Summer in the Ahuriri Valley

Here's the blog I promised, check the difference out between my last blog from the Ahuriri Valley in winter against the valley in January this year.

Before heading up the valley we stayed at NZMCA POP #8135 (park over property), one that I've wanted to stay at for awhile but one we seem to fly past in either direction, on our way further south or keen to get back into Mackenzie Country.

Longslip Station POP- all on our lonesome

This lovely POP is part of Longslip Station, a large farm station on the north side of the Lindis Pass. Located at the beginning of Birchwood Road, the POP is just 20kms from Omarama. The access track opens up into a large flat paddock ringed with white painted rocks right beside the Ahuriri River. 

Ahuriri River, Copper Butterfly

The weather was perfect; blue bird days, calm and very, very hot. David had the right idea though. Can you see him under the 5th-wheeler's nose? He's in the shade, sitting at the picnic table flying his drone & watching its progress on his iPad. 

Although the river looked inviting for a swim, it was actually very swift flowing and it wouldn't have been very relaxing trying to stand upright & balance on the rocky bottom. There were a couple of backwash areas where I could have dipped my toes but they didn't look as inviting. 

Every now & then we'd look up and watch a cloud of dust swirling along Birchwood Road. I know David was thinking to himself  'bloody hell', we've got to travel down there in a day or so. He'd also be wishing for a light sprinkling of overnight rain to dampen it down.  

His wish wasn't granted though. The sun set each evening over a cloudless sky.

There was also an ulterior motive behind our stop at Longslip Station. I've had a nearby 4WD loop track on our 'to do' list for a long time. The track is located at the far back of the valley on the east side of the main highway between Omarama & Birchwood Rd, in between the Wether & Ewe Ranges. What is more interesting to me than anything else is the fact that from the track start point it's just 25kms over the mountains to St Bathans in Central Otago. Whereas by road it's about 200kms!

The West Manuherikia Track crosses the Omarama Saddle, and if you take the loop back on the East Manuherikia Track, you'll cross Little Omarama Saddle at the tail end of the Hawkdun Range. At the other end, the tracks come out in the Manuherikia River valley & Hawkdun Runs Road right below the Hawkdun & St Bathans Ranges. This is where we couldn't finish the loop track when we did Falls Dam & the Home Hills Run Road last year. 

I had read it was better to do the West track first & return via the East track which was a lot more gnarly. There were several guys in the carpark (a paddock) off loading their trail bikes from a trailer as we headed through the farm gate & straight into a rough farm section around the edge of a hill.

We were heading to the break in the mountains at the back of the farm flats. The 5km farm track turned out to be quite rough & rutted in places & had a couple of swampy sections to cross. Our progress was watched with interest by cattle & calves who took off into the scrub bucking & twisting with tails flying as we got near. 

Eventually we reached the boundary gate opening into the Oteake Conservation Park & the track proper. The Oteake Park is a huge conservation park that stretches from Dansey's Pass in Central Otago through the Ida Range, all the way along the Hawkduns & down into Canterbury and including St Bathans & St Mary's Ranges on both sides. 

We drove along the dusty track for a kilometre or so until we came to start of the climb up and over the saddle. It looked pretty narrow & we couldn't see around the first corner. David was worried we might meet someone coming down & wouldn't be able to pass, so I walked up to the corner to check.

And it was borderline, not only were there several more corners ahead, the track was very narrow & deeply rutted in places, areas where we could belly out & get stuck (and I know in the photos it looks reasonably ok, but photos never do the actual condition of the tracks justice).  It was touch & go and in the end we decided it wasn't worth the risk to go any further. The ute tows our home & any damage or problems with it & we're stuck where we're parked. This time the 'shiny' wasn't going to get through.

While we were discussing the track the trail bikes flew past us, up and over the bank down the other side weaving up the track they went. And then after we'd turned around, a couple of heavy duty 4WDs passed us. We waited at the gate to see them head up the track (bottom right photo). One vehicle appeared first and stopped & then it took a long while for the 2nd one to pop out from behind the hill, although we could see his front through the binoculars, he wasn't moving. We couldn't see what was holding him back but he seemed to bounce out when he did get free.

