A few weeks’ break from tramping and generally any physically demanding activity was very much needed, but last weekend it was time to stop being lazy and get outside again. After watching New Zealand crush Japan in rugby on Friday night we woke up early and headed up to Arthur’s Pass once again for another tramping trip. This time the agenda was Sudden Stream/Valley and our team included me, Dahlia, Bernard, and three of his friends (what? a majority of Kiwis? this means it counts as a cultural experience too!). This was a nice easy hike, only 4 hours, and a good way to ease back into tramping without burning out our bodies and willpower because we have a lot of hiking to do in the next few weekends/months/rest of life. It was a scenic walk mostly up the river valley – we’re such pros at river crossings now it’s barely worth mentioning – into the mountains to a small hut called a “biv”.
River crossings, as usual
Nice waterfall along the way!
Ridiculous rocky scree slope
We got to the biv really early so we wandered around and gathered a ton of firewood. Our night basically consisted of an awesome fire, lots of laughs, giving the Kiwis their first smores experience, and eventually heading to bed as it started to snow. It was so pretty in the morning to see all the hills and mountains around freshly covered in white! We eventually got going and had a relaxing walk back, making it back to the cars at about 2. We decided to check out a few other Arthur’s Pass spots since we finished so early, so our next stop was Cave Stream.
Our clever sock drying setup, which worked a little too well and singed most of the socks
The crew at the end of the hike
Cave Stream is, as you might have guessed, a stream that runs through a cave that you can walk all the way through. One of the guys had done this before so we just basically went for it without really knowing anything about what to expect. We already had wet feet from the river crossings on our hike so we weren’t too worried about wading through the water for the 40 minutes it took to get through the cave. What we didn’t know, however, was that the very first pool was chest deep! It was freezing but I didn’t think much of it and waded on through to get going into the cave. The rest was usually knee deep, and we were all too excited to really be cold even though the water was freezing. It was hard to get good pictures but the walk was through these narrow stone passages ways, scrambling up rocks and even waterfalls in places. It was so cool! We eventually got to the end, which was a really deep pool with a 10-15 foot waterfall at the other end, so I was confused about how we were supposed to get out until I saw the metal rungs in the wall on the left side. You climbed up that and then shimmed/crawled along a short ledge, holding onto a chain so you didn’t fall down into the pool below, and you could eventually work your out into the stream above the waterfall. It was pretty crazy but seriously one of the most fun adventures I’ve ever had!
Entrance to the cave
Yeah, that first pool was pretty deep
Looking down on the ladder at the end
The awkward wiggle from the ladder to the exit
Coming out of the stream above the waterfall at the end
The sign Andrew wouldn't let us read before we went in so it wouldn't ruin the surprise - you can see the waterfalls we climbed up, the highest of which is 1.5m
After the cave we stopped off at Castle Hill, which is an area with tons of giant rocks that is a haven for climbers. We’ve driven by a few times before and it always looks so cool, so we were excited to get the chance to just clamber around and have some fun. The rocks were way bigger than they looked from the road and they went on forever! We all ran around, climbed up and around the rocks, played some hide and seek, and just generally explored and had a good time. It’s so fun to just play around like that and I wish I did it more because it’s so fun. It was great to be with a group that totally wanted to do the same things as me. We could have easily stayed at Castle Hill for a whole day but it got to be dinner time so we reluctantly drove back to Christchurch, of course making the traditional stop on the way for warm drinks and meat pies. This was a really fun weekend to get out again and have some easy fun, so I’m really excited for all the other outdoor plans I’ve got coming up! Next weekend we’re hiking to the best hot pools on the South Island, so keep checking back for more awesome adventures. :)
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