On the way down from Mueller Hut, near Aoraki/Mt Cook. Photo / Peter Gibson
On the way down from Mueller Hut, near Aoraki/Mt Cook. Photo / Peter Gibson
If you’re looking for an intrepid adventure, the Southern Alps present one of the best in the world, writes Simon Kay.
As darkness closes in, I’m lying on the Mackenzie Country tussock staring at the night sky.
There’s the Southern Cross. That bright one . . . could be Venus. Sadly, that’s the extent of my astronomical identification skills.
But it makes the show that unfolds in the next half hour no less spectacular, as dozens of stars become hundreds, then thousands.
And then an extraordinary sight; a long line of satellites slices speedily across the sky. I’m taken back to my childhood, at a level crossing counting the wagons as the freight trains rumble past.
I count 44 silent satellites. Turns out they’re part of Elon Musk’s Starlink programme.
There’s plenty going on above me. In that first half-hour, aside from Elon’s celestial caravan, I spot at least a dozen other satellites of varying trajectories, speed and brightness, plus two meteors.
But it’s when the distraction of movement is removed that the vertical vista has the greatest impact.
We’re above Tekapo - a one-hour drive along the lake’s eastern shore and then a three-hour hike into the hills to a private backcountry hut - in an area that is part of the Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve famed for stargazing.
When I wake an hour or two later, the Moon has arrived like a big bright bully from the east, chasing away many of the stars.
I awake from my night under the stars with ice coating the part of the pillow not under my beanie-clad head and the second sleeping bag I’d spread over my first.
A weather report ranks Tekapo the second-coldest town in the country that morning (1C at 6am; only Waiouru is colder at 0C). But aside from a chill breeze on my cheek, I’ve had a comfortable night’s sleep, such is the quality of sleeping bags at our hut.
The night sky above Rex Simpson Hut, a backcountry hut in the hills above Lake Tekapo. Photo / Peter Gibson
Rex Simpson Hut by day. Photo / Peter Gibson
I’m on Adventure South’s week-long Best of the Southern Alps hiking trip, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Starting in Christchurch, the trip spends two nights at Rex Simpson Hut near Tekapo, then two nights at Aoraki/Mt Cook and two nights at Wānaka before finishing in Queenstown. Adventure South run this trip regularly between November and April.
There is a maximum of 12 hikers and two guides. Our trip has 11, eight from Australia and three from New Zealand. The Australians are Aotearoa converts; they’ve all crossed the Tasman multiple times for hiking and/or cycling trips.
Some have done the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail from Mt Cook to Oamaru, another trip run by Adventure South, who have been operating for 30 years in the North, South and Stewart Islands.
Our group is an eclectic lot and includes doctors, nurses, a lawyer and former New Zealand Commerce Commissioner.
Conversations on the hills and in the hut, bars and restaurants afterwards are interesting, entertaining and informative.
Our guides are Peter, an Australian who splits his time between both sides of the Tasman and is a 10-year Adventure South veteran, and Rudy, a former long-time Department of Conservation employee.
The pair are experts in every useful aspect relating to the Alps imaginable, from geology to the best bootlace-tying techniques.
After driving from Christchurch to Tekapo, the trip’s first two nights at Rex Simpson Hut provide a classic backcountry hut experience.
That includes solar power, water from a nearby stream and a longdrop toilet that is mercifully free of irritating insects at this altitude. And the hut also comes with spectacular alpine and lakeside views, a recurring theme on this trip.
Nomadic hut
Installed by Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, the hut was first used in May 1985 and was named after Rex Simpson, a local farmer and climber who had died on a peak near Mt Cook three months earlier.
Braun-Elwert later got into a dispute with the owner of the land on which the hut was sited. As a result, a helicopter moved the hut a couple of hundred metres to its current position on a neighbouring property in 1999. You can still see the piles at the original location.
The guides cook dinners at the hut. Bring a healthy appetite - whatever food is left over, cooked and uncooked, has to be carried back out.
The food throughout the trip is good - a week of hiking and I still put on weight. All meals, aside from one dinner in Wānaka, are taken care of during the trip.
The target for our full day at Rex Simpson Hut is Beuzenberg Peak, named after Erica Beuzenberg, a guide and climbing contemporary of Braun-Elwert who died after a fall when short-roped to two clients at Ball Pass below Mt Cook in 2005.
