Heaphy Track

After a couple of days spent in the pleasant city of Nelson, I am ready for my first New Zealand tramp. I am planning to walk the Heaphy Track, which is the longest of New Zealand’s ‘great walks’ at 79km. It crosses Kahurangi National Park in the north-west corner of the south island. I will be walking for 5 days and staying in national park huts for 4 nights, so I have to carry a sleeping bag and all my food. I’m not used to that – where are the porters and mules!

Day 1

I get picked up from my hostel by minibus in the early morning of Christmas Eve to make the journey to the west end of the track. On a straight line on the map the distance is about 120km in a north-westerly direction from Nelson; but there is a big national park in the way which is full of mountains and minus roads, so we have to drive about 150km south-west to a little place on the coast called Westport and then another 120km north along the coast. The journey takes 6 hours, with a couple of pit stops along the way. The only other passengers are a nice New Zealand couple called Jim and Karen, who are on holiday from the north island and who are also going to walk the same route as me. Jim and Tom, the driver, keep up a gentle conversation along the way about such manly pursuits as hunting, fishing and motorbikes. Every time we are close to water they speculate on the fishing possibilities, such as, ‘Good for flounder, I’d say, eh?’ with the New Zealand, ‘eh?’ at the end of each statement, to encourage affirmation.

The road along the coast north from Westport is a dead end, or ‘no exit’ road, as they are called here. The 120km dead end leads to a small settlement called Karamea, with a population of 620 and then along a dirt track to Kohaihai, which is the start of the tramp. We have hardly passed another vehicle since Westport. We pull into the car park and a small collection of tired and grubby trampers are resting in the shade of a tree. They have just finished the tramp from the opposite end and are waiting for Tom to pick them up.

So after some initial boot and pack adjusting and with my flashing Santa, which was sent to me by Megan and Elliot, attached to my pack, I am ready to set off.  

Me at the start of the Heaphy Track

The first day’s walking is 5 hours along the coast from one beautiful white sand beach to another and another and another…..The path is mainly along a track at the back of the beach, shaded by nikau palm trees, but with some occasional sections along the beach itself, which makes for hot and hard-going walking on the sand. I find I have to stop and rest more often than usual, because of the weight of my pack, but it doesn’t get dark until 9.30pm, so I have plenty of time.

View of Scott’s Beach

Track through the palms

Another beautiful beach

Occasionally the path crosses small streams which run down to the sea from the high ground to the right. Some of them just require a bit of clambering over boulders, but others are crossed with swing bridges, which bounce and sway as you cross.

Swing bridge

In the early evening I am very grateful to see an encouraging sign which says, ‘Hut 1km’ and then I come out of the bush onto an area of mown grass with the Heaphy Hut nestled back from where the Heaphy river meets the sea.

Heaphy Hut

Driftwood sculpture on the beach

There are already some people at the hut. A couple of women have walked out earlier in the day and brought their Christmas with them – Christmas dinner, crackers, small tree. They are intending to stay here for 2 nights and then return the way they came. In the end there are 12 of us altogether: these two women, a couple of English women, Herb from San Francisco, a couple from Germany, a couple from Finland, myself and Karen and Jim. We sit up around the table in the hut until after it gets dark, swapping tales in the light of my flashing Santa.

Day 2

I wake up and celebrate the day with a morning dip in the river. It could be described as invigorating, or bloody freezing. When I return to the hut and the others ask me how it was, I choose the second version.

Christmas morning swim in the Heaphy River

At home I really enjoy Christmas, as a cultural celebration; but here without the usual ingredients that make it Christmas for me, it is just a beautiful day on the trail. Here there are no dark cold starry nights, no Christmas lights, no preparations, no family to share it with, no tree, no presents – everything is so totally different from what I am used to at home. I have thought about my family and friends enjoying their Christmas at home and I feel a little sad not to be sharing it with them; but I don’t miss Christmas here, because it isn’t recognisable as Christmas. I guess for a religious person the presence or not of those external trappings would make no difference; it would still Jesus’ birthday, but without that underlying religious significance, when the constituent parts are removed and substituted with warm sunshine, a solitary tramp through beautiful scenery and camaraderie with strangers, then it just isn’t Christmas. It nonetheless it is an enjoyable time.

Today’s walk initially goes inland along the banks of the river for 2 ½ hours. A long swing bridge takes me across the river to where the next hut is sighted.

Swing bridge

Picnic spot

I rest here for a while and have something to eat, but don’t want to stay long as the sand flies are ferocious.  A bird called a weka waddles out from the bush and shares my Pringles. These birds are flightless and notoriously inquisitive. They will steal anything they can carry and take it off into the bush to investigate. 

Weka

The next part of the walk takes my gradually uphill and through the bush for 4 hours, climbing 700m. The path is beautiful and cut into the side of the hill, but the dense bush means that there are very few views, so it is hard to get any sense of the progress I am making. It begins to feel as if I am on a treadmill, with the same scenery is going past me continuously. Every time the bush looks like it is about to thin out and I think I am going to burst out onto open ground, the track makes a sharp turn and buries itself back among the trees and ferns.

