The Heaphy.

The Heaphy track has been closed to mountain bikes for 16 years. A sustained effort by interested groups and individuals has resulted in the Department of Conservation (DOC) running a three year trial whereby bikes are allowed to ride the track between the 1st of May and the 30th of September during daylight hours. The latter restriction is designed to protect the Kiwis from 26 or 29 inch wheels.

I had this trip on my list of 'must be done' adventures but didn't plan to do it until next winter. That is until I received an invitation by text from Iain Lawson late on a Wednesday night. Iain, Joy Skilton and Graham Slow had been trying to do the ride for the previous two weekend but seriously adverse weather had caused them to postpone. The fourth member of their party could no longer make it on this particular weekend so I was offered a place. A bit of shuffling of some work stuff was necessary but I was in the game. The plan was to enjoy the ride over three days leaving from Karamea and finishing on the Eastern side. An overnight stop at the 'Old Nurses Home' backpackers in Reefton saw us on our way to a fine late breakfast at the Last Resort in Karamea.

The weather forecast was perfect for the next three days, we sorted out our gear and food and were on the bikes by midday. About 3 minutes into the expedition Iain spotted a sign that said that hut booking documentation must be carried and promptly returned to the car! We only had 16kms to cover to the Heaphy hut so we took the opportunity to take many photographs. The way that the west coast bush meets the sea is always spectacular.

Any possibility of a cruisy start is blown out of the window as the track rears up over Kohaihai Bluff then down to Scotts Beach, the scenes are idyllic with Nikau palms and golden granite contrasting the lush green of the bush. The Nikau palm is the only palm species native to mainland New Zealand. The cameras are doing overtime, thank goodness for digital photography. A couple of detours onto the beach are necessary which could provide more than a bit of excitement at high tide. This really is a beautiful piece of mountain biking. Two hours after leaving the car the track emerges onto the front lawn of the Heaphy hut (28 bunk) where a friendly DOC warden greets us. This is quite some place to spend your winter!

After reserving bunks and making a couple of brews Graham launches into hunter gatherer mode and is seen heading for the lagoon brandishing a telescopic rod and reel. The rest of us follow him down a bit later but don't find the evening meal lying on the beach. Apparently there is cellphone coverage out on the beach in case there is a need to contact anyone or a desperate urge to get onto social networking.

A pleasant night in a cosy half full hut leads us into the biggest day of our trip. The tramping sign indicates that it is a six hour walk to the James Mackay hut (26 bunk), given that most of this is uphill it is hard to estimate the implication for mountain bikes. I doubt if DOC would ever dare to give estimated times for mountain biking as I suspect there is a much bigger wider spectrum of riding speed than walking speed.

The first hour of riding winds through the bush alongside the Heaphy river. There were a few muddy bits which just provided extra interest. I have however heard of parties completing this section with much of it spent up to the knees in water! The wire suspension bridges are quite a challenge with a bike and it is worth fording the river if it is safe to do so. At the end of this section lies the Lewis Hut (20 bunk) and the start of a 900m climb.

After a refreshment stop Graham takes the opportunity to shoot off on his own. This turns out to be a reasonable strategy as on a long climb it is often nice to settle into your own pace. The first half of the climb is comfortably rideable but after that I kept finding places where I had to hop off, increasingly so until about 2kms from the hut. Riding the other way with gravity on your side I think it would all be rideable. I hasten to add that I am not a 'technical' rider and tend to err on the safe side when carrying a pack six hours walk from a road end.

Arrival at the hut yields an amazing view back out to the morning's start point. The beach at the Heaphy river mouth is clearly visible. The bonus is that Graham has made use of the 90 seconds he arrived ahead of me to get the brews on. Our car key swap team from Nelson are also present so the logistics are slotting into place. News from the other parties is that the next section is muddy and tricky in places so after a few photos and some more tiffin we head off.

The information proved to be correct and the next few kms involved some boggy and rocky sections but in a really nice environment. Energy levels were flagging a bit on this section and some magic jelly beans were brought into play. The track rapidly improved where more work has been done and the descent through the bush to the open area before the Saxon Hut was really nice. The Saxon Hut looked full and Joy managed to meet someone she knew, with only 30 minutes until dark we had to press on but the section from here to the Gouland Downs hut was mostly downhill with one river crossing.

The Gouland Downs hut has only 8 bunks so it is a really cosy tramping hut, apparently it's a great place to spot Kiwi after dark but our searches met with no success.