After hail turns to snow, our guide Peter turns us around 90 minutes into our trek towards Beuzenberg Peak. But the weather clears after lunch and we complete an afternoon hike in the opposite direction. The day is a good illustration of the changeable conditions in the Southern Alps.
After “roughing it” at Rex Simpson Hut, the rest of our accommodation is motel standard. Hot showers are eagerly anticipated.
Our next stop is two nights at Mt Cook, with breakfasts and dinners at The Hermitage. There can’t be many hotel restaurants worldwide with views to rival this, as floor-to-ceiling windows frame New Zealand’s highest peak.
At 55, I’m the second-youngest on the trip. Most are in their 60s and the oldest are in their 70s. This trip is set up so there are options that cater for differing abilities through the week.
Our full day at Mt Cook is also potentially the toughest. Our entire group climbs the 2200 steps to Sealy Tarns. From there, three of us (plus Peter - there’s always a guide with us when we’re hiking) push on to Mueller Hut. The rest of the group opt for the relatively flat Hooker Valley walk.
This day also has the greatest contrast of tracks we encounter: from well-maintained to Sealy Tarns, to non-existent to Mueller Hut. On the latter part, we’re clambering over rocks, going from orange-topped pole to pole marking the route, to this hut on poles in a barren moonscape of a setting. The day’s 12km round trip takes us seven hours.
Among the rewards for our efforts are witnessing an avalanche on Mt Sefton across from us and being entertained by the antics of kea on the hut roof and balcony.
Kea on the balcony rail at Mueller Hut, near Aoraki/Mt Cook. Photo / Peter Gibson
Mueller Hut, near Aoraki/Mt Cook. Photo / Peter Gibson
Wānaka wonders
From Aoraki/Mt Cook, we move on to Wānaka, where in the afternoon, we all hike up to Diamond Lake and four of us (plus guide Rudy) continue to the top of Rocky Mountain Peak. The breathtaking view du jour looks down across Lake Wānaka to the township to the east and Mt Aspiring to the north.
On our full day in Wānaka, our oldest couple opt for a stroll around the lake before poking around town, while the rest of us head off to the Rob Roy Glacier walk in Mt Aspiring National Park.
After crossing a swingbridge across the MātukitukiRiver, the well-maintained track through beech forest is a pleasant contrast to the tussock and rocky terrain we’ve traversed in previous days.
The Bridal Veil Falls lookout provides a stunning horizontal triptych: the foot of the glacier at the top, the waterfall cascading down a cliff in the middle and the beech forest canopy at the bottom, with twisted and gnarled branches that somehow seem both random and uniform. Any one of the three would be impressive on its own.
Bridal Veil Falls on the Rob Roy Glacier walk in Mt Aspiring National Park. Photo / Peter Gibson
We drive to Queenstown on the final day, ascend in the gondolas (now in the process of being replaced) and all of us walk to the Ben Lomond saddle. Two of us (plus Peter) press on to the top, a total climb of around 1300m, while Queenstown’s shops prove more alluring for the rest.
The trip ends with us being dropped at accommodation around town. Most of us gather for farewell drinks at the Speight’s Ale House. Hours later, on a Sunday morning, the bar’s kitchen is gutted by an electrical fire and the 142-year-old historic building is severely damaged - an extraordinary end to the week.
View from the top of Ben Lomond looking down on Queenstown. Photo / Peter Gibson
Tips to maximise your trip
Quality gear can be expensive but you’ll be grateful for it if it’s snowing or raining and you’re relatively warm and dry.
Good footwear and socks are essential - blisters are not your friend. Ensure boots are worn in - don’t start your day one walk in new boots.
You don’t need to be an Ironman, but the fitter you are, the more you’ll get out of this trip. Prepare beforehand by walking on uneven ground on consecutive days. Rocky foreshores are ideal.
The best view from the van is from the row immediately behind the driver’s seat. Get in there quickly on day one because seating arrangements often stick from the start.
The line between the front and back walkers can often stretch out. Finding a spot between fastest and slowest can allow you to stop and enjoy the view more frequently.
A neck gaiter is a handily versatile item - its uses include as a neck warmer, face mask and head covering.
Use the poles - much of the walking is up or down and poles take some of the strain off your knees. Adventure South have quality poles available.
Be prepared to push yourself - the rewards for going the extra mile include an enhanced sense of satisfaction and truly spectacular views.
