This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Evan Cunliffe (Leader), Jamie Clellane, Dave Cook (writer) Rugby injuries reduced the trip number to three and Jamie whe was still suffering from the flu had to reassess his stamina and stayed back at lunch on Saturday. However Evan and I managed to complete a fairly ambitious trip helped by 4 days of glorious Nelson Lakes weather. - " at eee einai , The bus dropped -us at the Builer River bridge and the three of us ieft the Fit trip behiné as we trudged up the road to the car park shelter. Two larrikins in a souped-up car caused us concern as they used the road as a race track, and sideswiped one of us
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with a tree stuck through the rear windows of the car. The fall moon made a fantastic night. It was much more preferable to do this road walk without the heat of the sun to sap our strength. The alarm, woke us. at quarter to five and by seven thirty we were over the top of Mt. Robert and in patches of snow. There was a cool wind on top but going was easy es the snow was firm, when we had to walk on it. It was further to Angelus Basin than thought and we spent more and-more time on snow as the morning progressed, Finally the top of a rise gave a spectacular view of the basin with the “lake frozén over completely and the two huts standing out starkly from their white surroundings... “8 Lunch took up to two hours with sunbathing and/or sleeping occupying much of this timé, but by one o'clock Evan and I were back on .the move: again heading in the general direction of Sunset Saddle. Just before’ the saddle; however, we turned west, topped the ridge and took: a sidé- ridge to an outlier, Cedric, which overlooks the Sabine and Lake Rotorca.® Cedric is actually a very flat topped peak and we seeméd to drop very’ siowly, even well after we left the: snow behind... Thebush descent was notable only for the number of times I managed to lose the track but in spite of these unexpected detours by 4.30 pm I was bathing in the lake near the Sabine Hut. I might have stayed in longer had not the presence of a large pile of offal on the lake shore made the area rather unsavoury. I had got my legs but not any other parts of my body rather sunburnt and accordingly spent’ an uncomfértable night. Moral - plodding through . knee: deep snow rubs off snow cream. i. With the changeover to summer time we were able to start up the Sabine river at 6.am. The valley gives pleasant travel for about five hours to the Sabine Forks but the river was high due to the Spring thaw and,it had burst its banks in a number of places, The east branch of the Sabine starts with a gorge which involves’a high sidle. ~I thought the climb would never end but it did and we. stopped for lunch at the point where the Travers saddle route’ leaves the valley floor. It's amazing how after 10 years one remembers all the good parts of 2 previous trip and forgets, or makes light of, the hard or difficult parts. I had forgotten the high sidle we had just finished but’ remembered the spectacular cleft gorge that the track crosses on a bridge so far above the river that it can ,not..be,.seen. : The climb to the saddle was 2 long slog in the sun, up a shingle slide with a few detours into the bush. We stopped frequently for drinks as long 2s the nearby stream was above ground. Near the bushline the cloud cover built up a bit but we were still worried about the amount of snow in the upper basin.’: We needn't have _ worried as we were able to avoid most of the snow and it was only the last 10 minutes to the saddle that required step kicking’ and snow goggles. oH The other side was quite a different story. We could have reached the Upper Travers Hut without leaving the snow had we wished, but we didn't. Again we found an empty hut. Our macaroni cheese ‘and salami stew was well worth waiting for, as were a few minutes sitting outside after 8 pm watching dusk fall. The only trouble with the Travers Valley is that it is quite long and with a 5 pm deadline we had to make an early start and keep moving. It was a pity as the Travers, especially the top haif,: is very beautiful and deserves to be savoured not rushed through, We made good time to the Travers bridge. for lunch, then slowed down a bit over the farmland area near the lake’ head. We reached the’ new hut just after 1 pm and had a brew, courtesy of a student who was having a few days holiday and doing the odd day trip. Of the walk round the lake all that needs to be said is that it seems to get longer each time I do it. A The return boat trip was late and crowded and for the last half of the voyage a strong wind made things unpleasant. Even the lee side of the. boat. was not immune to windblown spray, blown right over the top of the boat. Nelson Lakes haG certainly turnea on a real beauty weekend. I