Graham bounced out of bed at about 6am and got the fire and the brews going so we were only waiting for it to get light before starting the days riding. The next section to Perry saddle was a very pleasant but in places rocky, uphill ride. I decided to go ahead and get the tea ready at the hut, it's really nice doing a ride like this with no time pressure whatsoever.

Just after the others arrived at Perry Saddle Hut a group of three turned up who were just starting their trip. It's a long climb up from Brown Hut (18kms) so they looked a bit warm! Their apparent leader strutted into the hut 'balls first' and announced that they had to be in Karamea for a helicopter at 3pm. The presumption seemed to be that we were interested in his schedule. He followed this by asking if we were taking four days for the ride. On a good day you couldn't give him three out of ten for social skills.

This scenario is described here because I feel that if biking access to the track is ever questioned it is likely to be due to bad manners from the riders who are on the one day quest and not giving way to others.

Following this encounter there was nothing left to do but cruise down the 18Km descent to Brown Hut and the other car. Lunch in Takaka, car swap in Murchison and the drive home. Well done to Graham for doing all the driving. No mean feat.

Wharfedale Track - Mountain Bike Trip

After talking about getting out and doing this track for many years, it finally happened on Sunday . This is touted as the best and longest stretch of single track in Canterbury - curving through the beech forests around Mount Oxford.







The complete loop is 75kms and takes around 7 hours. This is the most logical trip but if you're just into technical single track then the out and return trip to the saddle or huts (3 and 5 hours respectively) will be a more satisfying jaunt.

There were only two of us on this trip, myself and Andrew Trevelyan who has better single track skills than me so I was somewhat apprehensive as I seem to know a lot of people who have only done this ride once.

We adopted the normal plan of parking in Oxford to get the 10km road section done at the start. You ride west through the town and after 10km turn right into Woodstock Road. Continue until you hit Perhams Road where an AA sign indicates the start of the Wharfedale Track.
Spin up the road, opening and closing some gates on the way (always leave them as you find them). You'll eventually reach a car park at the road end. Cross the stile and enter the single track section.

Neither of us regarded ourselves as having much above average fitness so we were keeping the heart rate down with the prospect of seven hours in the saddle ahead.
The single track winds up through the forest to the saddle, I found most of it rideable but at one point managed to tumble off the track down a steep bank into the bush. This increased my caution as any serious injury once a couple of hours into the ride would be rather inconvenient. When in the backcountry on a mountain bike it can be easy to forget that the two hours you have just ridden is a very long walk in the event of a serious 'mechanical' or injury.

The descent form the saddle to the Wharfedale Hut is good fun with some quite tricky parts and some unrideable parts (for me). The area around the hut seemed to be some kind of sandfly meeting place so we didn't loiter. If you are just into single track you could return from here via the same route.

We took over 3 hours to get to the Wharfedale Hut but if you started at the car park it would be less. Personally, at this point I was happy to move onto 4WD track and relax a bit!

The route from here follows the Townshend river before joining the gravel road near the bridge over the Ashley river. Two decent hills are then negotiated before a quick few kms on the road back into Oxford. Despite the fatigue this section is very scenic with the spectacular Ashley Gorge far below.

All in all this was a very satisfying day out with a good balance of tricky stuff and pleasant scenic riding.

Mount Binser.

The 14th of December had been in the diaries of everyone concerned for about two months. It is actually very impressive that a boys day out could be pulled off so close to Christmas, with all the usual activities that are on the go. What was even more impressive was that the weather forecast was very good.














This particular tramp was my idea as I'd looked at Mount Binser several years ago while biking up the Poulter river valley and thought the views from the summit must be superb. This could bring blame or praise depending on how the day panned out.
We left town at 0700, with myself Jason, Alistair and Richard, Alistair was so keen we found him halfway down Bowenvale Avenue before we got to his house. Just warming up. The pleasant 90 minute drive took us to just beyond Mt. White bridge and the DOC sign indicating the track to Binser Saddle (see map above). A quick sort out and application of DEET saw us under way. The weather was warm, still and overcast. Perfect tramping conditions.




















The walk to the saddle took 90 minutes at a steady pace, it was actually a bit steeper than I expected from looking at the map.




















From the saddle about 500m of bush bashing was required to emerge onto the open hillside. No route was obvious and the bush was very dense in places. There was actually a very nice clearing on the sadlle which would make a nice campsite with water available nearby.












