Winter Wonderland in the Ahuriri Valley

Catch-up; I don't know, I think I'll give up apologising for the lack of blogs and how out of date they are and just do them when I can. Sorry *hehe*

This blog is from the July 2021, right in the middle of  winter when we visited the DOC camp at the top of the Ahuriri Valley. Oh what fun!

With a few days of winter sunshine forecast for the middle of July, we decided to head up to the top of the Ahuriri Valley for another visit. The valley is located on the north side of the Lindis Pass, about 20kms from Omarama in the Waitaki District.

The Ahuriri River & valley- spot the hut?

We were under no illusions of how cold it might be, the photo on the back of our rig was taken there a few years ago when we woke to a -16c hoar frost.

We were more worried about how Birchwood Road would be after recent snow fall. It’s 24 km of gravel to the camp and the last 4km are not maintained by the council. The first 20kms are not so smooth to travel either but at least there would be no dust.

The road passes through two farm stations, Longslip Station & Ben Avon Station. Birchwood Station used to be at the end of the road until it was returned to the Crown and is now part of the Ahuriri Conservation Park. 

The exclusive 5 star luxury lodge, 'The Lindis', is located on Ben Avon Station, the large steel sculpture at the gated entrance to the lodge makes for a dramatic sight in the expansive landscape as you make your way down the valley. The lodge can't be seen from the road here but if you look over the Ben Avon wetlands on your way back out of the valley you can see the contoured roof of  the lodge nestled into a dip in the landscape. It overlooks the Ahuriri River.

Driving the road was an adventure in itself with mud, snow & ice covering much of it's length and progressively getting worse the further into the valley we travelled. There were many ice covered & water filled pot holes. Some we avoided as it was hard to tell how deep they were or if there was thick mud underneath. 

Others we smashed through, the cracking ice making a satisfying sound as it was spat out the sides of the rig. 

Water flowed off the mountains in random places crossing the road and freezing in amongst the tussock and gravel rock slides creating large ice rinks to cross. 

The Ahuriri River; calm & reflective, meanders its way down through the valley. It's a great trout fishery but it's out of season so there'll be no fly-fishing this time.

Finally we made it to the park, opting to open the gate rather than drive through the last large icy puddle over the cattlestop.

We set up camp right beside the river in our usual spot just as the last of the sun disappeared out of the valley, climbing  Mt St Mary and turning the air from pleasantly crisp to frigid cold. Time to crank up the diesel heaters as the last of the day visitors heads back to civilization leaving us to enjoy the solitude & stillness of the approaching night.

A photo of the photo taken in nearly in the same spot. We met a 4WD vehicle somewhere in amongst the mud & ice as we travelled in and stopped to let him past. The driver had guests on board from The Lindis and he wound down his window to ask if we knew what we were doing & where we were going (David often answers this question with ' We're looking for a McDonalds'), this time we said 'We sure do, look on the back of the rig as you pull away'.  

The crisp winter air makes for crystal clear night skies; here's the Milky Way rising over Mt St Mary. The pink tinge is airglow; luminescence of Earth's upper atmosphere. 

The next day dawned bright & sunny so we decided to head further up the valley, test out David's 4WD skills a little more...famous last words.

We pass the old Birchwood Station homestead & cottage on our way, they're located in that clump of trees (back centre) in the photo above. 

Birchwood Station Cottage

Once through the front yard of the homestead and over the cattle-stop the condition of the road and the accompanying '4WD Access' sign says it all. It's now a 4WD track and ice and snow cover much of it.

We pass the 'Spadeline', if you haven't read the blog link on our first visit which I posted near the beginning, here's the explanation; ....this is the remains of a controversial boundary fence and spade line between the provinces of Canterbury & Otago. The spade line was actually dug out at the time and the indentation is still noticeable in places. The boundary line was drawn using a ruler, it didn’t allow for natural features or the rights of established run holders (and it's still a bug-bear for some people today, I'm regularly contacted by people telling me I've got the wrong province when I mention parts of this area).  

We stop at one of my favourite scenes to photograph; the striking green growth on the edges of a stream that snakes its way across the large wetland to the Ahuriri River. 

