I’ve got 4 days of leave of which the first 3 are supposed to have good weather, on the West Coast at least. So I left Christchurch early in the morning to make a close to 4 hour drive to Waiuta, an old abondened mining village and there are still some remnants left
Like this, the Miners’ Bathhouse, with still some machinery in there
And this used to be the foundation of something, I read it all on the signs but can’t remember now what it was exactly
I think this used to be the pub
Anyway, time to walk the track to Big River Hut, the first part of the track is just following the road for a bit, it should however be a proper 4WD road, which this road is not. I wonder if I’m on the right track?
Ah, I was wrong! This is where the track actually starts, a little further from the previous photo and indeed with a proper 4WD track, which I might drive the next time I’m here
The track itself is mostly under canopy cover, so all in shade and pretty wet since most of the track faces south
The track is well maintained and easy to follow
There’s some interesting stuff to see occasionally
But mostly it’s just following the orange markers
Which takes you through some cool places like this
And over bridges
Past waterfalls
More mining remnants and a Battery Site, I have no idea what that is supposed to be so I take the 5 minute detour to find out
This leads me to this little clearing, is thie the Battery Site?
I continue the track
I must be getting near the top of the track
Indeed, and finally I get to see some sky again, it’s not much further to the hut now
Me at the hut, glad I made it, I even booked this one as the DOC website said I should but there were only 2 others in the hut that sleeps 20 people so I won’t be booking again unless it looks like it’s going to be busy
View from the hut down to where the 4WD track ends, some hunters are camping there and having a BBQ and undoubtedly a beer or two
The Big River Hut catching the last sunrays of the day, a good day with lots of sun and a nice hike
A map of today’s hike, starting low at the bottom left and going to top right, the track was 13.5 km and took me 3 hours and 45 minutes including a short break
Hi Edwin. This is Leah and we used to work together for a short period of time, sorry I know it’s a bit weird for me to post here. Didn’t have a chance to properly talk to you since you left, and I found your blog while I was trying contact you. If you don’t mind maybe write me an email at leahsun7@gmail.com? By the way I am really into hiking recently.