A Challenging Day at Cameron Flat

Sunday 12 April

Some days you bite off more than you can chew… this was one of those days!

Started serenely enough with a gentle blue morning light across the lake, no wild vibrant flaming sunrise today. The sun brightened up the lake a couple of hours later, but it was a generally cloudy, showery kinda day.

It was time for a hair wash, but no power to run a hairdryer… tried a French plait instead and was impressed that a) I remembered how to do it and b) my hair was long enough to stay in a plait!

By 9ish there were hints of blue skies breaking through and we decided to venture into Cameron Flat in the Haast Pass to tackle the Cameron Creek track for an hour or two. Dropped into Makarora Country Cafe (which is also a camping ground with an NZMCA discount & power) to see if anything from the cabinet took our fancy, then remembered that the best pies were at Wonderland so we cruised along there, but were disappointed to find their cafe was closed for winter 😢

Drove on a few kms into Haast Pass, marvelled at the number of camper vans & cars parked up at the Blue Pools carpark, and swept by to leave our lonely Pajero at Cameron Creek - the crowds at Blue Pools are the white patch in distance!

DOC advised that the track to the Viewing Platform was easy and then the onward track to the Cameron Hut was "advanced" - however, we did not know their definition of "advanced" 😳

The first 500m to the viewing platform was easy as, but we should have taken heed of the skull & crossbones someone had sharpied onto the track sign, plus the collapse of the platform - this was not going to be a walk in the park!

The track was almost invisible, just marked by orange triangles on trees and involved scrambling up & down, over rocks, hanging onto tree trunks and using tree roots as staircases! Eventually after about 30 minutes, 800m covered and a lot of clambering and stopping to watch the piwakawakas and miromiro we decided the path was just too random and turned back! We were pursued by several piwakawaka but they flitted so fast I struggled to photograph them in the dark woods; a wee miromiro tomtit came to observe our efforts, and posed for a little longer! In the pic with Louis looking ahead, the path was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the forest as it traversed a rather squishy side of the mountain so we decided to turn back.

Had lunch at the car - then in the car as the sandflies were voracious!

We then drove back across the valley to the Blue Pools carpark which was still packed - even on a grey day. Having visited the pools twice before we decide to check out the Blue Valley Track - we should have again taken heed… the DOC description says 2-3 hours to cover 2.5km - that should have been the clue!

Still, we crossed the new swing bridge then climbed the stile and set off scrambling up the muddy hillside, following the orange triangles. More scrambling, more rocks, more tree roots and definitely way more mud!

This time I reckon we managed about 120m before the already almost impenetrable path disappeared under a bunch of fallen trees, so we accepted defeat, slithered back down and wandered over to admire the glorious Blue Pools. TBF - the fungi on these dodgy paths were pretty cool though...

Achievement = 30m elevation, 120m distance in just over 15 minutes… impressive, eh 😂

Even under the cloudy skies the blue pools were looking glorious in their glacial flour aquamarine glory, and there were heaps of visitors including one lunatic who went in for a dip... freezing cold water and very chilly air to come out to with wet skin, brrrr 🥶 Louis decided a little paddle in the super clear waters was more than enough!

The track to and from the pools is always longer than you remember, but we emerged to the carpark eventually, with a clear view down the valley and a hint of snow on the distant mountain - gorgeous! We figured we had done enough adventuring so returned to Kidds Bush for a siesta followed by a beautiful sunset, worthy of Michelangelo.

BBQed lamb burgers for dinner and when Louis popped out later, there was a surprise guest in the camp kitchen!