St. James Walkway
Here's the full story...!
After a speedy Countdown shopping trip on Thursday afternoon, we set off for Lewis Pass, leaving the sunshine behind and entering the storm. Who’s idea was this again? 3 cars filled with 10 trampers – we were ready to walk the St. James’ Walkway, but not before stopping in Culverden for fish & chips. I took some ‘slaggings’ for ordering mine with salt and vinegar, an essential part of fish & chips in Scotland but obviously not a Kiwi tradition. The takeaway shop might not be the first choice for UTC trips next time though – it came back to haunt Sylvia who felt pretty sick later on Thursday night, and last time Patrick was there he was given sugar instead of salt (“sweet as…”) - maybe they were trying to give him dessert and main course in one go.
After leaving one car at the end of the Walkway, we all piled into two cars and drove back to the start. As the rain continued to fall, we debated whether driving to Maruia Springs, stocking up on alcohol, and spending the night in the hot pools might be a better option. “Get hard” as the Kiwi’s would say… So we put on the waterproofs and our head torches, and started tramping around 7pm. Good effort to those who were wearing shorts by the way. The entry in the starting log book of “Darren + 9 others” was to continue throughout the trip – he was either lazy or had no idea how to spell my name…or both.
We took about 2 ½ hours to reach the first hut (Ada Hut), with snow falling, and Sylvia definitely cursing the fish and chips. Stubborn as I am, I was definitely glad Patrick had bought batteries for my borrowed headlamp – although I’m sure it would have been a fun challenge to hike in the dark. Everyone was pretty knackered, so we headed to bed for a good night’s sleep…well, that was the plan. Jana couldn’t handle Darren’s snoring in one room so she transferred to the other, where Curt was talking in his sleep. I’m not sure which she preferred, but there were suggestions Darren should sleep outside the next night.
8am was the departure time set for Friday morning, and at 7:59am we were all outside – a damn good effort for such a big group. The first couple of hours led through snow on easy level ground, and soon enough the sun came out and the hats and gloves were taken off. Sylvia was back to her usual happy smiling self and Jana hadn’t even started to complain yet – does that mean something was wrong? At the first rest stop it appeared that the “49 cents a pound” combination of nuts and raisins had been spotted by a few people. However, another debate – was it cheaper to buy them already mixed, or to get them separately and mix it afterwards??? Patrick had gone for the fancy option with two different types of nuts and raisins, but then he’s working full time so he should be able to splash out on snacks I suppose.
Reaching the great summit of Ada Pass at 998m was a definite highlight, although it did come as a bit of a surprise seeing as we hadn’t even climbed a hill to get there. Lunch in the sun at ?? hut and then another four hours tramping in the afternoon. Everyone was pleased to reach Christopher Hut by 5pm, which was a good effort at a fairly quick pace all day. I was pretty keen to prove her theory that tramps usually take about two thirds of the time that DOC suggest. Despite wet firewood, Darren and Matt can take credit for getting a decent fire going…well, decent enough to burn Curt’s socks anyway!! Although dinner was cooked according to the car we came in, we all had pretty much the same…a standard tramping meal of pasta, sausages, vegetables and a cheese sauce...mmm, a well earned meal after all that walking. I still think it was well worth carrying in the bottle of red wine to go with our car’s meal. Dinner over and the card games began – presidents & scums, or was it kings & arseholes? I’ve no idea what the real name is but it apparently meant being really mean to anyone was perfectly acceptable. Darren looked far too happy being president so we relegated him to scum when he got too comfortable.
Saturday morning was a bit harder to get out of the sleeping bags, as it had been clear and frosty overnight, and a few aches and pains were being felt. We still managed to get on the road by 8:20am though and continued along the track. Curt lead us up to Anne’s Saddle, at a staggering height of 1136 metres.
Sylvia’s super-power eyes spotted the swing bridge that signaled less that 2km to the end – seriously, I’m not sure if she could actually see it, was hoping she could see it, or was just trying to be extra positive! It was definitely nice to reach it though, and shortly later we were at the car. Curt, Darren and I set off to get the other cars, and before we left somebody asked who was writing up the trip. There wasn’t much enthusiasm until a bar of chocolate was suggested, and I eagerly requested the task. All in all, it was a great couple of days with a fun group of people.
The overview...
10 of us from the University of Canterbury Tramping Club (UCTC) did the St. James Walkway (66km) in just over a couple of days. We hiked in the dark on the first night for a couple of hours and then had two pretty long days. The walk was pretty flat but there were some nice valley areas and the wild horses seemed quite tame! The sun was shining and apart from 50% of the group having knee injuries of some sort, we all made it in good time and enjoyed the hike.
