Bushwalk Australia

Well, all was good with this walk.

Weather was pretty warm and only 3 days rain (including the first day in). We did get some (minor) confirmation to our crap weather magnet status by sucking the cyclone that came over the North Island further south than predicted. It wasn't a problem and never got cold but created enough wind and rain to put us off going up the glacier or out our alternate exit. A few days later the weather was perfect again.

Anyway - as something different here are five short videos of the five passes themselves - these being in the order we did them: Fohn Saddle, Fiery Col, Cow Saddle, Park Pass, Sugarloaf Pass.











I'm happy to share the GPS track for anyone planning to do the walk.

Wow, stunning landscapes.

How does the difficulty compare to Tasmania?

Higher, more snow & ice, similarly unreliable weather, bigger rivers, less scrub. No scrub at all on the high bits, actually.

Sometimes the NZ thing appeals to me. Just not the hut and booking andcrowds part of it.

icefest wrote:How does the difficulty compare to Tasmania?

I can only compare based on this NZ walk - but too me some notable differences vs Tas:

- No scrambling or climbing on this walk but some sustained steep uphills. Doing this on snowgrass was a new experience - I can imagine quite scary if really wet or worse with a little snow over the grass (lots may be ok).
- NZ mud is nothing compared to Tas (At least on this walk).
- Scrub can be thick down low, but much 'kinder' and softer than in Tas. At the end of the walk my legs were almost scratch free - just a day in Australia and I look like I had a fight with a whipper snipper!
- The landscape is so new and changable in NZ compared to Australia - landslides and avalanche paths everywhere. This had practical implications. You walk down a river and there is maybe five types of rock, and of all different ages. So I found it hard to consistently judge how grippy rocks were when rock hopping - all would be good for few kms then hit something older or different composition and swish!
- NZ must have 100 types of tussock. Tussocks were to me what mud is to Tassie. Some you could lose a body in-between. In many parts, the photos look easy, but there is a sense with every step that the ground may not be were you think it should be. Lots of spongy ground of varying give and hidden gaps between tussocks.
- Lots of creek crossings. This was easy for me in drainable shoes but gave my mate in boots a slow down many times.
- I can't comment on the weather as we were really lucky - but have every reason to believe it can be as crazy as Tas (and worse with higher peaks and more southern points).
- Sandflies suck.
- The hills are bigger but we didn't get any of that 'top of the world' feeling you get traversing narrow ridges in parts of Tas. Likely just the walk we were on.
- Kiwi's are nicer than the average Aussie and generally have wicked sense of humour

Otherwise, it was amazing how well the beginning and end of the walk were (where there was track and markers). The Routeburn Track quality is unbelievable - almost wheelchair accessible standard the bit we came out on.

north-north-west wrote:Sometimes the NZ thing appeals to me. Just not the hut and booking andcrowds part of it.

Not huts on this walk and no booking required. We met a couple of DOCS people the first day (They had been choppered in to trap stoats and were walking out) and two other walkers about 3 hrs from completing the walk. They were the only people we saw over the trip until we got to the Routeburn track.

Thank's,

I was thinking about doing 5 passes as my first NZ walk - I don't like the crowds, much like NNW.

I've heard there are some decent rock bivs on the 5 passes track, did you find any of them?
Last question, what shoes did you end up taking?

nq111 wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Sometimes the NZ thing appeals to me. Just not the hut and booking and crowds part of it.

Not huts on this walk and no booking required. We met a couple of DOCS people the first day (They had been choppered in to trap stoats and were walking out) and two other walkers about 3 hrs from completing the walk. They were the only people we saw over the trip until we got to the Routeburn track.

Neat. Now I just have to find the money to get over there. Anyone want to help me rob a bank . . . ?

nq111 wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Sometimes the NZ thing appeals to me. Just not the hut and booking andcrowds part of it.

Not huts on this walk and no booking required. We met a couple of DOCS people the first day (They had been choppered in to trap stoats and were walking out) and two other walkers about 3 hrs from completing the walk. They were the only people we saw over the trip until we got to the Routeburn track.

theres a thousand doc huts in nz, booking only required on the most popular routes on a small percentage of huts... you need to pre purchase hut tickets or a season pass which are valid for all the huts that arent part of the booking system... the no of people you encounter on nz tracks varies massively depending on the track and time of year... plan your trip and you can get a track that has few if any people on it, theres countless thousands of kilometres of tracks here not to mention areas where you can traverse without a marked or cut trail.... two thirds of the south island are mountains and high country. i've spent weeks on trips at xmas holidays and seldom met another person

for cheap flights, pay attention to grabaseat.co.nz deals come up all the time trans tasman, you can get some really good deals between peaks seasons....

Thanks for posting the report on the Five Passes, it is a walk that is on my bucket list.

I have just come back from doing a couple of walks near Wanaka,the first walk we did was the Young-Wilkins (Gillespie Pass), the first night in Young Hut we had the worst snorer that anyone had ever heard, I ended up dragging my mattress into the kitchen area for some peace and quiet, the second night in Siberia Hut the snorer was made by his sons to sleep in the kitchen, though one of his sons snored a bit, on the second night in Siberia Hut we had a group of 12 young Israeli's just out of National Service turn up, the kitchen area was so noisy with 12 people trying to talk at once and over each other that we could not talk to other walkers, they eventually had to be told to quiet down as some of us were leaving early next morning.