The hillside above was really quite steep and after a lunch stop it was a fairly gruelling couple of hours up to the first peak at 1753m. Al was suffering a wee bit on this section (something about an overdose of Tiger beer two nights before) but kept going well. Richard as usual was bounding ahead untroubled by the gradient. Jason did a great job of providing moral support for Al.












A brief stop for food and water and we were off along the ridge towards the next peak at 1831m. The ridge looked very 'interesting' but proved to be fine. Steep drops to the West and fractured rock would make it unpleasant in a strong wind.




















This section was negotiated in about 45 minutes and was very reminiscent of Scotland.












From the top of the peak at 1831m we could see the summit of Mount Binser and also the car a long way below. maybe we should start talking in feet as Mount Binser is over 6000 feet.




















There were also a couple of remaining snow patches on the next section.




















Al may have been slightly hypoxic at this point as he started waving his arms around and making strange finger signals.




















One thing that is really great on a day trip is the small pack that you have to shoulder. The final grunt up to the summit of Mount Binser (1860m) really made my legs hurt. Richard refused to stop so I just managed to stay with him in a completely non competitive way.








The 360 degree views from this summit are amazing. I took some panaoramas which I will post on my Zenfolio site (http://petedawson.zenfolio.com/ ) as the blog format does not work with them.








Three handsome chaps!!!

The descent down the SW ridge looked straightforward but it is a continuous 1200m steep down. My quads were still sore on the following Thursday. As we started the descent I asked Jason and Richard to hurry so I could get a shot of Al without their upper bodies only in the shot.












Jason commented in his own way on my request that he get out of the photo. (_!_) to you too mate :-)












Arrival at the Mt. White road still left us with a 4km walk and jog along the road. That made it an 8.5 hour day. A beer and steak and chips in the Springfield pub rounded it off nicely.

The Molesworth Muster.

The Molesworth Muster is an annual 80km mountain bike event that starts at the Cobb Cottage on the Molesworth Station. The start is situated 80kms into the backcountry behind Hanmer Springs, home of the famous hot pools. To compete in the event it is necessary to travel in the night before and camp at the station. This is usually a very cold night. The route follows the original road used to muster the cattle from the station out to Hanmer Springs. The first 7km of the ride is undulating and windy gravel road, just enough to get you warmed up for the first climb, Wards Pass. You then descend off Wards Pass and take on 7km of flat riding across Isolated Flat which is exactly as its says – flat and isolated. At the end of this you begin the gradual climb up onto Isolated Saddle. From here on there is a superb combination of undulating and winding road, with moderate and small hill climbs and some flat sections. At this point you are riding beside the beautiful Acheron River. At approximately 56km, just past the historic Acheron Accommodation House the Acheron converges with the Clarence River, which is followed until the Jollies Pass turnoff. The final climb is 4kms up Jollies Pass followed by the steep descent and a short ride on the flat to the finish at the Hanmer Springs Forest Camp.
This year I had decided to take the soft option and act as support driver for the Blackwells Holden Team and another friend John 'I will never shave my legs' Phillips. My son Chris was coming along for the experience!
The rendezvous was at a rental house in Hanmer. Here we abandoned (lovingly said "Goodbye"!)the rest of our families, it did not bode well as it was tipping it down with snow. Fortunately this soon cleared up and we were under way. At this point I was alittle intimidated to be driving a van with a big trailer on rough roads when the van contained two car mechanics a parts expert and an ex power boat racer. Somehow it felt like a driving test.

The journey in passed without event and we were soon stuck into erecting our tents. All of us that is except John who was jumping up and down at the back of the trailer saying "****", "****", "****".

Hmm.....not good. Some very gentle interrogation revealed that John was in possesion of his wife Kathy's suitcase as opposed to his own. No tent, no sleeping bag, no cycling clothes but lots of ladies' stuff, even a hairdryer. The situation was actually far too serious for us to take the mickey at this point. In the absolute middle of nowhere we thought there was no chance of rectifying the situation. John and Mark went off to speak to the organisers. John had figured that if there was any possibility of contacting the girls in Hanmer it may just be possible to get his gear into an incoming vehicle.