Resigned & disappointed that we had to turn around, & now with a packed lunch going spare, we drove to the Omarama Aerodrome where we sat on the tail gate eating our lunch & watching the gilders coming & going.

Omarama Aerodrome is world famous for gliding, it not only has the perfect soaring conditions, it has some breathtaking scenery. The airfield is usually busy with gliders on weekends but we didn't expect quite so many. I found out later that there was a youth glide camp on. 

We especially enjoyed watching the gliders take off on the far side of the field. These gliders were attached to a bungy cord (well, I call it that anyway).  

Beyond the  far end of the runway, about 2 kms down, a huge hydraulic winch wound the line in pulling the glider into the air until it was high enough to let the tow line go and the line would fall back to the ground while the glider continued on its flight. A small truck would then race down to the end, grab the line and drag it all the way back up to tie it on to the next glider. I wanted to know who the brave person was that tried this out the first time! 

The next day it was time to head up the Ahuriri Valley. On a more sedate '4WD track'... 

...but with double the amount of dust!

The valley looked stunning on a warm summer's day, unlike the snow & ice we had on our last visit in July. There'd be no problems getting to the top of the valley at this time of the year.

Ahuriri Valley; The Lindis sculpture; Ahuriri River

Here are a couple of comparison photos taken not too far before our destination at the DOC camp. The first taken in early July last year...

...and the following one in mid January, 2022. You can now see that the puddle in the middle of the road has dried out and it's not that deep. During winter everyone heads to the outside (including us) because they can't see the depth. It's actually more boggy on the sides and the ruts start to get deeper & the mess larger. And all the while, through the centre has a gravel base and would be fine to drive through!

Once through the last cattle stop and into the Conservation Park we followed the track down to the side of the Ahuriri River & our usual parking spot in amongst the thick tussock. 

Any thought of setting up camp was lost when we looked over the edge into the river & right there below us was this big beautiful Brown Trout! We thought he'd shoot away as soon as he spotted us but he had no interest in us and carried on circling in his pool and sucking up any insects that were swirling in the eddy; including a poor ladybird in the bottom photo.

He was swimming around the pool every time we looked out for the next couple of days, but sadly on the third day, after we returned from a walk further up the valley, he was gone. There were two fly fisherman just up the river and I'm sure because we weren't at the van, they would have fished in the pool below us. We hoped they might have been 'catch & release' fishermen but the trout never made another appearance.  

Once the sun dropped behind the mountains, the temperature dropped a little & clouds spiraled in over the valley.

One last vehicle headed out just on dusk and we were the only ones left in what seemed like a vast wilderness with just the sound of the passing river for company. Total bliss!  

Sunrise was beautiful the next morning. 

After a day relaxing on what was one of our hottest days this summer (and me having my first swim of the summer; the water was breathtakingly cold), we headed further up the valley to complete a walk I'd attempted to do back when we visited in winter.

This involved several familiar photo stops on the way. Every season is different and with this being one of my favourite views, I had to have a summer photo overlooking the large wetland beside the Ahuriri River with Mt St Mary in the background. The 4wd track we're following is on the right skirting around the edge of the wetland.

And this one (a fav) was taken a few years ago in the middle of winter, I love the contrast between the bright green ribbon of water, the dark grey scree slopes and the rustic tussocks. 

This one is the summer view up the valley...

...and this one from our visit last winter (click photo to enlarge)

The 4wd track was of course much easier to travel although there were a couple of curly sections towards the end where washouts and gravel slides have passed through. Once in the carpark we headed off on the 3km track to Canyon Creek.

And here's the same track I attempted to walk back in winter. Then there was a river of water flowing along the track under a layer of ice & snow. I gave up after a couple of hundred metres or so.

This time instead of ice & snow we had long grass & hot weather. Canyon Creek flows out of the canyon on the right side of the mountain ahead but the track enters the bush on the left hand side and then climbs around the front and up above the bush line in the canyon.

The track was easy going although we missed a DOC marker pole (as had several others going by the tracks that crisscrossed each other) and headed out over the gravel banks which also meant we had to cross several streams before we found ourselves back on the correct track running along the edge of the bush... 

