Where the rains don't know which way to flow

March 2

Locke Stream Hut to Hurunui #3 Hut

KM 2133

Distance: 15km 

Elevation: ascent 616m, descent 470m

Steps: 25,500

Time: 7:55am - 3:35pm

Well I've been to the top of the Great Divide

Where the rains don't know which way to flow

And there where the highway and the sky collide

My heart flew south to Mexico 

[Today's title comes from a Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers song (I believe it is Honky-Tonk Angel?)]

Today we started with cloud misting the tops of the mountains surrounding the river valley, with spots of blue sky peeking through, and tinges of red and pink on the clouds to the east. How beautiful!

Less beautiful was the fact that we had to put wet shoes and socks on, and quickly so the sandflies didn't eat us alive...

The trail meandered along the river valley floor for a while, until some reasonably recent slips made for some detours, and/or just picking our way along the bottom of the scree slope. This is a very active landscape, and you can see that there is really no point in trying to make a permanent trail through much of this - any earthquake, flood, or even just the next slip for any reason, will completely reshape this part of the river.

The trail then took a decided turn for the uphill... and steep, too! Basically just winding our way through beech forest right next to the feeder streams/ headwaters of the Taramakau River. We followed these all the way up to...

A saddle, crossing over the Main Divide of New Zealand's South Island. We'd made our way over to the West Coast for a day or two (going over Goat Pass), and now we are back on the eastern side of the divide, where rivers are flowing to the Pacific rather than the Tasman.

(It was a litle bit cold as the pass was still in the bottom of cloud, and a chilly wind whipped across the open landscape. We still decided to have lunch here.)

Once down the other side of the pass, we are now following the headwaters, becoming river, of the Hurunui River, as it winds its way down. This side of the pass/Divide is not so active, and has wider, grassy valleys that are perfect for an afternoon nap.

While we had several stream crossings today, we also had a couple of bridges available for us to use - including this three-wire bridge! This was Eliza's first time on one of these, but Vaughan had had the pleasure before. Even though the stream beneath would have been easily crossable, especially given our experience over the past few weeks, we both made sure to make the most of this opportunity.

By mid-afternoon, we arrived at Hurunui #3 Hut. This trail we are doing was built as part of a scheme to a) provide jobs, and b) get more people outside and active, in the 1930's (I think, someone feel free to look it up and correct us). The Hurunui Track was to be touted as an alternative to the Milford Track. While this track is beautiful, I can understand why that marketing didn't quite play out... But there are still five huts that were built along the path. Locke Stream, where we stayed last night, is alternatively known as Hurunui #4. The hut tonight simply has never been given an alternative name.

It is quite spacious, although we understand that we missed quite the gathering last night. With 18 bunks you'd think there room for plenty of people, but apparently all but 2 of the bunks were taken up when a party of 7 showed up late in the evening! At this point, it's just the two of us, one other solo tramper, and we are expecting the four DoC workers who are doing track clearance (on ya, boys!!) to show up for dinner time.

Oh, and the vegetation we've been seeing lately has definitely been changing. It's been a while since you got a collage, so I hope you enjoy this upper-Canterbury, Main Divide mosaic.