Meanwhile the rest of us got on with erecting the tents. Barry was in possession of the biggest tent and was in danger of ending up with a hypothermic John in with him. Also, Kevin was harbouring a dirty little secret. Unbeknown to the rest of his team he had made a late chain replacement and was having some difficulty with the gear shifting on his bike. John returned looking slightly happier, it turned out that the St. John's ambulance crew were in possession of a satellite phone and contact had been made with the ladies wine drinking team in Hanmer. They were under orders (or maybe they had been pleaded with) to get the case into any car heading for Molesworth. They were up against it as the gate locking time was fast approaching.
Back at camp, the pasta was on and plans to get John through the night were hatched. It was also decided that he should if necessary ride in some of Kathy's gear from the suitcase. John was now actually smiling as there was a slim chance he may get his stuff. A couple of helicopters passed overhead and I could hear the cogs turning with thoughts of "How much?"!! When quizzed the next day John admitted that he had been seriously considering this possibility.
The evening meal was scoffed and the riders started last minute bike checks and attached race numbers. There was some obsession over tyre pressures. Chris was lapping it up and asking questions about all the different types of suspension. At 7pm Chris and I went down for the drivers briefing, all quite simple, be out of there by 7am or go the long way round via Blenheim. Ok, that's a 5 hour drive at least, no way we're missing that cut off time. At 8:30pm we went down to see if John's bag had arrived. Incredibly it had. We didn't meet the guys who brought it in but reports from Dee and Kathy implied that they had no trouble stopping a car. John was a happy bloke! We gave him some help with his tent. Actually we put his tent up for him after he asked "Why are there two parts to it?".

Meanwhile Kevin was testing his gears and saying nothing.

The night is always cold at Molesworth at this time of year so a few brews later and we were all tucked up our pits. I slept in as much gear as I last used at 21,000ft. in the Himalayas. No joke! Chris woke me at 5am and people were up and about. Up and thawing out is a better description. The gang were huddled round the gas stove keeping warm. Everyone was a bit nervous, even Kevin who has done every edition of the Muster. Being a driver is easy, bit of an adventure without the suffering, but also without the satisfaction in Hanmer. Chris was very impressed as all the tents were covered in frost. The time goes quickly at this point and before we knew it and after the horrors of the dreaded portaloos, Chris and I were on the road. For the record I have to state that on the way out I drove just like Sebastien Loeb or at least Sebastien Loeb in a Mazda van with a trailer. It must have been the lack of pressure or maybe the lack of 400kgs of guys and bikes? In two hours were drinking coffee back in the house in Hanmer. Actually we were being interrogated, "How did he react?", "Did he swear?" etc....

Race reports are a bit limited I'm afraid due to not actually being on a bike. However we were at the finish to see the first riders come in at around 2:30. That is 2.5 hours not 2:30pm, an incredible time. It took us 2.5 hours to drive in. Allright say no more......

John was the first of our guys to finish in 3:13, a real solid effort, this was good enough to get him third in the Vet 2 category. We are talking hardware now. My mobile rang shortly after that with a call from Mark who was sitting at the top of the final descent. He and John had worked together so Mark would have had the same time if he had been riding individually. The rules in the Molesworth Muster say that all members of a team must finish together. Barry joined Mark a bit later with the news that Kevin had been having bad problems with his chain and was possibly still some way away. Eventually Mark and Barry rode down to the finish as they were getting cold and fortunately Kevin arrived shortly thereafter. The team has achieved placings in other years but unfortunately it was not to be this year.
The really cool thing about this race is that it finishes in a town with thermal springs....and cafes, and shops, and mini golf, and pizza etc... In fact, an entry ticket to the pools is included in the race pack.
All that remained was the prizegiving and a relaxing evening in Hanmer. As usual talk turned to next year and the times that could be possible. I tried to convince John that shaving his legs is worth 15 minutes but I'm not sure that it worked. John received a nice medal for his efforts, everybody was pleased for him as the mental scars from 4th place in the six hour blast were still fresh. Another 4th would have been hard to take.

Mount Somers Track.

Winter is here. It has been more than six months since the Cass-Lagoon Saddle trip and once again the impetus for this jaunt has come from Alistair. The core cast remains the same but there are two new additions in the form of Jeff and Andrew. There is also increased complexity in the plot as both Jason and my self cannot complete the entire performance. Jason cannot do an overnighter due to some constraint imposed by one of his children’s birthday party. Meanwhile I cannot make the first act due to coaching duties in the intense cauldron of Mainland Football’s 11th grade Junior competition.

Due to my absence from the first part of the trip all words up until the rendezvous of the main party with myself form a work of fiction.