...until we finally reached the bottom of the mountain. The track crossed the stream and headed up into the bush at the DOC orange triangle ahead of us. But unfortunately- because I know there are some magic views of the canyon higher up the mountain- this was as far as we were going today. I had a bung knee on the mend and I didn't want to aggravate it. 

We had our lunch beside the stream, did a little bird spotting and then headed back down the valley.

It was a long hot walk home and I wistfully eyed up a couple of bikes I spied 'hidden' just off the track. We later spoke to the couple who owned them, one had been up to the top of the canyon and further on to a small hidden lake high in the mountains. He'd stayed overnight there and said it had been rather hard going & he'd been a bit worried about some of terrain he'd had to cross. His partner had tramped up the Ahuriri River to one of the huts and stayed there. 

At the end of each day the fishermen, trampers & day trippers headed off back down the valley leaving us to our solitude.

David did a bit of fishing each day. Could there be any better location to fly-fish? Here in front of Mt St Mary.

He had a few strikes including one very large fish that managed to release itself; maybe it was our friendly Brown. We hoped so.

After several days of hot sunny weather, the forecast for the following few days was for heavy rain...

...so we made the decision to head off before it arrived and not have to battle mud & rain on our trip out of the valley. Big fat rain drops started falling just as we pulled out.

Kyeburn Diggings & Danseys Pass

As soon as the weather cleared after our wet trip from St Bathans to Ranfurly, we set off to explore Danseys Pass before the forecast snow closed the road.

Danseys Pass is a mountain pass located in the Kakanui Mountains, and even though it’s a narrow gravel road, it’s a fairly well used link between Ranfurly & Naseby in Central Otago and Duntroon in the Waitaki Basin in inland Canterbury.

We drive through Naseby (more on this village in another post) and head towards the mountains along the Kyeburn River flats.

The gold fields in the Kyeburn area, known as the Kyeburn Diggings were well underway before the main discovery of gold at Naseby 30kms away. Coal mining was also important at Kyeburn, and good quality lignite was worked until about 1900. There was once a bustling town of over 2000 people with hotels, stores, butcher, baker and a school. All that is left now are the piled high tailings & scars of sluicing and dredging along the cliffs of the Kyeburn….

….and the old Kyeburn Cemetery with it’s historic tariff board showing service charges for burial in the gold mining era of the late nineteenth century. In those days £1 represented a lot of money.

 The cemetery is still in use today and in fact we met an old timer later in the week who told us this would be his final resting place when his time came.

It is always thought provoking visiting old cemeteries and we're often moved by some of the sad stories that lie behind the gravestones. People died very young in those days, and sometimes whole families died within relatively short spaces of time when compared with today’s life expectations.

Overlooking Mt Nobbler is a large memorial to four people, including two brothers, who lost their lives on the mountain in July, 1891. Sometimes there are just a few words on the headstone to indicate the story behind the deaths but here, there was an information panel with the complete story- you might not think so but I have condensed it for the blog.

The two Meikle brothers, aged 19 & 12, set off with their hunting dogs for a day’s rabbiting on the other side of the mountain range. On their return, laden with rabbit skins, they became separated when the younger brother, Thomas, went back to retrieve a skinning knife. James continued on thinking his brother would catch up. He waited at the summit a short time before thick cloud started to roll in. He continued on to a musterer’s hut, thinking his brother might have returned via another route.

Finding his brother not there he gathered a blanket & food and went back to look for him crossing the summit in thick driving snow. He located his brother after following the smell of a tussock fire which his younger brother had lit to keep warm. Thomas was too weak to travel through the deep snow so they spent the night huddled together under the blanket beside the fire. The next morning the cold was intense and the snow deep, and the younger brother still too weak to travel, so James left him in the shelter of a rock with the blanket & some of their dogs to lie with for warmth while he set off back over the mountain for help.

By mid afternoon James had arrived home to get his father and a neighbour and they headed back up the mountain, James’ third ascent in 30 hours. Half way over they were forced to take shelter from another snowstorm. James was now suffering from frostbite to his hands & feet and his father, seeing the situation as hopeless decided they needed to return home. Early the next morning James (frostbite treated) & eight other local settlers & miners went back up the mountain knowing they would be lucky to find Thomas alive after the previous night’s storm.

