Terrible night. We both slept fitfully due to the heat and awoke to look at a cloud of sandflies trying their hardest to get through the mesh bug screen on the roof hatch. With that threat we got up sharpish and drove along the scenic Lower Buller Gorge, carved out of the limestone by the powerful Buller river, to a parking spot higher up for breakfast. We were planning a white rafting trip on the river as it’s reputedly very good but as we had no phone signal to call the operators we drove on to the town of Murchison, home of all the action in these parts.
Murchison is an old gold mining town and looks like something out of the wild west. Remote, sleepy but on the main road it offers many activities for the passing tourists as well as cafes and shops. It was here we sat down with the map and planned our last few weeks in New Zealand.
We had been heading for Abel Tasman national park, home of beautiful beaches, walking trails and many water based activities but with the inclement weather and the realisation that we can’t fit everything in that we want. Having decided to abandon the rafting and the trip to Abel Tasman we set off for Nelson Lakes national park and some beloved mountains.
Following the ever diminishing Buller River all the way to it’s source at St Arnaud we went straight to the visitor centre to look at the weather forecast and hiking options. As the weather was looking good for tomorrow and it was already mid afternoon now we selected a 5hr trek to the top of the ridge at the side of the valley.
A short drive and quick change of clothing got us on the track at 1500. For the next 2.5hrs we climbed ever upwards through the ever thinning beech forest until we broke the tree line and were afforded superb views of lake Rototiri and the surrounding mountains and valleys. Tired from the climb we enjoyed the scenery with a snack and assessing the last push to the ridge. As it was getting late, we were tired and we have big day planned for tomorrow we chose to return to the van.
Another short drive got us to the freedom camping site we learned of at the tourist office and we found a good spot, showered and dined before turning in for the night.
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| The might Buller river in it's lower gorge |
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| Lake Rototiri |
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| Across the lake to Mount Robert (which we will climb tomorrow) from where we stopped walking. |
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| Another view across the lake to Mount Robert this time from the shoreline. |
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