This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
“No strikes cand witt ‘they flew to Christchurch, the first leq of the 16-day . trip that spanned aon Christmas and New Year break. im ‘Mike Hollis was the,leader of eight who tramped uP and down’ some very fine Fiordland country." u Warren Thorburn takes up the tale: the trip began ain the West Matukituki in pouring rain. Night one was. spent in the Cascade Hut where Mark PACES ies joined the group as arranged. —._. : "ar ' We headéd up the Matukituki the next aay and met Geoff Spearpoint I (Hutt . Valley) who was working as ‘the. custodian at the Aspiring Hut. The rain poured off and on forcing a three-night stopover at the “Liverpool Biv and almost a cancellation ef the whole trip. In overcast conditions and cloud on the. nail, we crossed the Arawata and. spent the night in“the. gavy rock. The xock is impressive and could hold atleast 20 people.
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Warren says some members of the group gained more experience on steep snow and rock then they had bargained for on the crossing ef the Arawata saddle, A large number cf Mt. Cook lilies were seen in the head of the valley, a clear sign that deer grazing has been substantially reducec. In fact no deer, goats, thar or chamois were seen on the entire trip.
From the Arawata biv the group moved down to the Williamson flats encountering difficult travel in the lower Arawata because of slips and washouts. They camped that night on the McArthur Flats which Warren says was probably the most oicturesque camp spot on the trip. The route then took them up the Williamson River and Pass Creek where members suffered an attack from kea birds (must be something about Wellingtonians...). On a very good day they climbed over Trinity Col,: up the glacier and over Trinity Pass, Stag Pass, Beresford Pass, and into. the Diorite Stream. The hardy souls woke to find snow on the tops the next morning before they set off over the Four Brothers Pass to camp below the waterfall. pool in the Forgotten. - Leaving the isolated Forgotten behind, they tramped up the Olivine River, over Cow. Saddle and down the Hidden Falls Creek to yet another scenic camp. Park Pass provided access to the upper Rock Burn, a beautiful valley which attracted them for an extra day... Warren says the track there has suffered substantial damage by recent heavy rains,
The team finished their trip by crossing Sugar Loaf Pass to reach the beginning of the Route Burn track and the end of the road. All in all a tremendous trip that included a substantial number of pass hops; kea attacks, and no live game. Those who ventured with Mike Hollis included: Warren Thorburn, Mark Pickering, Clinton:Heyes, David Noble, Tan McLean, Paul Cooper, and Mark Thompson.