Travers-Sabine Circuit - Nelson Lakes

This was the “high country” as my late godfather Mert would call it.

Day 1... 15 mile hike on the shoreline of Lake Rotoiti and up the Travers River.

Day 2... Shorter hike but with decent elevation gain to Upper Travers Hut nestled below the Travers Saddle. As the rain came pouring down all day, we kept the wood stove going, played hearts, and chatted with our hutmates – Jock the 76 year old kiwi and an American couple, Jake and Allison. Jock jokingly says he gets one month leave every year when he leaves his wife in Auckland and tramps around by himself, hearing aids included. And when one these devices had a problem 20 miles in the backcountry, one of the five other people in the hut happened to be a trained audiologist to diagnose the problem. Strange how these things work out sometimes.

After a few rounds of hearts in which I finally defeated that evil queen of spades and managed to not get stomped by Dan, we went to bed with the rain still coming. Jonathan mentioned something about hoping it would snow. The next morning the valley was coated in the white stuff as we set out to cross a high mountain pass with wind and snow in our faces. We said goodbye to the diminutive Jock who was chopping wood and busily stoking the wood stove to wait for a better day to climb the arduous pass. Hopefully the Ball and Camisa family genes, along with other amounts of luck, will allow me to be doing the same at that age.

Day 3... Over the Travers Saddle in a snow squall and down the other side over slippery rocks. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It was a blast.

After relative quiet in the other huts, we were in for a shock at the next hut, West Sabine. It turns out we stumbled upon a tramping crew of 10 Australian mothers who decided that they loved us. Their male guide seemed glad that someone else could entertain these wild women for a while. Dan caught two rainbows in the Sabine river, and in exchange for a little red wine, we shared the fresh fish with everyone in the hut. Before long we were playing the card game Spoons with 10 semi-drunk moms. The game of spoons involves a mad dash and grabbing the spoons at the center of the table. If you don't get a spoon you are out. 10 shrieking wine and rum drinking australian women competing for a limited supply of spoons certainly got the adrenaline pumping. By some stroke of luck, Jonathan and I made it to the final showdown before I won it all. Our new moms then decided that we would take a family picture so, if you are curious, you can see this amusing piece of evidence. There was a bedtime story read by one of the mothers and then before I knew it, I awoke to giggling and cackling women at 7 in the morning. These gregarious women never quit. They were constantly laughing and cracking themselves up. Now I know what ten middle-aged women are like when they get in a group.

Day 4... Caught my first New Zealand fish in the morning – 4+ pounds, 22+ inch rainbow out of the Sabin river. Jonathan hiked ahead while Dan and I stopped and fished the beautiful river. Stayed at the Sabine hut on the shores of Lake Rotoroa. The hut seemed oddly quiet after the events of the night before.

Day 5... There was no warm up on this one. Walk outside of the hut and go up, and up, and up. They don't really believe in switchbacks here, taking their early math training seriously. (that one about a straight line being the shortest distance) A mountain goat trail really. But the views rewarded us as we looked out over the peaks and valleys we climbed the previous days and with sore legs, made it to the beautiful Lake Angelus Hut. Unfortunately though, this hut is one of the most popular huts on the South Island and only takes a day to reach from town. We were on our fifth day of hiking and had just climbed 4,000 feet to get there. Lets just say I was could smell my self at this point whereas the people that crowded into the hut later in the afternoon had just left civilization. Makes you slightly self-conscious.

With 20 some people sleeping the same room, you are bound to run into some problems. The girl next to me seemed to change what noises she was making every five minutes, often throwing in a few whimpers just for good measure. An orchestra of various snorers and general noisemakers carried throughout the night ruining any hope of good sleep.

Day 6... Along the high Robert Ridge above the clouds. Team America (us three) as usual outstripped any other competitors in the speed hiking event (an event only we knew about) despite ailments such as Jonathan's bum knee and me happening to sweat sunscreen in first the left eye, then the right, and then just stumbling bleary eyed over rocks for the rest of the hike. Dan hitchiked to BJ and rolled around the corner beeping 20 minutes later.

It is a strange thing when you start thinking about a stinky overloaded van as home, sighing with relief when you are back in her comfy, bobbing seats. And except for the extreme presence of powdered milk, peanut butter, and noodles in my life, on the road and in the mountains is becoming addictive.