Harpers to Arthurs Ps

Having previously resupplied in Murchison we managed to hitch a ride to the beginning of the Harpers Pass Track at Windy Point. This track took us through the Lake Sumner Forest Park and took 4 days dropping us out at Aickens. Upon arriving at Aickens, you will find yourself in the middle of nowhere. From here you can continue onto Arthurs Pass via the Mingha-Deception track or not. If, like us, you again are short on supplies it is a full days walk into Arthurs Pass, where food is quite expensive as there is only a small alpine store. A cheaper option is either Hokitika or Greymouth (where we hitched to) that both have large supermarkets and are not too difficult to hitch to. It's a little more difficult getting back to Arthurs Pass, so leave early.

The track was very well formed and relatively easy, taking us through valley flats, beech forest and through many rivers. Lots and lots of sandflies, especially around Lake Sumner, so be sure to have insect repellent.

Tip: Between Hope-Kiwi Lodge and Hurunui No.3, the track takes you to the true right of the river, here it bobs up and down through the forest and takes its time. A better option is to remain on the true left and walk on the valley flats, there are remnants of a 4WD track and will save you a couple of hours.

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Day 106 - Murchison to Windy Point to Hope Kiwi Lodge
We picked our spot carefully, right after a turn off to a cafe on a long stretch of road with plenty of space to turn off on and we held up our crudely drawn sign on the back of our cereal box. SH7 Hanmer Springs. We arent actually going there but its a major town a little further on from Windy Point and the start of the Harpers Pass Trail. We waited, until we were lucky enough to get a lift with a cool guy called Simon travelling back to Christchurch. He took us all the way to Windy Point. Upon starting, it was really really hot! Pretty quickly though we were out of the heat and into the beech forests again, filled with wasps keeping us on our toes. Silver lining is that it makes us walk quicker. After the beech we came out onto a little bit of pasture with a creepy little hut - Halfway Hope Hut. Creepy. Cracked, faded windows and a creaky door. Cool though. Signed the book to say hi and carried on in a hurry to get to Hope Kiwi Lodge. Incidentally after leaving the hut we soon came to the flats by the river which was just heaven walking along. When you've been forced to walk mountain after mountain, up and down all day long this cushty flat grass is a blessing. Hope Kiwi Hut is enormous, it's got a large stove and a fenced off area surrounding it, it was different to the huts we are used to, but we quickly made it home and started cooking food and baking etc. A lot of fun again. We struggle to get bored it seems. Anders burnt his hand though trying to rearrange the fire since the hut is lacking a poker, bringing down the mood with his justified anger. Looked around for some possums and then went to bed. Another Good Day, Go TastyTrek.


Day 107 - Hope Kiwi Lodge to No.3 Hurunui Hut
A beautiful morning! The view was soon forgotten as our feet became wet and cold trudging through a hidden bog, just before a wooden board walk. There is no way around it so don't even bother trying if you happen to come to this section. The track soon walked back into the beech forest and along a much more managable track. After coming out of the beech forest  at the bottom end of Lake Sumner, we all tried to appreciate it, except the damn sand flies were almost unbearable so we had to move on quickly. We walked down the West side of the river because it looked nice and flat, plus it was such as nice day we didn't want to ruin the view with the same old beech. We got some amazing views of the whole valley from North to South, i recommend people to walk down this side. Hurunui Hut No.3 was a nice hut with small windows, but 3 storey bunks! Pretty cool! We got settled in quick. Its our next home for one night. We tend to kinda explode all our things everywhere when we arrive, to give it that home feeling. You arrive, live in your new home for a night, treat it with respect, clean it in the morning and move on to your next home. Its exciting to be on the move all the time!

Day 108 - No.3 Hurunui Hut to Kiwi Hut

Day 109 - Kiwi Hut to Greymouth
We continued West along the Taramakau River at a pretty good pace. It was, as valleys are, quite flat but the invloved LOTS of crossings of the river. We knew there was a track somewhere on the true right of the river, but we have found through experience that walking down the river would be quicker. The weather was beautiful and the river was very crossable so we thought we would just continue on our set path and amble along with the river. Unlike further upstream, this part of the river was mainly lots and lots of lose rocks and boulders and pebbles, meaning that we had to concentrate on our foot placement to avoid slips and injury. After a couple hours of walking, we breaked in what looked like the old remains of some farming structure, we were sure we had about another hour of walking to the road but upon checking our GPS position we found we were already there! Awesome! We love it when that happens. We forded the gentle Otira River and joined a short track that took us onto the road (SH73) to a small 'settlement' (for lack of a better word) called Aickens.

The plan from here was to walk into Arthurs Pass along the road and skip the Mingha-Deception track (due to lack of supplies and will). So we started walking. It felt great being back on a road actually, you are able to completely open up and achive those massive stride that track walking doesn't allow. To make the time pass, we each plugged into our MP3 players and blazed along the road. Shortly we arrived in Otira. There is next to nothing in Otira, but there is a BBH hostel. Unfortunately we had no cash and now no food. It would be better to contiunue onto Arthurs Pass. Just as we got back onto the road again we realised something. When we arrive in Arthurs Pass it would probably be 7pm ish, nothing would be open. Perhaps it would be better to hitch to Greymouth now? This was our plan for our rest day anyway. We crossed the road and stuck our thumbs out. In Greymouth we had heard of a cool backpackers that gave out FREE PASTRIES and had FREE INTERNET...obviously this was the place to go. We rolled upto Neptunes International Backpackers and threw our tents out on the lawn. This place was nice, it had a great feel and was buzzing with people. And it definatly did have free pasteries! We organised ourselves and then went off to the nearby Countdown Supermarket to buy dinner, breakfast and food for the next 10-12 day section (we figured) to last us to Lake Tekapo.