Old Ghost Road Part 2

After leaving Ghost Lake Hut Peewee dropped down into the head of the south branch of the Mohikinui River, then started the ascent to the Skyline Ridge. On the way up Peewee past places with names like Heavens Door and Tombstone.  The names seemed very adept. Peewee certainly felt very exposed and was grateful for a calm sunny day.

Then came the Skyline Steps. There were 302 steps down the ridge. Peewee was glad he was carrying just a pack and not a bike! Before travelling through the Graveyard Peewee passed by Lake Grimm and Lake Cheerful. These were delightful tarns high up in the Earnest Valley.

At the head of the Stern Valley there were the most friendly weeks. One in particular was keen to join Peewee for our morning break.

We then dropped down into the Stern River and the sandflies. After a cool swim in the river and a quiet night in the hut Peewee made his way over the slips made in the 1939 and 1968 earthquakes. The track narrowed and there were bridges across the faces to make the route safer across slips with names like Suicide Slip , old earthquake lakes, and deserted mining townships.

As Peewee made his way down to the end of the track he past the remains of the Rough and Tumble bridge which was the original route to Karamea. The stone supports collapsed in the 1929 earthquake.As a result the route through the Glasseye to Karamea was replaced with the current route over the Karamea bluffs. All that is left is the iron work in the riverbed.

Old Ghost Road Part 1

To avoid some of the issues around Nelson, mainly a lack of water and overcrowding Peewee has decided on taking the scenic route across the top of the South Island. Our entry point was the Old Ghost Road, a biking and tramping track starting at Lyell. After beating off the sand flies while we organised our gear and the car Peewee was off.

The track to Lyell Saddle is gently graded through the bush.  On the way Peewee made friends with the robins . In fact some them were keen to have him come and stay!

Peewee  making friends with the robin

The next day Peewee travelled on to Ghost Lake Hut. Now the place is not as scary as it sounds. It is
 in fact one of the most scenic huts Peewee has stayed in. It is situated on the edge of a hanging
valley with views across Kahurangi, we could see the smoke from the fire in Nelson , and all the way across to the inland Kaikora Mountains .

We had a view down to the tarn called Ghost Lake and there was a friendly kea that acted as an alarm clock the next morning.

Ghost Lake

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Rangitata to Rakaia

It was a case of picking the least horrid weather... by the time Peewee had arrived in Methven the forecast didn’t promise a four day weather window for our trip. So instead of battling forecast raging northwest winds Peewee chose to wait it out. We ducked back to Hokitika to take in Driftwood and Sands while we wait for better weather

A day at the beach

We finally got four fine days! Yay, we were off! Uh, oh... now it is forecast as the three hottest days 

of the summer so far! What to do? Peewee decided heat was better than being blown off the face of the planet. We were off.

Canterbury high country

We set out early for Double Hut to avoid the worst of the heat. Peewee and his mates had already decided to start north of Rangitata River to avoid the southerly change forecasted. Travelling across the Ashburton lakes we met the most people we had seen we had so far. Lots of south bound Te

 Araroa travellers heading for Bluff and a kiwi mum with her children making the most of the last week of the school holidays.  We had Double Hut to ourselves, which was a bit of a surprise. Above the fire place Peewee found graffiti left by a very famous New Zealander in the 1940’s. Sir Edmund Hillary had scratched his name in the board above the fireplace before he had climbed Mt Everest!

The next day it was over Clent Hills Saddle. Peewee left at 6am to beat the heat but even then it was

 pretty warm. It was nice to watch the sunrise as we climbed to the summit. The views across the Hakatere Basin was amazing, although the seating left a bit to be desired!

Peewee on Clent Hills Saddle 

Then it was down hill all the way to Comyns Hut. Easy as! Not so fast .. it was 4 hours down a rocky riverbed. There was no chance of Peewee keeping his feet dry. He lost count of the number of river crossings. At on stage the walking pole went for a swim. Luckily we were able to retrieve it further downstream. 

It was an early start again the following morning as Peewee made his way out to the Rakaia River. There were two more passes to cross. Mulling  Saddle was a breakfast stop and Peewee had bagged it before 8am. Then it was on to Turton Saddle after a quick coffee stop at the A  Frame Hut. The tussock was short,  and the track along a four wheel drive route. The travel was quite quick. Peewee had made Tritons by 10 am. The day was already very hot, but the views breathtaking.

Breakfast at Malling Saddle