Kaikoura
Here's the full story...!
We set off on Saturday morning (Marcel, Patrick and I) for the Kaikoura area - planning to hike, stay in a hut somewhere, hike some more, and have lots of fun! After a quick "Information" stop, we headed further North to the Waima (Ure) River. We followed the Sawcut Gorge trail, with several river crossings, to Isolated Hut. The weather was fantastic, and the warm sun definitely helped neutralise the coldness of the water! Sawcut Gorge itself was interesting, and the hut well situated by the river. Just before the hut was a great scree running hill, so after scrambling up about 50 meters we came rushing down on the scree! I managed to fall in the river twice on the way back (really, I thought it might be deep enough to swim...) but dried off pretty quickly in the sun.
We then drove back to Kaikoura and collected some vienetta icecream (after much debate) for an "in-between hikes snack", then drove inland to the Mt. Fyffe carpark.
It was a steep hill climb for an hour and a half before we reached the hut, but fantastic views over all the town and surrounding area. It became extremely foggy and the sun had gone down after about half an hour but it was an easy 4WD track so the hut wasn't difficult to find. A warm fire, hot food, followed by a few games of cards, and we were ready for a well-deserved sleep.
The sun woke us early, and there had been a light covering of snow overnight. We had a relaxed start before hiking to the top of Mt. Fyffe. There was snow from the hut onwards and as we got closer to the top we realised crampons would probably have been very useful. Carefully hiking across the icier sections, we reached the summit (1602m) where the wind was pretty strong.
We started to hike along the ridge to Kowhai Saddle but after about an hour, we decided it wasn't going to be a good idea. The wind was really strong by this point, making it pretty cold, and the conditions underfoot seemed to be getting worse - crampons and an ice axe would definitely have been useful. We already had the best views and it was a fun hike, so we turned back towards the summit and headed back the way we'd come. Lunch at the hut with a bit of shelter and then the steep downhill back to the car.
Since it was still pretty early (1pm) we drove along to the peninsula and did the peninsula walkway - along the clifftops on the way out and then back along the shore.
It was superb, a really windy day but incredible views of great rock formations and waves crashing on the shore. All in all, a really great two days and considering the forecast for the whole weekend we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
The overview...
This weekend three of us (Marcel, Patrick & I) went up to the Kaikoura area and we hiked Sawcut Gorge and Mt. Fyffe. The weather was superb and both hikes had brilliant scenery. We probably should have had crampons for Mt. Fyffe but we made it partway along the ridge, and bum-sliding in the snow caused some good adventures on the way down. We also walked the Peninsula Walkway which was well worth doing - the coastline was beautiful and the strong wind made for some great waves crashing around the headlands.
We set off on Saturday morning (Marcel, Patrick and I) for the Kaikoura area - planning to hike, stay in a hut somewhere, hike some more, and have lots of fun! After a quick "Information" stop, we headed further North to the Waima (Ure) River. We followed the Sawcut Gorge trail, with several river crossings, to Isolated Hut. The weather was fantastic, and the warm sun definitely helped neutralise the coldness of the water! Sawcut Gorge itself was interesting, and the hut well situated by the river. Just before the hut was a great scree running hill, so after scrambling up about 50 meters we came rushing down on the scree! I managed to fall in the river twice on the way back (really, I thought it might be deep enough to swim...) but dried off pretty quickly in the sun.
We then drove back to Kaikoura and collected some vienetta icecream (after much debate) for an "in-between hikes snack", then drove inland to the Mt. Fyffe carpark.
It was a steep hill climb for an hour and a half before we reached the hut, but fantastic views over all the town and surrounding area. It became extremely foggy and the sun had gone down after about half an hour but it was an easy 4WD track so the hut wasn't difficult to find. A warm fire, hot food, followed by a few games of cards, and we were ready for a well-deserved sleep.
The sun woke us early, and there had been a light covering of snow overnight. We had a relaxed start before hiking to the top of Mt. Fyffe. There was snow from the hut onwards and as we got closer to the top we realised crampons would probably have been very useful. Carefully hiking across the icier sections, we reached the summit (1602m) where the wind was pretty strong.
We started to hike along the ridge to Kowhai Saddle but after about an hour, we decided it wasn't going to be a good idea. The wind was really strong by this point, making it pretty cold, and the conditions underfoot seemed to be getting worse - crampons and an ice axe would definitely have been useful. We already had the best views and it was a fun hike, so we turned back towards the summit and headed back the way we'd come. Lunch at the hut with a bit of shelter and then the steep downhill back to the car.
Since it was still pretty early (1pm) we drove along to the peninsula and did the peninsula walkway - along the clifftops on the way out and then back along the shore.
It was superb, a really windy day but incredible views of great rock formations and waves crashing on the shore. All in all, a really great two days and considering the forecast for the whole weekend we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
The overview...
This weekend three of us (Marcel, Patrick & I) went up to the Kaikoura area and we hiked Sawcut Gorge and Mt. Fyffe. The weather was superb and both hikes had brilliant scenery. We probably should have had crampons for Mt. Fyffe but we made it partway along the ridge, and bum-sliding in the snow caused some good adventures on the way down. We also walked the Peninsula Walkway which was well worth doing - the coastline was beautiful and the strong wind made for some great waves crashing around the headlands.
posted by Mhairi
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