And then it's on to the serious stuff; 10kms of slippin' and slidin' to the end of the track; the water, snow & ice getting deeper & slipperier the closer we get to the head of the valley.

There have been several vehicles along the track already; we pull over & wait for a couple of them to come past. 

One couple have decided they can't risk going any further and have turned around and heading back out, another have parked up & the kids are having a snow ball fight. The last kilometre or so is rugged, the track is mostly frozen solid with compacted ice and heads down a long slippery slope towards the river before turning and crossing several water filled rock slides & deep washouts. We're bounced about the cab as we cross over them. 

We stop to talk to a couple of hunters who have pulled over to let us past near the Top Dingleburn hut track. 

They'd stayed at the hut the night before & had been hunting further up the valley earlier in day, they had found no deer but came across a couple of thar near the river on their way back to their vehicle.

Eventually we made it to the end of the road where we parked up and had a late lunch; a very welcome  cup of soup & ham sandwiches!

I thought I might do the 3km walk to Canyon Creek but soon realised that would be impossible, the track was a frozen skating rink with a fast flowing stream tracking along underneath the ice. I tried walking along the edge but the snow covered tussock mounds had me dropping into hidden holes filled with water and ice so I gave that away, promising myself to return and walk the route in the summer.

We head back home trying to remember the course we'd taken at each obstacle or choosing a new direction if it looks better.

Poor David, he was beside himself when we got back & he saw the state of the ute. I mean what did he expect? 

When he hadn't come inside after the sun disappeared, I stepped out to see what he was up to. Spare water pump, two flexi buckets of water and he was washing all the mud off! I asked him if he did realise that he still had another 24kms of mud to travel in a day or two. 

I should have known better, he has been known to get the water blaster & generator out to clean the ute after crossing over some particularly dusty or muddy roads before. 

Molesworth Station

 We enjoyed another gorgeous winter's day before heading back out of the valley (click on the photo to expand). 

While we were having lunch a vehicle arrived and we thought we had neighbours for the night when two guys put up a teepee tent behind us. We commented that hopefully they had plenty of winter woolies with them because the night time temperatures had been dropping to -6 to -8c while we were there. In fact they were doing a photo shoot of the tent for some advertising and were packed up and gone before the sun disappeared. Back to having the place to ourselves!

The next morning (another glorious day) we headed out, back past the icy bogs now not so frozen after a steady stream of visitors to the valley.

Over the frozen rock slides...

...breathing a sign of relief once we reached the Ben Avon Wetlands and the road proper. Just corrugations & potholes to content with for the reat of the journey.

Footnote- we have just spent another fews days up the valley in a totally different season. I'll post that blog next so you can see the comparison.

The Remote Ahuriri Valley- Part 1

Real-time- it's been a few days since the last blog and I always feel a little guilty about the delay. Some weeks blog posts just flow and other weeks they tend to be start, stop, get distracted, start, stop get distracted affairs. I've just had a one of those weeks!

We left Lowburn heading north up the eastern side of Lake Dunstan and over the Lindis Pass for one last time, we're not sure when we'll be back down this way again, it's time to explore further north. Just before we reached the Summit (where I took this photo), snow flurries began splattering the windscreen. I thought it might have been the start of a heavy fall but sadly it had petered out by the time we pulled up.

At the bottom of the Lindis and 20kms from Omarama we turned hard left into Birchwood Road and headed up the Ahuriri Valley. This 24km gravel road follows the Ahuriri River all the way up the valley into the Ahuriri Conservation Park. From there, there's a 8km 4WD track to the end of the road. The last time I stopped to look down this road, the mountains were covered in snow and it was piled up half a metre deep on either side of tyre tracks through the middle, it was the time of  'the big snow' when I drove up from Winton to check it out.

With the outside temperatures being so chilly now we're into winter (8-10c is a good day), we like to be set up with the diesel heater pumping well before the sun disappears over the mountains. 

About 8kms down the road we decided to pull in and camp on a small level plateau overlooking the river, we'd carry on up the valley in the morning.

I gave David a bit of a ribbing after we'd set up. Of all the places and wide open spaces we could have chosen and we park right beside a bloody power pole! In defence it was the only area where we could look over the river.

