23-28 November 2021

Leader: Dave Cox

Framing the two attractions of Lake Rotoiti ('Small Lake') and Lake Rotoroa ('Long Lake'), Nelson Lakes National Park has been described as a rugged alpine landscape of glaciated valleys, craggy mountain ranges, and long ridges offering spectacular 360-degree views.

All of these are experienced on the classic Travers-Sabine-Speargrass circuit.

Our adventure began with a water taxi ride up the length of Lake Rotoiti. Then we followed the Travers Valley track along the Travers River with a brief stop at John Tait Hut.

The day’s climbing began after lunch. After about four hours of fairly relentless and, at times, steep climbing we were very pleased to arrive, late afternoon, at Upper Travers Hut. It was a great first day, taking about nine hours in total, including breaks.

Day Two dawned bright, sunny and windless. A perfect day for tackling the Travers Saddle. This was a wonderful climb up to an alpine pass with patches of snow and stunning views of Mt Travers and the peaks and valleys all around us.

The track down to West Sabine Hut was long, gnarly and technical in places. For at least one member of our group this was the most challenging part of the walk. It was wonderful to reach West Sabine Hut after another day of about nine hours in total.

Day Three was pleasantly easy-going. Taking about six to seven hours, we followed the beautiful Sabine River through beach forest along to Sabine Hut. This Hut is in a lovely spot on the bank of Lake Rotoroa. Navigating the route from hut to bathroom facilities without being eaten alive by the legendary sand flies was interesting.

We left very early on Day Four because heavy rain was forecast. This proved a wise move and after another ‘medium’ day we arrived at Speargrass Hut in the early afternoon, avoiding the worst of the weather. This is a small, very cosy hut set in a pretty clearing of (you guessed it) speargrass.

Day Five took us from Speargrass Hut back to St Arnaud, arriving at about lunchtime. There we spent a happy afternoon feeding various addictions (coffee, sugar, alcohol) and enjoying hot showers and a wonderful evening meal at the St Arnaud Alpine Lodge.

Altogether this was a wonderful tramp with challenge and variety, a lot of fun and great company.

Those on the trip were:

Dave Cox, Jing Zhou, Marian Cox, Neville Grubner, Owen Cox, Sue Sparkes, Susan Robertson, Wei Wu, Kate Livingston