Auckland Baptist Tramping Club

The Hurunui High Country Track is one of the increasing number of private tramping tracks across New Zealand, where trampers get the chance to explore the beauty of private farm land. This one is situated in northwest Canterbury not far from Hanmer. Four Club members did this track, surprisingly joined by a fifth member who had booked independently. TUESDAY 8 JANUARY - to Hurunui High Country Track We met at the Cook House, the first overnight stop for the 3-day tramp in the late afternoon. John, the surprise fifth member, was disguised in a wig of long red-brown hair. The first person to recognise him under the clothing would win a prize - this was three CDs of slideshow photos of Dennis the Menace, the Cape Campbell Track and Art Gallery 1. As for John, his mystery was - whom in the tramping club would he meet up with? Sharing the accommodations and the walk with us were three ladies from Christchurch. Although one of them introduced herself to us and we had a good chit-chat, they would value their privacy for the rest of the time. At 7pm co-host Mandy arrived to brief us all for the tramp. We were asked to each sign a declaration that we had read the safety provisions for the trip, and to leave a contact for the closest friend or relative in case of emergency. WEDNESDAY 9 JANUARY - Hurunui Track: Cook House to Valley Camp Hut In true ABTC fashion all heads were off wentilillos at daybreak, and we were away by 7:30am, the aim being to get as much as possible of the tramp done before the heat of the cloudless day set in. The track followed a farm track going up the Dove River valley. After a short while a red marker appeared misleading and we strayed onto a track going up a hill. Our reward for that mistake was seeing a dead cow, so we returned to the marker, and I drew a black arrow on it to indicate to others the correct way. The track then carried on over a hill, and in the distance ahead we could see the Douglas fir pine forest covering an entire hillside. This originated as an experimental state forest in the late 1960s to find ways to prevent the need for pruning the trees. We came to the forest and followed the vehicle track along the base of the hills. This eventually became a bush track and the long grunt through the pines to the top. When we reached the ridge we took a break at a viewpoint. Val for our devotions shared from The Word For Today a true story about how a boy was to give his blood to save his sister from a life-threatening illness. He agreed to do this sacrifice, and afterwards asked the doctor when he would be dying. Val likened this to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins. The track re-entered the forest as a vehicle track, and soon came out at the summit of the whole track, at 750m. There was a panoramic view of the countryside as we enjoyed another short break. An equally strenuous downhill in the hot sun on a vehicle track brought us to our lunch shelter on Gills Block. Waiting for us was a chilly bag provided by our hosts with tea, coffee and one muffin each. Afterwards we followed the Mandamus River through sections of open road and bush track. A final grunt along a farm road in the scorching sun brought us to the Valley Camp Hut early in the afternoon. This was in the style of a typical back-country hut, and across the river was the original musterers’ hut that had been rebuilt by the late Ray Fletcher.

We were asked to check in by radio on arrival at each hut on our tramp, and also to check out in the same manner. We were also asked to be by the radio at 7pm each night for the weather forecast for next day. The VHF radio in each of the two huts was connected to base by a repeater on top of one of the mountains, and operated on a single channel at 160 Mhz. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Val found a secluded spot on the river bank to read a book, Peter spent some time on an uncompleted jigsaw puzzle inside, and Paul and Ruth found an equally secluded spot a little way up the river for some quiet reading.

