Uplift on the Kaikoura Coast and leaving the Marlborough Sounds on the ferry

The Journey Home

The next morning the weather forecast was no better, there was no sign of our food box and a Guardian at the Boyle River offered us a ride to Christchurch. A heady combination.

We found a comfortable motel near the railway station in Christchurch, and the following morning, caught the train and the ferry back to Wellington.

The Coastal Pacific train had only just resumed operating after the Kaikoura earthquake and it was fascinating to see the changed landscape, in particular the uplift from the sea.

Many workers were still toiling away on the line, and they all waved as we passed. It was a great atmosphere.

Cook Strait had pretty calm waters and soon we were back in Wellington, after a memorable tramp.

We had passed Te Araroa’s 2,000 km mark not long after Waiau Hut, which signalled two thirds of the way from Cape Reinga to Bluff, though not necessarily in terms of time! Our final stopping point at the Boyle River was 2,051 km.

Final day photos

Boyle Flat to the Lewis Pass Road

The final day of this section!

I always hope that the day where you are walking to a roadend will have a better quality track. And so it proved for a good part of this trip.

There were still plenty of places where side streams had knocked out the track and a bit of scrambling was involved, but we made good time and it didn’t start to rain properly until the last kilometre.

We arrived at the Boyle Outdoor Pursuits Centre on the Lewis Pass Road. Fortunately a camp guardian, Maree, was in residence, as somehow our booking had got written in the wrong place and we weren’t expected. However we are the only people here.

Unfortunately, although we have arrived, our next food box hasn’t. It seems to have got stuck in the Boyle River depot in Christchurch. Fortunately we still have our emergency food.

We have now had time to look at the forecast for the coming week. More heavy rain is coming and a cold southerly. The ground in the Canterbury High Country is already saturated from all the rain that has already fallen and there are big unbridged rivers to cross, such as the Otira and the Taramakau.

The combination of this and no food seems to be telling us it is time to return to Wellington. We hope that by mid January everything will have dried out and we can have another go.

Photos from Anne to Boyle Flat Hut

Anne Hut to Boyle Flat Hut

This was to be a slightly shorter day, so we didn’t rush out of bed.

The sun was still shining and we had a leisurely walk through more mountains, but mostly on grassy river flats, interspersed with stands of beech forest.

The energetic part of the day was climbing over Anne Saddle, but this was a baby compared to Waiau Pass.

We passed historic Rokeby Hut, which was being used by the contractors who were upgrading parts of the track.

We finally reached Boyle Flat hut, which is an older hut with a dark interior, but very welcome nonetheless when it started to rain quite heavily.

Photos from Waiau Hut to Anne Hut

Waiau Hut to Anne Hut

The hunters’ alarm went off at 4.40 a.m. and they were off to try and find some deer. We rested for a while and then decided to get up at 5.00 a.m. as we had quite a long day ahead.

The Te Araroa notes told us it would take 7-8 hours to reach Anne Hut and it always takes me longer than the suggested times.

Fortunately it was a pretty easy track through wide valleys. The sun finally came out for the first time since the Speargrass Hut, and we got to see the snowy peaks of the mountains all around.

We followed the Waiau River valley all morning until we finally reached the St James walkway, which we would follow for the next three days. We sat having our lunch looking at some of the impressive mountains of the Spenser Range, notably the Faerie Queen.

We finally reached Anne Hut just after 4.00 p.m. We sat outside in the sunshine for some time before we could summon the energy to organize dinner.

Scenes from our riverside camp to the much more comfortable Waiau Hut

Waiau River Campsite to Waiau Hut

We had more of these giant rock landslides to negotiate, but as the valley widened, the travel became much easier across river flats.

We met a young woman who was planning to go across Waiau Pass and so we shared our experience with her. We stopped at the historic Caroline Bivvy for morning tea, well built, but not in good shape these days.

On the river we saw four people in a couple of rafts who were getting stuck on rocks. They called out to us that there wasn’t enough water in the river, but we thought there was plenty each time we had to cross the river!

At lunchtime we arrived at the delightful Waiau Hut, only officially opened in January this year. A generous donor had given funds for its construction.

In between showers we dried out our gear and chatted to a couple of passing trampers. We were joined for the night by three hunters.