Mt. Arthur
Marcel, Patrick and Emily met us in Motueka to hike the Mt. Arthur track on Sunday/Monday. Well…trying to - we left Mot in shorts and t-shirt with gorgeous blue skies and sunshine, but conditions were just ‘slightly’ different on the hike. An easy track led up to Mt. Arthur hut, but soon after we came out of the bushline things changed pretty dramatically. The tablelands area is so exposed, and it seemed like the wind and rain had appeared out of nowhere, driving us sideways. It didn’t seem too cold but the wind continued to cut through us, and my hands definitely started to feel (or more likely lose feeling) the changes. I couldn’t pull on my waterproof trousers without mum and dad hiking them up for me (going back to my childhood days), and dad took about four attempts to attach the ‘trouser’ part of his shorts the right way around.
At Horseshoe Basin we decided that going up Mt. Arthur itself was actually pretty pointless because we couldn’t see anything, so we took the direct track to Salisbury Lodge. Up over Gordon’s Pyramid, I’m sure the views would have been incredible if we could see, but visibility was considerably less than we would have liked. We walked to the hut via the potholes and Sphinx Rock, although apparently the “sphinx” lost its head in the 1929 earthquake. Despite being told by the DOC office in Reefton that this hut was fully serviced and we wouldn’t need pots and pans, there was nothing provided. This led to some creativity and lateral thinking but I’d say we adapted pretty well. The large bucket we found outside became our cooking stove…it more strongly resembled a pig’s trough. After pouring the mulled wine in to heat up, we cut the bottle to create two halves which doubled up as cups and dinner bowls – its all about minimizing the amount you carry. Travel scrabble and bridge were both fun games, despite some controversy over “ef” being the actual spelling for the letter “f”.
The next morning the clouds were still moving quickly and the visibility was poor, so climbing Mt. Arthur still seemed like a no-go. We started to walk out via the rock shelters (impressive to see) and Flora Hut as originally planned. When I saw another track pointing towards Takaka, I made a joking suggestion to run that way (seeing as we were heading to Golden Bay that night anyway), but after closer inspection of the map the joke quickly turned into reality! I switched packs with dad and unloaded some stuff so I could set off the other way while the others continued back to the car park. I ran out via Asbestos Cottage (a really sweet & cosy old hut) and the abandoned mine to the Upper Cobb Dam road. The sun came out and the track was really enjoyable to run along, emerging onto a 4-wheel drive track above the Cobb Power Plant. I then followed the curvy, undulating road back along towards Upper Takaka, and mum & dad met me about 2km outside there – good timing because I was starting to get bored of running and quite tired by then! I was really glad I went that way though because it was an interesting section of track, and some great views up above Asbestos, and down by the river later on.
At Horseshoe Basin we decided that going up Mt. Arthur itself was actually pretty pointless because we couldn’t see anything, so we took the direct track to Salisbury Lodge. Up over Gordon’s Pyramid, I’m sure the views would have been incredible if we could see, but visibility was considerably less than we would have liked. We walked to the hut via the potholes and Sphinx Rock, although apparently the “sphinx” lost its head in the 1929 earthquake. Despite being told by the DOC office in Reefton that this hut was fully serviced and we wouldn’t need pots and pans, there was nothing provided. This led to some creativity and lateral thinking but I’d say we adapted pretty well. The large bucket we found outside became our cooking stove…it more strongly resembled a pig’s trough. After pouring the mulled wine in to heat up, we cut the bottle to create two halves which doubled up as cups and dinner bowls – its all about minimizing the amount you carry. Travel scrabble and bridge were both fun games, despite some controversy over “ef” being the actual spelling for the letter “f”.
The next morning the clouds were still moving quickly and the visibility was poor, so climbing Mt. Arthur still seemed like a no-go. We started to walk out via the rock shelters (impressive to see) and Flora Hut as originally planned. When I saw another track pointing towards Takaka, I made a joking suggestion to run that way (seeing as we were heading to Golden Bay that night anyway), but after closer inspection of the map the joke quickly turned into reality! I switched packs with dad and unloaded some stuff so I could set off the other way while the others continued back to the car park. I ran out via Asbestos Cottage (a really sweet & cosy old hut) and the abandoned mine to the Upper Cobb Dam road. The sun came out and the track was really enjoyable to run along, emerging onto a 4-wheel drive track above the Cobb Power Plant. I then followed the curvy, undulating road back along towards Upper Takaka, and mum & dad met me about 2km outside there – good timing because I was starting to get bored of running and quite tired by then! I was really glad I went that way though because it was an interesting section of track, and some great views up above Asbestos, and down by the river later on.
posted by Mhairi
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