After a speedy Countdown shopping trip on Thursday afternoon, we set off for Lewis Pass, leaving the sunshine behind and entering the storm. Who’s idea was this again? 3 cars filled with 10 trampers – we were ready to walk the St. James’ Walkway, but not before stopping in Culverden for fish & chips. I took some ‘slaggings’ for ordering mine with salt and vinegar, an essential part of fish & chips in Scotland but obviously not a Kiwi tradition. The takeaway shop might not be the first choice for UTC trips next time though – it came back to haunt Sylvia who felt pretty sick later on Thursday night, and last time Patrick was there he was given sugar instead of salt (“sweet as…”) - maybe they were trying to give him dessert and main course in one go.
After leaving one car at the end of the Walkway, we all piled into two cars and drove back to the start. As the rain continued to fall, we debated whether driving to Maruia Springs, stocking up on alcohol, and spending the night in the hot pools might be a better option. “Get hard” as the Kiwi’s would say… So we put on the waterproofs and our head torches, and started tramping around 7pm. Good effort to those who were wearing shorts by the way. The entry in the starting log book of “Darren + 9 others” was to continue throughout the trip – he was either lazy or had no idea how to spell my name…or both.
We took about 2 ½ hours to reach the first hut (Ada Hut), with snow falling, and Sylvia definitely cursing the fish and chips. Stubborn as I am, I was definitely glad Patrick had bought batteries for my borrowed headlamp – although I’m sure it would have been a fun challenge to hike in the dark. Everyone was pretty knackered, so we headed to bed for a good night’s sleep…well, that was the plan. Jana couldn’t handle Darren’s snoring in one room so she transferred to the other, where Curt was talking in his sleep. I’m not sure which she preferred, but there were suggestions Darren should sleep outside the next night.
8am was the departure time set for Friday morning, and at 7:59am we were all outside – a damn good effort for such a big group. The first couple of hours led through snow on easy level ground, and soon enough the sun came out and the hats and gloves were taken off. Sylvia was back to her usual happy smiling self and Jana hadn’t even started to complain yet – does that mean something was wrong? At the first rest stop it appeared that the “49 cents a pound” combination of nuts and raisins had been spotted by a few people. However, another debate – was it cheaper to buy them already mixed, or to get them separately and mix it afterwards??? Patrick had gone for the fancy option with two different types of nuts and raisins, but then he’s working full time so he should be able to splash out on snacks I suppose.
Reaching the great summit of Ada Pass at 998m was a definite highlight, although it did come as a bit of a surprise seeing as we hadn’t even climbed a hill to get there. Lunch in the sun at ?? hut and then another four hours tramping in the afternoon. Everyone was pleased to reach Christopher Hut by 5pm, which was a good effort at a fairly quick pace all day. I was pretty keen to prove her theory that tramps usually take about two thirds of the time that DOC suggest. Despite wet firewood, Darren and Matt can take credit for getting a decent fire going…well, decent enough to burn Curt’s socks anyway!! Although dinner was cooked according to the car we came in, we all had pretty much the same…a standard tramping meal of pasta, sausages, vegetables and a cheese sauce...mmm, a well earned meal after all that walking. I still think it was well worth carrying in the bottle of red wine to go with our car’s meal. Dinner over and the card games began – presidents & scums, or was it kings & arseholes? I’ve no idea what the real name is but it apparently meant being really mean to anyone was perfectly acceptable. Darren looked far too happy being president so we relegated him to scum when he got too comfortable.
Saturday morning was a bit harder to get out of the sleeping bags, as it had been clear and frosty overnight, and a few aches and pains were being felt. We still managed to get on the road by 8:20am though and continued along the track. Curt lead us up to Anne’s Saddle, at a staggering height of 1136 metres.
Sylvia’s super-power eyes spotted the swing bridge that signaled less that 2km to the end – seriously, I’m not sure if she could actually see it, was hoping she could see it, or was just trying to be extra positive! It was definitely nice to reach it though, and shortly later we were at the car. Curt, Darren and I set off to get the other cars, and before we left somebody asked who was writing up the trip. There wasn’t much enthusiasm until a bar of chocolate was suggested, and I eagerly requested the task. All in all, it was a great couple of days with a fun group of people.
The overview...
10 of us from the University of Canterbury Tramping Club (UCTC) did the St. James Walkway (66km) in just over a couple of days. We hiked in the dark on the first night for a couple of hours and then had two pretty long days. The walk was pretty flat but there were some nice valley areas and the wild horses seemed quite tame! The sun was shining and apart from 50% of the group having knee injuries of some sort, we all made it in good time and enjoyed the hike.
posted by Mhairi
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