Wednesday 6th May A short breakfast was followed by breaking camp, and we were on the trail again by 8am. Not that there was a trail, just a ridge to follow, a woodland which seemed to have been recently burnt out. Almost no undergrowth at all, just masses of dead branches and leaves and evidence of burnt vegetation. Huge trees had obviously been utterly reduced to ashes, leaving long pale shapes where their trunks had been incinerated, and strange, empty holes in the ground, with radiating tunnels showing the layout of the destroyed root system. We soon came upon Rigby Lookout, which we had seen on the map and had made for despite it being a slight detour. It was early in the day and small detours did not daunt us. The lookout was beautiful; vast conglomerate blocks forming a vertiginous cliffline.   From the lookout we made our way along a generally flat terrace, with the woodland becoming prettier as the signs of fire faded away. It was an excellent area to walk through, even if it was very difficult to get to. Soon we came upon blazes which indicated our path, which was helpful and comforting, though they came and went with some frequency, either through our straying from the correct path or the sporadic placement of the markers.  Eventually we reached the end of this level terrace, and having ascertained the correct spur to descend (after some small confusion) we proceeded to drop down towards the Kowmung. It was fairly steep, but quite easy going as for almost the whole distance we were provided with a clear path to follow. The exception to this came at the base of the hill, where the path either petered out or we lost it. Either way we found it necessary to navigate a course through thick patches of briars interspersed with tall crops of stinging nettles. It was awkward and frustrating and in stark contrast to the easy morning. Nonetheless we made it to the Kowmung – a beautiful sight! A pristine mountain river, broad but shallow, with clear, flowing water. I stripped and proceeded to enjoy the burning chill of the water.  A hearty lunch was followed by coffee and chocolate – very civilised! Soon enough, however, our packs were back on and we made our way along the Kowmung. This section was pleasant, very much so at times, but fairly unremarkable. We encountered a quiescent red belly black snake  Another flying fox crossed the river here, and though now wholly law-abiding we were still unable to avail ourselves of its services. A brief walk along the river then brought us to the base of the Gingra Trail, where we had initially planned to set up camp. It being only 2:30pm, however, we decided to press on up the ridge. As the day to come was to be long and absolutely without hope of water for much of it, we filled all of our available containers and vessels with water. Michael filled his billy in addition to his bottles, and my water bladders were supplemented by the volume allowed by Trangia kettle and pot. It was really rather hilarious, trudging along with pails of sloshing water in either hand and an enormously heavy pack on my back, and I went very slowly. We managed to ascend to a level knoll and were delighted to find a pleasant campsite, which we occupied with great alacrity. The sun being soon to set behind the Te Willa Range, we hastened to make our first properly cooked meal of the trip – tuna, rice and tomato for Michael and beancurd, beans, cashews and fungus on cous cous for me. A hearty meal was enjoyed by us both. Walking time: 8am to 3:30pm (minus breaks) Casualties of the day: some minor encounters with stinging nettles. |