On our second walk we spent 3 nights in Aspiring Hut, attempting to do the Cascade Saddle, the first night the hut was very busy with around 30 visitors, the second night we had a snorer in the room so I slept in the main area and early next morning one of the visitors arose early and did an hour of prayer, the third night was also busy and the dorm was noisy and hot, I did not sleep well on any night in the huts.

Some of the reports we had was that Siberia hut which has 20 beds had up to 39 visitors one night, the Siberia Hut warden told us that she has had 49 visitors one night, the same has happened at Aspiring Hut, though it sleeps 38.

Next time in NZ I will take a tent and if the conditions allows I will sleep away from the huts.

Tony

icefest wrote:I've heard there are some decent rock bivs on the 5 passes track, did you find any of them?

Yeah, we found a few (and have GPS marks for some others). I always carry my bomber, heavy 4-season tent in such places (it is my security blanket) so no need to use the bivies. Plus, I had visions of being awoken by swarms of sandflies in the morning - easier for us just to pitch.

This rock bivy is between Park Pass and Theatre Flat - we dubbed it the Lion King because of the commanding view of the valley. The kiwis take good care of the bivies - there is often dry grass spread for a bed and piles of firewood and kindling left to dry.




Plus some of the traditional camping sites are really special and not to be missed e.g.

icefest wrote:Last question, what shoes did you end up taking?

I had the Inov8 Trailroc 245s. They went really well and still have plenty of trips in them. The secret for me is the Swede o tarsal lok ankle braces. Just enough support but flexibility where ever I want it too. I have crap ankles, so shoes are not a viable option for me without these. I would use boots - but light, drainable models that are what I want are rare as rocking horse do-do. So many good options with shoes - just need the extra complexity of the ankle braces.

the huts in aspiring park take the overflow from people who havent been able to get into areas needing booked huts esp in fiordland area. so people move to neighbouring areas.... and aspiring park plan iis to not increase the no or size of huts despite the fact the no of tourists are increasing... its definitely getting worse every year... i used to get a bunk easily with a late booking on the routeburn. but now it ends up getting pretty much booked solid through the busy season plus they nearly doubled the price of huts on the great walks one year which has people casting around for cheaper huts...

Firewood? They let people have campfires in the alpine zones?

north-north-west wrote:Firewood? They let people have campfires in the alpine zones?

apparently NZ's national parks arent run by Tasmanian parks and wildlife service

wayno wrote:

north-north-west wrote:Firewood? They let people have campfires in the alpine zones?

apparently NZ's national parks arent run by Tasmanian parks and wildlife service on the Leave No Trace principle.

Fixed.

thers few restrictions on lighting fires in the nz bush unless a fire ban is in place due to high fire risk...

Compared to Australia NZ seems to be the land of the free and individual rights. Maybe it is their liability system, but there is much more tolerance of risk and the right of individuals to choose to do stupid or dangerous things.

I don't think it would be possible for an Australian health and safety officer to ever have a good holiday over there - they would be having conniptions all over the place!

Fires are obviously more than just individual risk - but I think it fits within the national approach. It would be interesting to see figures on how outcomes (escaped fires and a bunch of other things) compare to Australia.

Australia is the other way. When even newly migrated POMES express horror at the extent of the nanny state you know the scales may be tipping a bit too far...

most places its usually too wet for fires to get out of control, apart from that experienced trampers are experienced in lighting fires and do their best to reduce the likelihood of the fire getting out of control. lighting it in a river bed for instance, surrounding it with rocks, clearing a space free of combustible matter. its pretty rare fires do get out of control. trampers will usually abide by fire bans where they are in place...

Hey guys,

I am heading over to Queenstown for my 21st in Early February and was planning to do the Rees-Dart Track but the current wash out has resulted in a change of plans. I was looking at doing the 5 passes route and wondering what the saddles were like (difficulty)?

I have done kepler, milford, caples, routeburn, overland, and done 2 weeks of geological mapping in the Northern Flinders range (no tracks bush bashing and using google maps/ a topo to navigate).

Also does anyone know the GPS co-ordinates/ files i can use?

Or can suggest another 4-5 day hike within queens town, thats not caples, routeburn or greenstone..... harder would be better

Schmeed wrote:Or can suggest another 4-5 day hike within queens town, thats not caples, routeburn or greenstone..... harder would be better

use the NZ sub forum
cascade saddle, 5 passes, olivines. depends how hard you want... numerous more tracks over wanaka way, rabbit pass, gillespies pass.
read the NZ forum info on places to get more information

great post -- I have just moved it to the NZ area. Thanks for sharing.
Do we need a NZ trip reports subforum?? (like we have for each AU state??)
Matt

wildwalks wrote:Do we need a NZ trip reports subforum?? (like we have for each AU state??)

Seems like a good idea to me