Greenstone/Caples Track

Ryan and I were finally set up to do some hiking (called tramping in New Zealand). I had to buy a bunch of gear, including quick-dry shorts and shirt, long underwear, rain pants, socks, hat, a buff, stove & fuel, dry sacks, soap, forks & spoons, water purifier, maps, a backcountry hut pass, and a ton of food. Most people use proper hiking boots to climb mountains, but I figured I could get it done with my trail running shoes.

FOOD
We had 9 days straight of trekking (a 4-day and then a 5-day back to back), so it was a fair amount of food required, so we kept the meals very simple. Everyday for breakfast was oatmeal. Everyday for lunch was wraps with peanut butter and Nutella. For dinner we had Mr. Noodles. For snacks during the day, we had GROP.

Shelter
For shelter, New Zealand has 2000 backcountry huts scattered across the islands. Most of the trails link these huts together, so one generally does not need a tent. The huts differ in quality, from nothing more than a roof, to nice ones with bunk beds and flush toilets. We bought the backcountry annual pass which gives us unlimited use for a year. The huts sleep anywhere from 4 to 20 people. Since its communal living, you find all walks of life staying in these huts.

DAY 1: Car Park to Upper Caples Hut (15.5 km hike)
We woke up at 7:00am to catch the 8:00am bus to the trail head. The first day involved walking up the Caples River, with amazing mountains on either side of the river. The day was suppose to take between 3.5 - 5.5 hours, and it took us the latter as our legs were not ready for the heavy packs.

When we arrived at the hut, the sand flies (similar to black flies) were insane. Even inside the hut the sand flies were going nuts and biting us to hell. I was seriously questioning our decision to go hiking. Why couldn't we just be normal and party at the hostel!

The dinner didn't fill us up at all, and we quickly realized we weren't going to have enough food. It wasn't a big deal as we could restock the basic items between treks. That night I had a long talk with this 60-year old guy from England who was doing a 14-day trek in NZ, and then heading to Tasmania for a 7-day. He was crazy fit, as his times on the trail were faster than most younger fit people! He had done a lot of crazy adventures, including backcountry ski traversing in Norway.

DAY 2: Upper Caples Hut to McKellar Hut (12.3 km of hiking)
Today involved climbing over a saddle (saddle = the 'lower' point linking two mountains. The trail climbed steadily through a beech forest and was quite rough with exposed tree roots and rocks.

(the insane amount of roots and rocks)

As the trail approached the subalpine area, it became quite steep. Ryan got his but kicked today, as he hadn't done as much outdoor activities as me. In total, the climb was 550 vertical meters (or about 1800 feet… that’s like climbing Blue Mountain 2.5 times).

Along the way, we got passed by two old Russian guys. When we got to the top of the saddle, one was smoking a cigarette, while the other was in his underwear about to jump into a glacier cold pond. They had just climbed Mt. Aspiring, one of the more technical mountains in the area.

Once on the saddle we enjoyed the views and each had a drink from the Jagar I had brought with us to celebrate the climb.

(Finally reached the top)

(Jagar on top of the saddle)

(View from the saddle)

The way down from the saddle was insane. The only way to describe it was gnarly. It was crazy steep with lots of rocks and roots. We descended about 600 vertical meters over only 800 horizontal meters. In others words, for every meter we walked, we also went down a meter. That’s damn steep! No one ever goes down this route, people only go up it because of the steepness (its easier to go up steep, then down steep). Then why were we going down it? We didn't know better when choosing the route. Ryan was fully worked-over by the end of the day and was questioning why we were trekking (jokes).

(Ryan cooling off in the freezing cold lake at the end of the day)

This was my first go at climbing a real mountain. It was a lot of fun, as it really test you physically and mentally climbing for 3 hours plus with no flats.

DAY 3: McKellar Hut to Greenstone Hut (17.3 km of hiking)
We awoke to find our trekking clothes wet, as we were stupid and left them out in the morning dew. We decided to wait for the sun to dry them, which wasn't until 10:00am, as the sun takes a while to get over the mountains.

Today was an easy hike down the Greenstone River. It was really hot, and there was no shade in the valley. Luckily the wind kept us cool. Highlights included walking across a huge boulder field and a wire suspended bridge, about 60-feet above the roaring river below.

(Boulder field)

(Wire bridge)

The last 200 meters to the hut was a really steep climb (just to kick you when you're down after a long day of trekking), but was totally worth it. This hut had flush toilets and amazing views all around. This hut was a nice cottage, but without furnishing, and was sitting on $1,000,000 views of the surrounding mountains.

(View from the hut)

(Other view from the hut)

DAY 4: Greenstone Hut to Carpark.
We walked the finally couple of hours into the carpark. We got picked up by a jetboat (jetboats were invented in NZ). They use a water pump to propel themselves, so once they hydroplane, they sit only an inch or two in the water. They are capable of doing 360s on a dime, and running up and down whitewater rivers.

Here is a crappy video, but gives you an idea of a jet boat doing a 360 (I found it on youtube... just push play, no download required)

The driver that picked us up gave us a wild ride back to town, doing 360s, and going within a couple of feet of the shore, where we almost brushed the shoreline.

(Jet Boat picking us up)

That night we stayed in a carpark, so we were able to wash some clothes and get a decent meal at a restaurant. We watched some cricket (NZ beat Australia!) and drank some beers at the local bar.

(hanging outside our drom in the carpark, listening to some tunes on Ryan's crank radio)