We woke to a light frost in the morning and the sun hiding behind the mountain across the river from us. When it did finally reach into the valley we had an amazing view up the braided Ahuriri River valley. This is the river that passes the Omarama Clay Cliffs and runs alongside the DOC camp we stay at near Omarama. The river is also smothered in lupins in spring, although luckily not all the way up here. Yet.

As we headed on up the valley, the cloud had settled along the mountain ridge but there are still a few glimpses of snow along the tops. We pass one of several access points into the conservation park, it's hard to believe that over the range from here is the top arm of Lake Hawea, very near the entrance to Haast Pass, which by road is a very long way away. This part of the track is also part of the Te Araroa Trail, New Zealand's walking trail from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island. We've crossed it on numerous occasions while out exploring.

We know that there are some large high country stations down the road, Ben Avon, Longslip and Birchwood (no longer operating), but are still surprised to see a lovely large new home tucked in under the range, this is a pretty remote area with a hostile winter environment. I later find out that it's a hunting lodge and clients (mainly from overseas) pay thousands of dollars to stay, hunt & fish in the Ahuriri Valley. And to think that we can just drive in, set up camp and do exactly the same should we wish to- though not the hunting bit of course! And I'm not so sure we can arrange the helicopter rides either! 

The Lodge overlooks the beautiful Ben Avon Wetlands, which are just starting to freeze over. Any waterfowl settled on the pond has been forced into a deep corner. They start milling about and stressing out so we leave them to it and carry on along the road.

We finally reach the park boundary where we find a place to park right beside the river. There's not another person in sight and we have the whole valley to ourselves. 

What an absolutely magical place. If only it was the fishing season, once again there are a dozen or so trout swimming through the crystal clear waters right below us. The Ahuriri is an internationally renowned fly-fishing river.

After we'd set up, we headed off to explore further up the valley. The gravel road ends near the old Birchwood Station homestead, stock yards and a 1930s farm cottage. Birchwood was purchased by the Nature Heritage Fund in 2004 to protect the natural landscape and secure public access up the valley, it had been farmed since 1873 and was once described as being more suitable for keas (our cheeky mountain parrot) than sheep.

We're now on the 4WD track although it's not too bad, just some lumpy parts, a few mudholes and a couple of big shingle slides to cross, the rest is slick dry mud. We come across another familiar sight, the 1861 'Spade Line'.  This is the remains of a controversial boundary fence and spade line between the provinces of Canterbury & Otago. The spade line was actually dug out at the time and the indentation is still noticeable in places. The boundary line was drawn using a ruler, it didn’t allow for natural features or the rights of established run holders. We last crossed it when we explored along the edge of Lake Ohau, near Twizel.

We stop to take in this fabulous view across the valley, the emerald green waterway snakes it way across the tussock plain towards bare willows and the river on the far side of the valley. Aside from the stunning green colour which grabs your attention, look at the colour and texture on that mountain too.

Stands of remnant beech forest and large gravel slides line the valley walls. I suggested to David that it would be great fun to toboggan down that trough in the gravel. It's hard to get perspective here but that is a large mountain with very steep sides, those are very tall trees and I'd probably get swallowed up in the gravel coming down at a breakneck speed! It's fun thinking about it though.

We stop to check out DOC's Ahuriri Base Hut, there's a car parked nearby but no sign of occupants. They're probably walking one of the many tramping tracks in the area. 

There are several huts in the mountains above this hut and several more further up the valley. Tramping, mountain biking and horse riding are all encouraged in the park; there's a horse holding yard near the hut. 

Though motorbikes and 4WDriving is not encouraged and there is a barrier across the end of the road. This is as far as we'll be going today.

We turn around and head for home, stopping here and there to check for birds and views.

It takes a few seconds to spot 'Out There' in this vast river plain, we blend in very well against the tussock (click to enlarge)

Zoomed in....

The valley and surrounding mountains turn a stunning colour as night falls and the temperature drops sharply as day turns to night. Both heaters are cranked up, keeping us snug and warm inside; they are certainly going to earn their keep come morning...

To be continued...Part 2