We began our trek at Andrews shelter after flying down that morning to Christchurch in good weather. A steady climb was a good wakeup call as I had been up since 3am. A steady but solid day ensued as we wound our way along the contours. Casey hut was found which is a nice 16 bunker. The mice plague which has descended upon the area became apparent and food was well hidden during a windy night.
So onto next day where we followed an old vehicle track that took us onto the main flats of Poulter river and a snack stop at Trust/Poulter hut .Onwards through riverbeds and beech forest as we trekked up to lake Minchin for lunch amongst clear glacial waters and seagulls which seemed a bit out of place. Crackers were duly knocked off and then onto Minchin pass crossing streams and up and over a gorge area which afforded us nice views of our progress. Afternoon stream bashing was rewarded with a tiny 2 man biv amongst the tussocks although a dry tent space took some finding as we used the biv for cooking.
Next morning was full of mist and a Kea perched above our kitchen almost hanging upside down to keep an eye on breakfast! We were glad to see no heavy rain as otherwise with flooded rivers we would have had to turn back and retrace our steps for 2 days. Up steadily through the mist and being careful with our navigation down onto Townsend Creek although we were glad to see markers helping us along. At this point we then entered the bush bashing phase as we stayed close to the river.
Slow going but soon started stream bashing for about 4 hours. The sun overcame the mist as we swam, plunged, waded ,slid and scrambled down.
We found a grassy field by the main river sheltered by trees and large enough for a cricket pitch. It was nice to dry out and reflect on a day full of variety and challenges.
Last day out was a much gentler 4 hours following the Taramakau river out to the main road where we sighted coal trains as well as the Alpine express.
Our thanks to John Hoy for shuttle driving and Katie and Roger for joining all the dots. Mark