god). Mount Owen with its snowy tops loomed in the
distance. Then drove to Kahurangi N.P and walked hard (strolled) for three
hours to reach Granity Pass Hut before night fall.
27th December, 2002
Drove up to Nelson as planned but couldn't resist climbing Mt Fyffe along
the way. Starting at 200m Lenka and i reached the summit at 1600m 3 hours
later. Not a breath of wind on top and no McDonalds restaurant either.
Panoramic views of the east coast and the Seaward Kaikouras and beyond.
Slept on the roadside in Nelson around 1am.
25th / 26th December, 2002
Xmas with relatives in Christchurch, fattening up for the climbs ahead
and soaking up perfect sunny weather around the poolside.
24th December, 2002
Walked on Kai Iwi Beach with Mike, Sonia, Lenka and fearless hunting dog
Star, drove to ferry and finished in Christchurch after fish 'n chips
on a Kaikoura beach watching a whale and classy sunset.
23rd December, 2002
Felt great today and fully recovered from yesterdays long walk. Drove
to North Egmont visitors centre and climbed Mt Taranaki with Lenka (extreme
Czech backpacker and NP summit veteran). Was one of those days when we
broke thru the clouds at 2000 metres to feel like we were on top of the
world! Snow was as low as 1600 metres and we needed our ice axes near
the summit. Many people had to turn around due to snow/ice and high winds
but once on top the wind seemed to drop and we enjoyed perfect conditions.
Descended from 2500m to 1800m in about 3 minutes on our butts...wow, what
a hoot!
22nd December, 2002
Mission today was to climb Te Maupo, the highest peak in Whanganui National
Park. Actually it's not even a peak...is covered in bush and offers little
in views. Mt Humphries is a few metres lower but provides spectacular
360 views of the Park and will save you another 4 hours walking. In total
we walked 50 kms today...(3 kms due to a small navigational error...oops).
The track traverses very steep terrain but follows the contour lines so
there was no steep climbing involved (just a little at the end)...was
used by Maori way back, was to become a road before gaining NP status,
is 42 kms long and finishes at the Wanganui River where most people catch
a boat out. Spectacular views over the Park and out to Mt Ruapehu along
the way. Had the pleasure of being joined by Mike Claridge (Wanganui local,
free-hand goat destroyer, budding film director) and Lenka (extreme Czech
backpacker) but had to endure being called butt-chin, chicken-legs and
scab-feet all day...! a small price to pay for a great walk thru one of
NZ's largest National Parks!
21st December, 2002
Away at 5am, arrive Turoa 11am, and Ruapehu summit at 2pm in perfect warm
sunny weather. climbed with Lenka (Czech Republic extreme backpacker).
snow down to 1800 metres still! hope the photos get thru. back to carpack
by 4pm then drove to Wanganui.
20th December, 2002
Had to work in Auckland...bummer!! good weather too! the best laid plans...will
try to climb the Te Urewera peak on our way back up to Auckland on 21
January maybe.
7th December, 2002
Built website :)
