Start of the Trip - CollingwoodKaramea - Heaphy TrackRolling River, WangapekaMurchison, New ZealandLewis passArthurs PassRakaia RiverLake Clearwater, New ZealandLake Ohau, New ZealandWanaka, New ZealandArrowtown, New ZealandTe Anau, New ZealandTuatapere, New ZealandTe Waewae Bay
 | walk4kiwis |  | A long walk to Save the Kiwis |  | Arrowtown, New Zealand |
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Mar 10 2010, 06:02 PM
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Arrowtown, New Zealand
Next day saw me walking around the lake edge to Glendhu Bay, the start of the Motatapu Track, a stroll of about 15 k’s. Along the way, I was met by a reporter for the Otago Daily Times, which resulted in a great article and a pic of Tiri and me on the lake edge in the following morning’s paper. The lake edge is a beautiful walk, flat and easy with Mt Aspiring and the Alps as a backdrop.
Thursday was back to reality and the first multi-day tramp I had done for a while. No more luxury of Marilyn and the Mothership waiting at the end of the day with a hot shower and a decent dinner. My daughter’s partner, Dave, flew down from Auckland to join me on this section and we got started at 1.00pm to get to the first hut, about a 3 hour walk.
Dave hadn’t done any tramping for a while and I think we were both a little bit nervous about things and both knew the Motatapu was going to be a fairly demanding wee yomp.
This section was pretty straight forward, passing through the 14,000 hectare Stack Conservation Area, one of the last remaining decent stands of beech forest in the area, and then a bit of a climb to the Fern Burn hut. The 3 huts on this track are fantastic. All only a few years old, and very comfortable.
The Motatapu Track traverses 2 high country stations, the Motatapu and the Soho. These 2 stations were both purchased by Shania Twain and her husband a few years back and one of the conditions of the sale was that they had to allow and finance this track and huts plus pay for its upkeep for the first 5 years, which is how this track came into being. Thank you very much Shania, I promise I will buy your next album, as I personally think what you have done here is fantastic.
I am so glad the standard of huts has improved over the years.
We had the hut to ourselves and on reading the hut book was surprised to see how few people use the track. There were also some pretty horrible comments about the next few days’ track, which I was hoping that Dave wasn’t going to see!
Day 2 was up and over the first of four 1,200+ metre climbs we had in front of us on this track, this one being Jack Hall Saddle at 1275m. A bit of a grunt first thing in the morning and over the next few days we discovered that every day started with a bloody great climb!
The descent down to the valley floor was the first section of track that was going to become the norm for long sections over the coming days.
It was as we dropped down to the river several hundred metres below us that the weather decided to change. The temperature suddenly dropped and a nasty southerly blow brought a squally shower with it. The wind got a wee bit on the fearsome side for a while and the rain was enough to get things wet and make things miserable for a bit. Fortunately, the next hut was only an hour or so’s walk from here and the rain stopped shortly after we got there, to clear into another sunny warm afternoon. We were joined that night by Jeff, an amusing bloke from the UK who informed us that the only other tramp he had done in NZ was up to Stag Saddle from Lake Tekapo! Took him 5 days for the return trip and he said it was bloody hard work. I knew exactly how he felt! He was heading out the way we had come in and had a great attitude to life. He also donated $20 to the cause. Again, some horrific comments in the hut book on the stretch of track we were going to travel the next day.
Daybreak saw us starting up the first of the two big climbs we had to look forward to today. The dawn was stunning and when we puffed our way to the top the vista that opened up in front of us made it all worth while. The track itself certainly wasn’t one you would take lightly, it sidled around some fairly steep drop-offs but so long as you watched what you were doing it really wasn’t a problem. We were lucky there was a nice cooling breeze blowing; the walking conditions up to now were ideal. We stopped for lunch half way up the next climb and came to the conclusion there really wouldn’t be a lot of lunchrooms with this sort of view! Some members of the party decided that this would be a great opportunity to make sure the inside of their eyelids hadn’t changed since last night!
Another climb up along a fence line and then a very steep descent to the last hut. About a 600 metre drop over about 2 k’s in distance which did nothing for the feet for either of us!
Shortly before dusk that evening, we were joined in the hut by another chap who had walked all the way in from Glendhu Bay in 1 day, where we had taken 3! He looked completely stuffed and when we asked him what he thought of the view, he said he hadn’t stopped at all to admire it! It has never ceased to amaze me why people do this sort of thing. What exactly are they trying to do and why? Bloody idiots in my humble opinion. Barry left the hut at the same time as us next morning, right on daybreak again, and sure enough, I watched as he powered up the hill, not once stopping to look at what he was tramping through. Up and over Roses Saddle but considerably easier than the previous 2 days as this followed an old pack horse trail and was zig-zagged and nowhere near as steep.
The descent down to the Arrow River on the other side was also gentle in comparison to the last couple and we soon found ourselves on the banks of the Arrow and all the ups and downs behind us.
The water level was so low we were able to walk the last 2 hours down the river itself much to the relief of hot and sore feet.
As we got to closer to Macetown the 4 wheel drive tracks along side the river got bigger and bigger until the whole place was virtually one large track. I don’t begrudge these people their fun, but wish there was somewhere else they would go and play other than a pristine river such as this one. The original plan was to camp the night at Macetown but as it was early afternoon, we decided to walk the 14 k’s into Arrowtown and have the next day off.
About 6k’s before Arrowtown a chap stopped beside us and offered us a lift the rest of the way, which we gratefully accepted. It was very hot and dusty and to all the purists who think we cheated, don’t worry, my next leg actually starts 12 k’s further north than were we finished! Turned out to be an interesting drive as this bloke worked on the Motatapu Station and over a cold beer in Arrowtown told us of some of his experiences there. Like fencing in the winter when the top 150mm of ground is frozen solid! He very kindly dropped us off where Marilyn had left the bus before flying back to Auckland for a few days. Sue owns this place and is an old friend of mine from the far distant past who I worked with on the Routeburn Track. She just happened to have a roast beef dinner on the go with enough to spare for a couple of hungry, weary but extremely pleased with themselves, chaps. It was a great walk, certainly up there with the best I have done. It certainly isn’t a track for sissies, but as long as the weather was good and you are reasonably fit and confident on your feet, go for it, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed! Dave, it was a pleasure and a privilege to have you with me. I know you suffered a bit, but you never complained and overcame every obstacle. Thanks heaps for your company and I hope we get to get out again sometime soon.
I now cool my heels here until Sunday morning when we drive around to the Divide on the Milford Sound Road and start down the Greenstone Track to the Mavora Lakes Walkway and then through to Te Anau. Till then I shall have to suffer watching the sun set on the Remarkables every night. Helluva life really.
Take care and stay happy.
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