As he led them towards the summit of Mt Nobbler, James realised they should have been on the opposite spur. To get there they took a route across a steep snow covered sidling. In single file the men started to cross the face when without warning a huge mass of snow swept down the mountain. The first three men, James, Alphonso Beer (age 28) & Robert Blanchard (aged 23) were swept away and buried under tons of rock & snow. A fourth man only escaped by being pulled back by his hair.

Seeing that there was no hope of anyone being alive, the survivors returned to the neighbours home where one of them rode to Naseby to raise the alarm. Next morning more than 100 miners & settlers went to find and dig out the bodies. A day later a smaller party went over Mt Nobbler by a different route in search of Thomas. The barking of the dogs guided them to where his body lay with his cap pulled over his face and his faithful dogs still guarding over him.

So ends the 1891 tragedy of Mt Nobbler and the first recorded avalanche fatalities in New Zealand.

After that rather sobering visit we carried on up the road to one other place left behind after the gold rush, the historic Dansey Pass Hotel.

The hotel was built in 1863 and for a time was the centre of activities in the district. Apparently a stonemason called Happy Bill built the stone building in schist and took his payment in beer, a pint for every schist boulder shaped and laid on the thick walls! Remnants of some of the other stone buildings from the settlement are across the road from the inn.

The hotel still offers accommodation and a stopover for travellers crossing the Pass although I think it’s probably more of a weekend lunch destination. I suspect that there aren’t too many visitors here during the winter and even though there was a fire roaring away inside there wasn’t a soul in sight, not even behind the bar.

Just past the hotel we get into the Pass proper where the signs warn of what is ahead and what not to drive or tow to get there.

So far it’s just another gravel road with power pylons leading the way…

It has snowed recently but it was either a light dusting or a few days ago as most of the road is clear and easy going. This is Mt Kyeburn…

…and the Oteake Conservation Park, a huge & remote area where you can tramp, camp, mountainbike, 4WD and even horse ride. When it’s not winter. The park includes part of the Hawkdun & Mt Ida Ranges and stretches back towards St Bathans and over to Kurow in the Waitaki Valley. What an amazing place it would be to explore, you can download the DOC map here if you’re keen.

The road got a little narrow and rough in a couple of places and we hit a few icy patches as we climbed gently higher.

In a couple of places the rough schist walls rose vertically from the road and even appeared to overhang it a few areas, obviously the reason larger vehicles would have trouble negotiating their way past.

The view back down the valley over the snow tussock was stunning and we were thrilled to spot a NZ Falcon/Karearea chasing it’s lunch, a smaller bird, past us at very high speeds as they both weaved, ducked and dived their way down the gully on the right. It wasn’t going to be our last sighting of a falcon that day either.

There were some interesting schist rock formations along the road, this one looked as if it had just been pushed off the side.

At another stop there are some old bridge abutments. More than likely they’re left over from the original track through the pass used by teamsters and their wagon trains plying their trade between the Waitaki Basin and the gold fields of Central Otago.

Heading towards Mt David (good name) and luckily the snow on the road is more slush than ice….

And just as we’re thinking the snow better not get any thicker…

…we arrive at the summit- Danseys Pass, 935m.

We decide this will be as far as we’ll go, it’s mid afternoon and freezing cold outside with a stiff wind blowing. We don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of the Pass when everything starts to freeze up as the sun drops. We didn’t quite join the link, we probably only had about 12kms to travel down the Waitaki side to meet a point where we had travelled to last year when we were checking out Duntroon & Earthquakes (yes a settlement with that name). Perhaps we’ll travel up the Waitaki side of the Pass another time when we’re in that area.

A panorama from Danseys Pass, looking out over the Waitaki Basin towards the Pacific Ocean with the east coast, between Timaru to the North & Oamaru to the south, in the distance.

We have a quick cup of tea and a bite to eat while jumping about trying to keep warm before heading off back down the Pass towards home…

…with one final stop near the river at Kyeburn Diggings to watch thousands of finches feeding in a paddock of stock feed swedes and where we were to see our second falcon of the day. But you’ll have to wait for the next post to see that.