The main party left Jason’s house at approximately 0830. I can confirm this because of the cell phone call from Richard asking if I am definitely going to come. At the time I was pumping up footballs and deep in contemplation of the merits of 4-4-2 versus 4-3-3.
After the car shuttle, the team are all pent up and ready to go at Sharplin Falls car park. From the car park the route follows the track over the bridge and through beech forest to Duke Knob (739 m). This section is quite demanding, involving a steep climb. Reports from Andrew indicate that there were some very high steps required in muddy terrain. These were not his exact words. By all accounts at this point Jeff was happily dreaming about the contents of his pack. On from Duke Knob the track follows Bowyers Stream eventually crossing the bridge to the true right bank and on up to Pinnacles Hut.
Pinnacles Hut is named after the rock formations on the northern face of Mt Somers, formed by the cooling of very hot sticky lava flows some 90 million years ago. Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Jason who was making the return trip to Sharplin Falls car park. Onwards and upwards for the rest.
The track from the hut follows the markers through tussock and sub-alpine scrub up to Mt Somers saddle (1170 m). It is a steady climb to the saddle, which is about midway along the track. The views from the saddle are a superb vista of the Taylor and Old Man ranges.








Meanwhile back at Woolshed Creek after a tense 2-1 win over Woolston Technical and a hasty drive from Christchurch to Mount Somers I was busy trying to make my pack as heavy as possible. This wasn’t really intentional but I was feeling a bit guilty for taking the ‘soft’ option so had brought a fair amount of camera gear. I then discovered that I had my iPod in the glove box so I had to carry that too. The current rate of break ins in remote car parks is sad but real. The sign said 3hrs to Woolshed Creek hut. The intentions book said that a party of 14 scouts were ahead of me.

It’s a beautiful walk up the steep incline to the disused mine workings.


















The gusty NW wind makes taking photos tricky. It’s worth the effort as the light is quite nice.















Despite a lot of fiddling about with camera and tripod the walk to the hut is only 1.5 hours. There seems to be a bit of an error here on the signed 3hours, DOC times are normally quite realistic.
The hut is a serious palace.

Brand new, but looking a bit full with scouts everywhere. I grabbed a bunk then set off to meet the guys coming the other way. After crossing Woolshed Creek and Morgan Stream I came across a sign indicating a short side-trip down to the creek to view some interesting water carved rock features referred to as 'caves'. Twenty minutes later I spotted some people descending the valley from the saddle.
Meeting another group who have had a much tougher day than your self is quite odd. The boys didn’t seem too talkative and had clearly had a hard day. They were definitely happy to learn that the hut was only 20 minutes away but not so happy to hear that it was full of young lads!!

We managed to grab the whole of a top bunk to ourselves and began the serious task of feeding and rehydration. The group of scouts looked suitably impressed as Jeff pulled out four cans of Bourbon and Coke.

What really impressed them though was the second pack of four cans that he subsequently removed from his pack. Richard seemed to be carrying about 40kgs and proceeded to disgorge half the contents of a supermarket from his pack. Al had insisted on fresh produce only for the meal and Richard had obliged. The only slight snag was that the fresh chicken was frozen solid!! Al quite rightly pointed out that seeing that it was already dark (at 5:30pm) there wasn’t much else to do but cook for the next few hours. Fair point really.

A wee pasta starter was served by myself before Al and Richard got into the serious culinary effort.

Meanwhile Jeff and Andrew were re-hydrating and I was fiddling around with camera and flash.

Several cans of Carlsberg later the main course of satay chicken was served.

Bedtime came early at 9pm after all the beverages were consumed. Richard, Andrew and I ended up sleeping in the kitchen as the bunk rooms were incredibly hot.

Morning brought fine but cooler weather, Richard took the opportunity to wear a hat that he is not allowed to wear at home.














After several brews we took the time to back track and explore the water caves off the side of the main track.

It’s an interesting feature but not terribly spectacular.

The choice of routes back to the car was discussed and Jeff and Andrew were keen on the normal route via the miners track.

Richard, Al and myself were keen to take the Bus Stop Overhang route. This route crosses a great swing bridge then climbs steeply onto the shoulder of Mount Somers before traversing to the top of the Rhyolite Ridge track which descends steeply to the car park. This route took us about 2.5 hours, boggy in places but with superb views. Jeff and Andrew had not been waiting long. We finished off the weekend with a beer in the blue pub at Methven.