John, who was kind enough to use his car to get us all there, quickly made himself some makeshift walking poles

Group photo from left to right: John, Rick, Sol(omon), Kristoff, me

I keep hoping someone loses his balance and falls/steps into the little stream we are constantly crossing (wet feet, haha!) but alas, it doesn’t happen

Up and up

Almost there, Rick!

The Bush Line

Rick and Sol, such adventurers! From the Bush Line you can continue to the East Ahuriri River which is another hour

We do indeed continue (but won’t go all the way to the East Ahuriri River)

View towards the Ahuriri

We are in NZ so somewhere there has to be a fence that serves no purpose

This is how far we went before returning, just far enough to give us a view towards the Ahuriri

I was missing on the previous photo so asked Kristoff to take this one of me

Sol with his ‘Edelweiss’, so happy!

Sol single-handedly preventing this tree from falling over, hero!

I’ve been here before a few times, it has changed quite a bit after some storm I believe, so sad

So dangerous!

Giving the ludicrous NZ housing prices this ‘Townhouse with potential, looking for a new and loving owner’ would likely still sell for half a million

André (of Dutch descent) trying to cross this little stream without getting wet feet

The highest point of the Canyon Creek Route, from left to right: Jeff, John, André, me, Carl

The view north, further up the creek, we decide to walk down there as well

This is next to that grassy bit in the previous photo, Carl starting to wonder if he shouldn’t be flying

Another group photo, Mt Barth in the distance

Further upstream, Carl and André have already returned and Jeff is taking a refreshing soak in the river somewhere

Which leaves just John and me to go as far north as here, I’ve been here before

On the way back, at the highest point again, Barrier Range looking great

This is where we’ll soon be walking through again, back to the car

A last photo of Jeff and John before we arrive back to the car where we wondered why Carl and André weren’t there (they got lost and despite returning to the car an hour before Jeff, John and I did, they arrived about an hour later, awesome display of navigation skills!)

Map and height profile of today’s hike (12.1 km)

Luckily the weather is improving

We went to Lake Hawea, to see how far north we can get on the eastern side of it, this is in Gladstone

The wind is picking up again

Time to cook some lunch, the boot of the car provides the necessary shelter from the wind

We drove the Dingle Burn Station Road until we reached a compulsory parking spot, from where we decided to walk further

The McKerrow Range on the left, normally I fly there, the landscape is spectacular

On our way back to the car park

The view south from pretty much where the Timaru High River Track meets the road

Looking towards Breast Hill

The Te Araroa Trail goes through those mountains, one day I’ll walk that trail!

Pisa Range in the background

One more photo of Lake Hawea

Ok, two

And then we are off to the Old Town in Cromwell

Golden hour and dark blue cloudy skies

Perfect lighting for photos

Hours later, we finally made it to the Ahuriri Valley that I wanted to show Rachel as I think it’s a stunning valley

Now that I have a 4WD I can baldly (pun intended) go where I didn’t go before, though what you see in the photo was too steep, I went around it

We parked the car at the very end of the Birchwood Road and set out with our backpacks to walk the Canyon Creek Route for an overnight trip, it’s a bit gloomy today

Rachel working her way up the hill through the woods

At the summit, time for rest

Enjoying the view and a well deserved rest (Jasper will remember this place), Barrier Range in the background

Huxley Range ahead of us, that’s where we’re headed

Lots of walking today

Lots of people must have enjoyed a nice campfire here, not us though, we need to keep moving, still a lot of ground to cover

At the very very very end of the track we finally found a few square meters of flat grassy ground where we could pitch the tent, it will soon be dark and we’re hungry, the views are amazing!

Enjoying a curry

My 4×4 really proved its worth in this valley

Very close near the start of the track, looking back at the Barrier Range

Looking up, it doesn’t seem far, they even say it’s only 2.5 hours to the hut on the other side, I doubt it

Higher up the mountain, looking back in the direction of Omarama

On top of the ridge, glad I made it. It’s downhill from here on. Highlander Peak in the background, if you’d follow that valley all the way up you’d end up at a beautiful icy lake that I’ve often photographed when flying there on the Huxley Range

A little lower on the Dingle Burn side, the valley floor becoming visible

The track down is steep! It won’t be long before I make it to the valley floor. Leaning Mount across the valley

Close to the forest, looking south in the direction the Dingle Burn flows

Out of the forest, looking north

I decided to have a quick look at the Top Dingle Hut and decide to camp instead of staying at the hut

I look ridiculous with that hat, I need to find me something that looks cooler than this

A new morning

It has been raining for hours, luckily it has stopped so I can quickly have some breakfast (One Square Meal) and pack up my tent, I’m afraid the rain will come back

For a little while the sun shines but there’s still a lot of cloud drifting this way

But, for now it’s looking good, especially to the south

Isn’t this a beautiful place to camp?

I decide to head back and not explore the rest of the valley, I didn’t bring a waterproof jacket and want to avoid the rain I think is heading this way, so it’s up through the forest again and it’s again very steep, causing me to stop often and catch my breath

Above the forest, it seems I was right about the rain, it’s definitely raining further south and quickly approaching

On the top of the ridge again, it’s drizzling, in fact it has been for the last 20 minutes, yuk

It’s looking better on the Ahuriri Valley side again, clouds but no rain

Yay! My car is still there, and it has got some Diet Coke waiting in there for me. Choice!

Looking back north from about halfway up the Ahuriri valley, Barrier Range on the right, Huxley Range in the far distance

Looking towards the Diadem Range

Ben Avon

I left right on time, it’s now raining where I had my car parked. Anyway, this was a beautiful hike!