I got three days off work for a tramping trip this week. I've pretty much been looking forward to this trip since deciding to head to the South Island and my friend Holly said we should do something fun when she came down for her annual leave. So the plan was a three day tramp to Welcome Flat, which is over on the west coast, near the town of Franz Josef.
My day at work on Tuesday passed pretty quickly, despite my excitement for the day to end, and then directly after work I headed straight to Christchurch and met Jenna at my friend Emma's flat. I had a quick shower and put my pajamas on (since it was already after 7 pm and we had a three hour drive ahead of us.) But first we had to wait for Rob and Holly to come in. They didn't arrive until 9pm, and we weren't on the road until about 10 or even afterwards. Then we drove west into the mountains and up and over Arthur's Pass. We got treated to a moonlit view of some beautiful snow-covered mountains and had a good drive overall, catching up with each other and enjoying each other's company. We arrived in the west coast town of Hokitika about 2am and moved all of our stuff inside, then went directly to bed, since we had to be up at 6 the next morning.
After some porridge and final packing we loaded back in the car and headed farther south. It was a clear morning and we could see Mt. Cook (also called Mt. Aoraki), NZ's highest peak, straight ahead in the distance. We had a yum stop for some pies and sausage rolls, and arrived at the trailhead by about 10:30. The tramp in was lovely, beautiful weather and wandered its way through some beautiful New Zealand native bush, with the Copeland River and the lovely glacial Karangarua River flowing below us. We had lots of swing bridges to cross and some avalanche danger areas to get past (the signs said, “No stopping next 300 meters.”) We made it to the hut (which was lovely) by about 5, just before it started to get dark, which gave me and Jenna and Holly just enough time to put our togs on and jump in the hot springs which are a short way from the hut. They were so nice. Everybody was pretty tired though, so after some tea and meeting the two guys who arrived after dark and Rob and Holly kicking my butt at cards, we retired upstairs for a well earned sleep.
The next day was pouring with rain, but Rob and Holly and I ventured out to “take the rifle for a walk.” We continued farther down the track and turned up Scott's Creek for a while. Rob continued on up to the next hut but Holly and I walked back to Jenna and the hot springs at Welcome Flat. We spend a good two hours sitting in the pools, getting rained on. It was great! That night two different trampers showed up to replace the two guys from the night before, but we built the fire up and dried everyone's clothes and it got rather cozy and warm in the hut.
The next day we retraced our steps to hike back to the car. It had been predicted to rain but the skies didn't open up until after we'd gotten back in the car, and then it started to pour! So the weather cooperated with us fairly nicely. On the way home we swung into the Franz Josef glacier to have a squiz at that and since it was tea time when we pulled back into Hokitika, we found a fish and chip shop and feasted on fish, hot chips, NZ style hot dogs (battered and deep fried on a stick), tomato sauce, vinegar and Lemon & Paeroa to drink. Mmmm. It was delish. After our tea stop we hit up the grocery store for some lollies and the headed out of town. About 10 minutes outside of Hoki, Holly realized that we'd forgotten to fill the tank, but Rob reckoned it would be okay for us to get to the next petrol station. So off we went. On the drive back over the pass there was lots of singing, and also a fun game invented by me which we played after dark where you put a giant jellybean in your mouth and try to guess what color you are chewing on, then shine a headtorch at your mouth so someone can check if you were right. But unfortunately the petrol light came on before we were even over the pass and we were beginning to worry that we might not make it when we kept passing petrol stations and they were already closed for the night. So we pressed on. I'd had a text from my boss saying I was on early so I needed to be at work the next day at 5:45. I was kind of wondering if we'd get stranded along the side of the road, but we made it into the city without running out of petrol. Back at Emma's I grabbed my stuff and had a quick shower, then jumped in my car and drove home, getting into bed at midnight to be ready for work early the next day.
The tramp was so fun, and beautiful country, but the best part was spending time with Rob and Holly and Jenna. We had lots of laughs and the only downside was that the trip was over too soon.
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