As many of you may be aware, we’re wintering in Marahau, close to the Abel Tasman National Park. It’s a fantastic spot but a long way from our favorite Canterbury High Country valleys and Central Otago. 

What I tend to do is go away for a few weeks at a time and try to meet up with as many people as I can and then come back. I think I’m getting too old to drive 10 hours each way, just for a weekend trip!

Anyway, a good friend of mine, Calvin Johnson, and I were talking about doing a weekend trip and getting some trucks from Christchurch to join in. We talked about Mt Patriarch and a few other routes and then Calvin suggested heading up into the Leatham Valley area and meeting in St Arnuad on Friday afternoon. Brilliant! St Arnaud is only an hour-and-half from here, so a quick scoot down to meet up.

Meet & greet

We all met up at around 16:00 and after getting some fuel and last minute supplies, headed up to the start of the valley. The convoy now had five vehicles and consisted of myself, Calvin and his son Toby, Dean, Wayne, Adam and his friend Stacey. 

We were confident that the rivers were going to be low and weren’t disappointed when we arrived at the crossing of the Leatham River that gives access to Branch Track and ultimately Greigs Hut, our planned destination for the night. 

The crossing is always quite wide, but is normally not very deep.

With all the vehicles safely across, we headed up the Branch Track and had a good easy run arriving at the hut in the dark with the lights on. The track was in good condition and didn’t present any difficulties. 

One of the best

Greigs Hut is one of the very best I’ve stayed in. It sleeps 14 in two separate areas and has a large communal area with a log burner and plenty of room to cook and relax. 

We had the place to ourselves and had a great evening catching up with old friends and making new ones. Checking the intentions book, it was surprising to see how little the hut gets used. Maybe it’s the crossing of the Leatham that puts people off?

The following day, we had arranged to meet up with Aaron Rich and his family, www.5gooverland.com, who (as a you will be aware if you are a regular reader of this mag)) has recently returned from driving across Central Asia. Used to driving solo, Aaron doesn’t have a radio and I had a spare handheld for him in my truck. 

Heading back down the Branch Track we met another vehicle, the occupants of which said that they had seen Aaron at the crossing, although when we got there, he had gone. 

We decided that he had most likely carried on up the Leatham and I was pretty sure that we would find him at Bottom Gordan’s Hut, which is as far as you can drive. When we arrived, they were indeed there and had the BBQ going for lunch.

Westward ho!

There was still some talk about crossing the Wairau River and heading up Mt Patriarch, but it was decided that it was a bit late in the day and Aaron and I were heading West to Reefton for Sunday night. 

We headed back down the Leatham and turned off towards Boulder Creek. This is a great track with a couple of water crossings, some rough ground and some mud. When we arrived, the hut was full but we quickly established camp and had a fire going before the sun set. Although it was a cold night, we spent a few hours around the campfire enjoying each other’s company and marveling at the clear sky filled with stars.

Heading to bed in my Darche swag, I could hear Aaron’s diesel heater and imagined how warm it must have been in his large five person tent. By the time I retired, the half of the swag not under the Rhino Rack Batwing awning was already glistening with frost. 

Toasty warm

However, I had taken the precaution of placing a couple of hot water bottles in my sleeping bag and when I finally slid into bed, it was toasty warm.

I think that we all had a good night’s sleep and the following morning a couple of returning possum trappers treated Wayne’s two Dobermans to a possum breakfast.

By this time however, the weather was changing and rain began to fall while we were packing away, melting all the ice but ensuring that all the kit would have to be thoroughly dried out at home.

We exited the valley and headed back to St Arnaud before heading to Murchison via the Porika and Braeburn tracks. By now, it was raining heavily with low cloud hanging to the hills. 

I must say that I do love the West Coast when it’s like that. Very mysterious and the low cloud gives me an unexplainable sense of security.

One of the great things about going on a trip organised by someone else, is not having to take responsibility for the planning. 

Calvin and his son Toby had done a great job in planning a superb weekend and had chosen some fantastic routes.

We parted ways at Murchison with the majority of the convoy heading back to Christchurch while Aaron and I headed onto Reefton and up the Big River track. By the time we got to Reefton it was dark and raining heavily. 

The drive up to Big River was awesome under the heavy rain and the track illuminated by our light bars. Arriving at the site of the Big River mine, we were not surprised to not see any lights in the hut.

The place to ourselves

I’ve been to Big River on many occasions but had never been to the hut, which sits on a hill several hundred metres above the old mine. After unloading what was needed for an overnight stay, we began ferrying kit up to the hut. It’s actually not that far, but I guess the fact that you have to walk, albeit only a few hundred metres, puts a lot of people off.

This hut is also amazing and the coal bunker at the back door was full to the brim, so a very warm evening was spent listening to the rain outside. The following morning saw coffee taken on the deck, looking down to the mine and across the valley to the Poppet Head.

I had arranged a lunch with a friend in Reefton, so was away quickly but if you do go there, it’s worthwhile spending some time to explore the area.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this. And, as always, details on this route are available on https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff+2818 together with hundreds of others.