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Travelogue 2, in which we trek along the Rees/Dart track, suffering mud, rain, raging torrents and sandflies.

hello beloveds,

thanks for all the loving email replies to my travellog. it encouraged me to go on as i wasn't sure if it is of any interest to you.

so here we go:
actually today was supposed to be resting day after the completion of our 5 day Rees Dart Track but things change quickly downunder (eg. the weather) and as we carry our house on our backs it is not such a big deal to change plans.

Setting off
on the Rees-Dart trek

but first some report of a truely exciting tramping experience. we set out on the first day after being dropped off in cloudy weather and walk through wide open plains, cattle grounds. after two hours of trotting along we are approaching the edge of the plains and suddenly we are in swamp city - i mean big time in bog town! -so i have my first encounter with a basic ingredient of nz tramping MUD!and a whole lot of it - actually more than i can handle straight away. i am horrified, can't breathe while my system suffers a major panic attack. everywhere i step i sink in ...jalal make a dash forward and disappears up to his thighs - i am on red alert - he struggles on and i can see more of him. some other hikers come and step through this whole mess undisturbed and that is what i do - just walking, letting go into the sinking feeling - i can tell you all about it :) and after a while the ground gets firmer and i dare to stand still for a moment. there is mud in the boots, in the socks, up my trousers - but i live. most trampers wear gaiters for this areas. they are made of rough plastic and are strapped under your boots and up to your knee. that keeps the mud out and you only get wet feet. so yet another gadget to get.

soon after that i encounter the second obstacle called river crossing. nz landers don't mind getting their feet wet while tramping. they slosh through every stream while the tourist hoop from stone to stone trying to avoid the water eventually slipping off and getting their boots in as well. so we do our first river crossing, meaning walking up to your thighs through water with a current (no baechle). the stronger one goes upstream, holding each others backstraps and doing very little steps at a time - at least all the mud gets washed off in one go. i am getting used to wet socks and wet boots walking it has actually a very pleasant cooling effect and no blisters. when you walk uphill the little puddle is on your heels and downhill your toes swim nicely in the pool. after a 6 hours hike your feet look like you've been in the bathtub too long.:)

Dart hut

as we go along there are plenty of streams to cross and i don't think about wet boots or not. soon a light drizzle starts (so far the weather reports always turned out with exactly the opposite weather) and we climb through a wonderful rainforest up to shelter rock hut - our first overnight stop. the fire is going, the socks hang above it and the boots sit next to it to dry for the next day.

The Upper Rees-Dart

The Upper Rees-Dart

the second day is the crossing of the rees saddle (1477m) which with good weather will treat us with splendid views after all the effort of climbing up the hills. the next morning is clouded and the hut warden puts up the weather report which mentions rains to come - due to my weather report experiences so far i grow optimistic. we start off in a fine drizzle and the closer we get to the ascent the heavier the rain. even with all the rain gear and packcovers we are already drenched. the climp is steep, streams everywhere - i see only water above and below. we cross the saddle with no view and descent down a pretty difficult, but still intensly beautiful track towards the next hut where we planned to stay for two days and take a day trip up to the dart glacier onto the cascade saddle (above 1500m) after 5 hours without stop we are nearly there, wading through more steadily rising streams and suddenly around the bend we are confronted with a raging torrent which needs to be crossed. there we are wet to the bones trying to get our heads around the crossing.

first we wait and get used to the incredible noise of the water carrying all the debris downstream. we try and find the narrowest point to cross and jalal bravely steps into the river and with nothing else but very little steps he reaches the other shore. now it is my turn, once in i can feel the power of the water pushing against my ankles. i hardly lift my feet from the ground and tipple in little japanese steps slowly forward until i reach the shore and jalals waiting hand -- this trip is more than all the groups i ever did :)

we arrive at the hut and there are about 25 other people as wet as we are. an elderly couple is still missing - somebody goes out and finds them at the river and helps them to cross. the hut looks like a laundry room wet things everywhere -- my sleeping bag is wet and about everything which i wear on my body. we take turns at the fire to sit and dry off. it is raining and raining - we might get stuck up here as the streams become inpassable through heavy rains.

The Dart Glacier

next morning it is cloudy and i am grumpy - at least the rain had stopped through the night, so the first trampers set off down the track to the next hut. we can't decide what to do. i don't fancy walking down already, the glacier is in clouds and i don't want to spent the day in the hut. so we go for the english solution: have another cup of tea and see.... while we have this cup of tea, the clouds suddenly open and blue sky and sunshine innocently appear as if it has never rained before. so we head up the glacier onto the saddle, have a wonderful view, take a dip in a glacier lake and all in all have a wonderful enjoyable, sunny daytrip with only a daypack to carry.

The Upper Dart Valley
looking back

next morning we go on to daleys flat, next stop. it is a pleasant tramp through grassy flats and of course streams (tickling along after a day of sunshine) and nice birch forest. daleys hut is famous for its amount of sandflies and it is true there are millions of them. there are two plagues in nz one of them are the sandflies -- tiny little flies who silently suck your vessels empty and leave big blotches. i look like an apple crumble even with insect repellent. - so often the most romantic place turns into sandfly hell after you made yourself comfortable.

Dart valley woodlands

i survive the sandfly attacks at night and next day we hike to the pickup point. it is quite a long walk so we get an early start and walk through the morning mists in a dry riverbed and grassy plains. the weather is still glorious and with the last muesli bar we reach the pickup point and we happily return to glenorchy and pitch our tent on the campside ...
what an adventure. it is late now and i have to tell you the story of today another time.
until then all our love to you
ajara and jalal