Lovely Lewis Pass

Tuesday 14 September

It was a wet and chilly night - as indicated by the puddles around Banjo as we packed up and left the NZMCA Hanmer Bridge mid-morning (accidentally forgetting to pay as we both thought the other had done that! Chased up and paid a week later- oops!). Per the forecast, the winds had dropped, making for a much safer journey through the Lewis Pass to the Marble Hill DOC camp near Springs Junction.

The road was pretty stunning and as we headed westward the drizzle cleared and skies began to brighten, making everything even lovelier. We parked wherever we fancied at the DOC site as we were the only ones there! The vistas around the valley were amazing, but there was a fair amount of standing water here as well. Fortunately there was a nice stony section with minimal puddles so we slotted in there - no hesitation!

After lunch (in Banjo as we try to get back on budget) we swapped Merinos and layers for lighter gear as the sun was really warm by now, and set off along the track towards Lake Daniell, along the banks of the Alfred River and through a magical green, damp, mossy beech forest worthy of Tolkien. Around 5 minutes into the first soggy section of the hike from campground we came to a bridge across the Maruia River in a cutting known as the Sluice Box. The river waters are suddenly channelled through a narrow gorge and rush through at a million miles an hour, swirling & churning beneath your feet. From the bridge, the path tracks uphill a few metres into the beech forest then follows the Alfred River from where it joins the Maruia up to Lake Daniell, sometimes looking down onto the river valley, sometimes tracking low along its edges. After recent rainfall the forest was positively oozing water from the hillside above us, creating mini waterfalls, and turning the track into a stream in places. Note to self - must spray waterproof coating on my hiking boots!

Along the way we found a bizarre "elbow tree" where a fallen tree had decided to hang onto life and just put all its efforts into nourishing a single upwards pointing branch - it's strange seeing such a perfect right angle in a tree! We were also taken by the tree root steps which guided us up and down several tricky bits - with my dodgy knees I am always scared of slipping on muddy patches, but the roots made for perfect footholds. At one point we found the remains of a fallen tree, and were stunned by the gorgeous deep red colouring of the wet wood that was exposed on both the stump and the fallen trunk - I'd love to know what wood has this extraordinary hue.

It was over 8km to the hut at the Lake, but we turned around at 2.5km and splish splashed our way back to camp and a nice cup of tea followed by an early dinner of bacon & eggs (super delicious scrambled eggs courtesy of Kelly's chooks up at Kelsview POP in Whanganui).

As the sun sank lower in the sky we drove back towards the Lewis Pass Summit to catch golden hour across the top of the Southern Alps. Driving without Banjo we had the opportunity to stop several times to take in the view, and to marvel at the roading through the Pass. At one corner the view varied depending on the direction of sight - a glorious golden valley to the North East, snow covered peaks to the West and a huge landslip right behind you, with a waterfall cascading down the edge.

There was a cool little Alpine Loop Walk at the Summit Rest and we found a dark tannin tarn offering the most stunning reflections as the sun disappeared to the West. The Alpine plants were on full display here from the red tussock grass, through the green mosses, white lichens and the spiky, variegated textured Astelia Nivicola - yes, I had to look that up! Many of the gnarly native Mountain Beech trees were draped with wispy, beardy lichens as if ready for Hallowe'en - it was quite spooky in a way.

It’s days like this that make Banjo’s Odyssey so special 🤩