· Avoiding the Demon TrailTe Anau, New Zealand · 3rd Apr 2008 · Posted by Margaret
What a change in the weather next day! We woke to a perfect morning and were down at the lake at dawn to see the sun come up over the mountains. The lake looked beautiful with wreaths of mist in the valleys. We had a leisurely breakfast as we didn’t have to be at Pyke Lodge to catch the jet boat until midday. On the way we detoured to the swing bridge at the start of the Demon Trail to see a wonderful view of Mt Madeleine and its neighbouring snowy peaks. They looked amazing against the deep blue sky with the shining river in the foreground.
The Demon Trail has a reputation of being very difficult and the early part of the track did look rather formidable. As it involved several river and creek crossings and could be tricky in bad weather, we had opted to charter a jet boat to take us past this section of the track. We felt a bit decadent but used the fact that one of our party was 78 years old as our excuse.
The decision turned out to be a good one as the trip down the Hollyford River gave us a new perspective. In places the river had gouged out huge chunks from the deep banks and exposed layers of gravels in different colours. Huge trees had been torn out, roots and all, and tossed into the river. In some areas they littered the river bed and an excellent knowledge of the river would be essential for the jet boat drivers to pick a route through them. The power of the river in flood must be awesome and it was easy to understand how the rivers dominate human activities in these valleys. Despite yesterday’s rain the river was at about its lowest navigable level after months of dry weather.
At last we saw snow-topped Mt Tutoko (2746m), the highest mountain in Fiordland. Lake Mc Kerrow was as smooth as glass so we had a very comfortable trip. Our jet boat driver dropped us off to explore the beach side of the Lower Hollyford River at Martins Bay, the site of early Maori settlement. Later I came across a book at Gunns Camp written by Alice McKenzie whose family lived at Martins Bay in the early days of European settlement. What a difficult life the early settlers had.
We had a long overdue lunch in the sandhills (even dryish crackers with salami and pesto taste good if you are hungry enough) then walked out along the long sandspit which divides the river from the sea. The beach was remarkably calm today for such an exposed area and the views were beautiful. The pingao plants looked most attractive on the sand hills with their golden leaves and striking seed heads. In places they looked like large eyelashes on top of the hills. We were puzzled by the perfect circles inscribed around some plants. They were far too regular to have been made by any insect or animal. At last we realised the marks had been made by the tips of the leaves blowing in the wind.
The jet boat returned late in the afternoon to take us back across the river to the Martins Bay Hut, sited in a wonderful position at the mouth of the Lower Hollyford River. We quickly strung our clothes on the bushes to dry and set off for the seal colony on the point. We could see the seals but didn’t get really close to them as it was getting towards sunset and we had to clamber over huge boulders to reach them.
The boulders themselves were well worth the trip to see. Because of all the activity along the fault line, there is a huge variety of rocks here in all colours and textures, a geologist’s dream. Some were smooth, some were patterned in hexagons, some had veins of quartz running through them. In places they had split open revealing deep green interiors. We could have spent much longer admiring them.
The Demon Trail has a reputation of being very difficult and the early part of the track did look rather formidable. As it involved several river and creek crossings and could be tricky in bad weather, we had opted to charter a jet boat to take us past this section of the track. We felt a bit decadent but used the fact that one of our party was 78 years old as our excuse.
The decision turned out to be a good one as the trip down the Hollyford River gave us a new perspective. In places the river had gouged out huge chunks from the deep banks and exposed layers of gravels in different colours. Huge trees had been torn out, roots and all, and tossed into the river. In some areas they littered the river bed and an excellent knowledge of the river would be essential for the jet boat drivers to pick a route through them. The power of the river in flood must be awesome and it was easy to understand how the rivers dominate human activities in these valleys. Despite yesterday’s rain the river was at about its lowest navigable level after months of dry weather.
At last we saw snow-topped Mt Tutoko (2746m), the highest mountain in Fiordland. Lake Mc Kerrow was as smooth as glass so we had a very comfortable trip. Our jet boat driver dropped us off to explore the beach side of the Lower Hollyford River at Martins Bay, the site of early Maori settlement. Later I came across a book at Gunns Camp written by Alice McKenzie whose family lived at Martins Bay in the early days of European settlement. What a difficult life the early settlers had.
We had a long overdue lunch in the sandhills (even dryish crackers with salami and pesto taste good if you are hungry enough) then walked out along the long sandspit which divides the river from the sea. The beach was remarkably calm today for such an exposed area and the views were beautiful. The pingao plants looked most attractive on the sand hills with their golden leaves and striking seed heads. In places they looked like large eyelashes on top of the hills. We were puzzled by the perfect circles inscribed around some plants. They were far too regular to have been made by any insect or animal. At last we realised the marks had been made by the tips of the leaves blowing in the wind.
The jet boat returned late in the afternoon to take us back across the river to the Martins Bay Hut, sited in a wonderful position at the mouth of the Lower Hollyford River. We quickly strung our clothes on the bushes to dry and set off for the seal colony on the point. We could see the seals but didn’t get really close to them as it was getting towards sunset and we had to clamber over huge boulders to reach them.
The boulders themselves were well worth the trip to see. Because of all the activity along the fault line, there is a huge variety of rocks here in all colours and textures, a geologist’s dream. Some were smooth, some were patterned in hexagons, some had veins of quartz running through them. In places they had split open revealing deep green interiors. We could have spent much longer admiring them.
