Scotties Hut

With our country in Level 2 of our Covid response and meetings up to 100 people being allowed it was time for a Canterbury Recreational 4WD trip! The Wangs in the Wild have been itching to get out since we got MJ back on Monday. We had all the gear and lunch packed, we left the All Terrain (A/T) tyres on MJ as the trip was on farm track and was a grade 2 trip. Heading off nice and early for a 10am briefing in Hanmer and 10.30am trip start. The morning was cold, we left Christchurch at 8am as the sun was rising and the thermometer was at 2°C. As we headed north the temperature dropped. Just before reaching Culverden we hit -2°C! A quick stop at the cafe for a sausage roll and pie for our morning tea.

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Just after 10am we arrived at the rendezvous point. We were the 8th truck to arrive. After airing down our tyres for the trip 3 more vehicles arrived making it 11 trucks in the convoy. There was an overnight option available for this trip but we didn’t fancy a sub-zero camping trip just yet as Toby gets cold very easily. The plan was to drive over to the Clarence River past the St James Homestead and turn up the Edwards Valley via the locked gate. Drive up to Scotties Hut have lunch and for those staying the night, set up camp. Then head over a saddle to the Waiau River for a looksee.

Right on 11am were arrived at the locked gate and passed through. The weather was stunning, but cold. We were very glad to have clear blue skies and a bright sun. Annushka and Toby were buzzing as all the puddles, ponds and culverts were frozen this late in the morning. As we drove past the shady sides of the hills they were still white with heavy frost. Our senses were being stimulated by the beauty, splashing and cracking of ice as we drove through, the freshness of the air, the prickle of the skin in the spots out of the sun. Driving past manuka trees and the lovely aroma wafting into the truck. It was heavenly.

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The track into the valley was well formed, but muddy. I wasn’t too sure that my tyre choice was the best for today, I really should have popped on our set of Mud Terrain (M/T) tyres. Oh well, let’s see what happens. Driving up the valley was so beautiful and it was filling our adventure tanks right up. As we drove passed culverts with frozen grass ten times their size ladened with ice, was fun for the children to spot, they kept their eyes opened for icicles and commented on how think the ice was in the puddles. We even came across a river fan that was sparkling like a field of jewels from the sun hitting the frozen stones, magic. I mentioned our tyre choice, yes, it was muddy. A few times we ended up a bit sideways as the tyres slipped in out and out of the track ruts, that was exciting!

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After an hour or so of driving we covered the 14.5km to the hut and parked up to have our lunch. The hut was a cute wee 4 bunk hut and there was a long drop nearby, plenty of camping spots. Just under half the convoy were staying the night, brave souls. We had a bit to eat, a bit of an explore, checked out some of the fancy camping rigs and gear and we were given the 10 minute warning that we were heading further up the valley over Charlie’s Saddle to see the Waiau valley. It was already 1pm and the temperature got up to a balmy 8°C! We all piled into our vehicles, bar one as there vehicle was also their sleeping quarters come cooking shelter.

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The going was steep and slippery. We were thankful for the low range gears in MJ as we were able to crawl down slippery steep sections at 5kmph without touching the brakes. I was wishing we had our M/T tyres on now. There was a lot of traffic on the road we came across lots of mountain bikers and a phalanx of quad bikes out for the day. A few years back we would have been able to drive further up the river to another hut and drive out across the Waiau this has been impeded by a slip that Department of Conservation is reluctant to clear. After a bit of a leg stretch and a few photos it was back into the trucks and back to the hut. Jeepers, there were a few steep slippery bits. But, to MJ’s credit she did well.

Back at the campsite we were given the combination for the gate and six of us headed back down the valley to head home. I got talking to a few of the others at lunch time and asked if we could tag along to check out the hotpools on a little detour back down the valley. So three off us went for the little detour. We were tail-end Charlie and the first two vehicles went up this really steep incline and I had to ask which gear and how to drive up that! I was given advice over the radio and we hit it, oh my goodness we made it. MJ did great and we were squealing with delight. Annushka said she didn’t think we’d make it, I had to agree with her. That was just the beginning of the fun. We found some stinky old mud and ploughed through that, dropped down steep muddy bits, tick! We arrived at the hotpool campsite and got out very excited. That was a proper bit of driving.

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A quick walk down to the first set of tepid pools was a bit disappointing but our new friends said there were more down by the river. Wow, there were three pools built into the side off the hill. One was super hot, then next just right and the third was warm. We stripped off our shoes and forded the freezing water to have a paddle in the pools. We’re definitely come back here to camp and enjoy this treasure. After 40mins enjoying the company, view and water we forded the river again and donned our shoes and said our goodbyes to the pools vowing to return.

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Now, I just remembered the really steep muddy bits we came down… well, we needed to go up those bits. Annushka gave me her ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it up that’ look and deep down I was wondering the same. We watched Stu take several attempts at getting up the obstacles. Once Stu was clear we gave it a go… Yahoo! We made it up first go, mud flying and smiles all around! I learnt something too. We were spinning up a storm and as we crested the slope I was told to ease off on the accelerator for the tyres to get some more grip and we eased over the apex! Wow, so cool. We made it up the next incline first time too. Experience gained. Oh, I nearly forgot, we still had to go down the really steep bit we went up to get here! That was fun, we put MJ into low gear and tipped over the edge. Eek! That was fun and exciting. The children wanted to scream but couldn’t Toby had his eyes shut the whole time. After this bit of excitement the rest of the drive out was easy.

On our way to Hanmer we were so amazed about our adventure chatting excitedly and scheming our return trip when it’s a bit warmer. Toby and Annushka are hooked now as they could see where we were able to drive today. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised myself. Next trip we’ll have our M/T tyres on ML. Who knows what that will bring? Just before heading over the pass we had to ford a creek and we ‘washed’ some mud of MJ to make her a bit presentable. We arrived in Hanmer just before 5pm to make it to the Lolly Shop to load up on some lollies. Grabbed a burger for dinner and had a car picnic by the river and bookended our day with a sunset. We had a lovely day just under 12 hours door to door but traveled out of this world to an amazing part of our country. Toby woke up this morning telling my about the 1000’s and millions of dreams he had last night filled with 4WD adventures, that really warmed my heart.