Uphill track

Tree ferns

Rare view of the river

I don’t see a soul all afternoon and just when I feel I am never going to get to the next hut and I’ll just have to collapse on the track and no-one will find me until tomorrow, the vegetation turns more scrubby and I see the lovely, ‘Hut 1km’ sign. This 2^nd hut is the James Mackay Hut and is sited just above the bush line, with a fantastic view from the veranda all the way back to the mouth of the Heaphy river, where I can just see the waves breaking on the shore. This is where I started my walk earlier today and sudddenly today's walk all seems worth it.

James Mackay Hut

View back to the Heaphy River mouth

This hut is quieter than last night’s and I share it with the same two English ladies, plus a couple from the Netherlands and a French Canadian family of mother, father and two boys of 9 and 10, who are all walking in the opposite direction. There are also a couple of French boys camping outside. Not far from the hut there is a small creek and a wash in its cold water is most reviving and great for the aches and pains.

Day 3

Thankfully I have a shorter day today, with only 4 hours of walking, so I am in no hurry to set off. I say goodbye to the other trampers and I have the hut to myself for an hour and sit reading on the veranda in the morning sun. The path today is through very different scenery, with more open views. Initially it crosses sandy scrubland and then marshy swamps with duckboards crossing the wettest patches. After heavy rain parts of this track become impassable.

Sandy track

Duckboards

The sun is pretty fierce across this open ground, so today I am quite glad of the shade when it goes back into the bush.

Me on the path

I arrive at the next hut in the early afternoon. This is Saxon Hut, which is situated very atmospherically on tussocky moor land, with distant views of the mountains.

Saxon Hut

A small family group is resting here before continuing their walk today. They are a couple from Germany, with their 3 ½  year old son. One of the adults carries a backpack for the boy to sit in, when he is too tired to walk and the other adult carries a backpack with everything the 3 of them need for 5 days. I can’t really see how this is much fun for any of them! After they set off again I have the place to myself and go and find the nearby stream for a wash, Asian-style. Later I am joined by a kiwi couple and a boy from France. Two Swedish lads are camping outside. They have walked 30kms today and they are pretty shattered. They have also forgotten to bring any insect repellent with them and their legs are covered in sand fly bites.

Day 4

The path starts off across open moorland, with shallow rivers and streams. The whole area is quite reminiscent of parts of Dartmoor.

View from the track

River

Then the path climbs into a small enchanted forest, where the moss and lichen hang down from the tree branches and there are surely fairies and pixies hiding just out of sight.

Enchanted forest

After this a 'shoe tree' marks the return to open ground. This is a dead tree trunk decorated with abandoned footwear. There are old walking boots, with their soles hanging off, but also flip flops and the occasional high heel. If I had known about it, it would surely have been worth carrying 1 ridiculous shoe to add to the display.

Shoe tree

As the path climbs again there are stunning views back across the moorland. The path begins to get relatively busy this afternoon and about 40 people pass me going in the opposite direction. These are people who started the walk from the opposite end from me on Boxing Day.

Moorland view

4 ½ hours after leaving Saxon Hut, I arrive at my final and highest hut of the walk. This is Perry Saddle Hut, situated at 850m and all 22 beds, plus the camping ground will be full tonight. The stream water here is too cold for me to get right in and even with much gasping I can only manage to wash parts of me at a time.

Perry Saddle Hut

Inside Perry Saddle Hut

Karen and Jim arrive here tonight too, so we swap stories about our experiences on the walk - the highs, the lows and the people we have met.

Karen and Jim

Day 5

Karen, Jim and I are going to be picked up by the bus at 11.30 and it’s 5 hours of walking, so we make an early start and walk together. Fortunately everyone else at the hut has the same idea, so breakfast time is a hive of activity as everyone packs up to head off, with most people going in the opposite direction from us. The path is in the bush again and goes gradually downhill the whole way, with occasional views to more open country.

View back to Perry Saddle

Panoramic view

Taking a rest

Although it is not steeply downhill, the gradient puts pressure on sore feet and toes and we are all rather foot-sore. The final part of the track winds through beautiful meadow land as we near the Brown River and our final destination.

Meadow land

The end of the Heaphy Track

I am tired, with aching feet and shoulders, but I feel proud to have completed my first New Zealand tramp and lucky to have experienced such a beautiful environment in perfect weather.

The bus arrives and disgorges another 22 people to start the tramp before taking us back to the civilisation that is Nelson in 3 hours. These guys will not be so lucky - the waether is set to change to heavy rain tomorrow. When I’m back in the hostel I prioritise washing myself, washing my clothes, having a proper meal, Skyping Kate and sleeping. I intend to take it easy over the next few days until the New Year. That gives me plenty of time to plan my next challenge. I wonder what that will be?