Peter, the leader of our group, wrote his comment in the visitors’ book, mentioning the three other official group members, and the mystery tramper - John then said that there would be a prize for the one who would send me a text message with the correct answer for the mystery tramper - a day later a group of seven ABTC members would be doing our tramp. The three ladies arrived about 6pm, having got up at 9am and taken their time on the way, trying out a swimming hole not for from the start. They made themselves at home in the old musterers’ hut. We had a game of farkle after dinner. Each player would throw out six dice, and score points on the combinations of numbers that appeared. As the sun went down, so did we to our wentilillos for the night. THURSDAY 10 JANUARY - Valley Camp Hut to Bush Hut The forecast was right, although the sky at sunset did not show it with its absence of cloud. The day dawned overcast, and as we set out about 8:45am, the promised drizzle set in. We returned along the road to the Cricket Pitch, a grassy clearing, then followed the yellow markers on a track winding up into subalpine bush and scrub. The drizzly conditions were a welcome change from the hot sun - although we had to put on our raincoats, there was no wind. Along the way some of the native plants were marked with numbers. We had picked up sheets from the hut explaining these numbers, and we stopped to have a look at the various plants - clubmoss, kanuka, manuka, mingimingi, coprosma and many others. We had a short break at a shelter before carrying on over the summit of the track. The cloud lifted a little to give views down the valley. We descended into the Wilderness Valley, a QE2 covenanted area of native bush. In one place we could see a vehicle below, and what we thought was be the Bush Hut, but this would prove to be false. It was about 1:45pm when we arrived at Bush Hut. This was a small rustic hut that lived up to its name. There was a separate cookhouse, and three large tents set up on platforms, each with beds for two people. Peter and Val had one tent, Paul and Ruth had another tent, and John slept alone in the third tent, leaving the hut for the three ladies to enjoy their privacy. Ruth led our devotions for the day, taking the example of a singer in a choir performing the Messiah just before Christmas. Although the singer may seem insignificant alone, he or she contributes to making an excellent rendition of the choral work. So it is with each one of us. We may feel insignificant, but as a part of Christ’s body, the Church, we with our different giftings and personalities all form this wonderful body. The radio was at the far end of the rustic hut, and we had to check in. The three ladies arrived later in the day. Peter, Val and John went for a walk to see if we could find the spot where we had seen the vehicle. From the hut we followed the access road and after about 20 minutes the Day 3 track joined it. We continued along the vehicle track, crossing the Mandamus River then following it up the river, away from the Day 3 track. Eventually we found a little shed with a buggy inside - evidently the luggage would be transported in a normal vehicle to this shed and transferred to the buggy for the rest of the trip to Bush Hut. This was what we had seen from the Wilderness Valley. On our way back to Bush Hut we decided to follow the Day 3 track - this climbed up to Blue Lagoon. This originally lived up to its name, but in recent years has become murkier with the growth of bush around its edge. From there a bush track led over a hill back to the Bush hut. John slipped and bruised my knee, very painful - once back at the hut and after a hot shower he improvised a second walking pole from a dead branch of manuka, with string for a hand strap, and made a new year resolution to buy a second walking pole and do all my tramping using two poles, as Ruth and Paul do. Practising with the improvised pole after dinner helped to relieve the pain. While we were away Barbara radioed Paul and Ruth from Valley Camp Hut with the answer to the mystery tramper. Her group had thought the tramper was Nelson Young, but when she had been tipped off (by the hosts??) that a wig had been worn, she guessed right! John talked to her later over the radio, and said that he would send her the prize afterwards. As twilight lingered, mouth organ music was wafting around the camp site, believed to originate from the middle one of the three tents. Heads were on wentilillos before the sun went to bed. It was such a cold night, in contrast to the hot sun of the previous day, that at least one person put on a woollen jersey over my jumper and T-shirt, used my raincoat as an extra blanket, and put another cardigan over my head as it was on the wentilillo. FRIDAY 11 JANUARY - Bush Camp to Cook House; out to Christchurch. We decided to sleep in a little and did not get away till about 9:45am. The three ladies were up early and were well and truly gone before we were. John’s knee was still sore so he followed the vehicle track while the others went via Blue Lagoon. As he tramped with two poles, his knee began to feel more comfortable with the exercise, and once over the Mandamus River, wide enough for the buggy but marked One person at a time, the rest of the group caught up with him. We carried on down the valley, and made a stop to listen to Paul explain what Christmas really means. This festival is rich in significance, being the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Emmanuel (God with us), Incarnation (God in human form), Christ (nature of God, His love), an amazing Friend. Christ had wisdom. Jesus also gets angry about men ignoring God. In John 1 God’s Word is described as becoming flesh - behaviour often speaks louder than words. The perfect behaviour of Jesus, the Word made flesh. God as our Father, Jesus our Brother, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Through Jesus we have a purpose and meaning, and He gave us a way to live. Jesus is the perfect Man, the Son of Man in the line of David. He is the Messiah or Christ (anointed one), the Son of God, Lord (most high, reverent, sacred) and Saviour (overcoming our sins, guilt and demons through His death and resurrection). He came on our terms to suffer a cruel despicable death. The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament prophesied the coming of Christ. The track carried on over a hill and we dropped down and suddenly saw the Cook House and surrounding buildings below us. We were just about finished. Soon after we arrived and took off our boots, the three ladies left to go home to Christchurch. They came back soon afterwards, as they had left a bag behind. We had lunch in the dining room to finish off our tramp, and the hosts arrived to collect payment from all of us before taking us in the red van to the historic drinking clinic at Hurunui. Paul and Ruth would stay in the hotel that night, while Peter and Val would go through to Christchurch on the shuttle at 2:45pm, along with John. On arriving at the hotel the host declined an offer of $20 from Peter for taking us into Hurunui.