As I announced in my last post, I was going to hike for a few days in the Nelson Lakes National Park. My plan was to do the Travers-Sabine Circuit, with the first night in the Lake Angelus Hut and a side trip to Blue Lake.
Since the weather was absolutely horrible and I had to make a booking for Angelus Hut, I started last Friday. My pack was very heavy, as I planned on 7 days of tramping, but the first day along Robert Ridge was absolutely stunning.
From the car park, the track went nearly straight up through a beech forest, but the view over Lake Rotoiti and the small village of Saint Arnaud made it absolutely worth it.
The trail continued along the ridge and over several saddles, which made for some exhausting hiking.
Especially the numerous lakes and tarns always got my hopes up, that the hut couldn’t be that far anymore. Sadly those hopes got crushed every time I went across a saddle and saw the trail going on and on.
But after around 5 hours, I got to the final saddle and could see the hut. It was a relieving sight, that was certainly very welcome.
I had a lovely evening in the fully booked hut and was excited for the next week of tramping.
The weather had sadly other plans.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, you couldn’t even see the lake from the hut.
Since the route over Cedric Saddle and Mt. Cedric towards Sabine Hut required good weather, I had to improvise and go down to Speargrass Hut. But that also meant that I was now one day behind schedule.
The next day was a rather big contrast, as there was no cloud in the sky at all.
So I made my way towards Sabine Hut, which is situated right next to Lake Rotoroa.
I was excited to push on towards Blue Lake the next day, but as it happened before, the weather turned. Since a storm front was forecasted, I decided to backtrack to Speargrass Hut, and out to Mt. Robert car park the next day.
The trail back out was rather uneventful, but very muddy, so I was relieved to get to the car park. I took one guy from Colorado, who I met in Speargrass Hut, with me to Saint Arnaud, as he was traveling via hitchhiking alone.
I am a little bit sad, that I couldn’t see Blue Lake and Travers Saddle, but that also gives me a reason to come back to New Zealand in a few years and maybe do the Te Araroa. But that is at least 3 years in the future.
After I got to the campsite and took a long, hot shower, I drove to Westport today.
I plan on spending the next couple of days touring down the Westcoast, before I make my way towards Arthurs Pass.
But that is a topic for the next blog post, which will contain pictures of the Pancake Rocks, as well as glaciers.
Until then,
Cheers!
Max Abbe 