METHS

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New Zealand – Mini-METHS January 2017

Participants: Jean (Cheeky) Hayward, Andrew (Motley) Harrison, Neil (Bwana Nilo) & Sue (Donna Suzi) Stiles.

This is supposed to be summer, and our mini-METHS outing was meant to be in blazing sunshine!

However, having planned this meet months ago, it was rather unfortunate that it coincided with a large weather bomb that hit the country. Our wee group was committed! Our accommodation at the Arthur's Pass Alpine Motel was delightfully comfortable and cosy - thank goodness it was cosy because it was not warm and we had to get the fire going quickly!

Methophiles had a great time catching up on the first evening and were looking forward to our first day's walk in the area - possibly to the Devil's Punchbowl or Avalanche Peak. However, the weather gods had delivered in style the next morning and we decided to head east of the Divide in search of a dry walk. The Bealey Spur turned out to be a delightful walk through open beech forest, tussock, alpine grassland, and a great old musterers' hut built in the 30's in the days when sheep would be grazed up there during summer. We lunched just below the 5,069' top and returned the same way.

The next day was even wetter, so we-had to head further east to Castle Hill, an area with a vast conglomeration of huge limestone boulders eroded 30-40 million years ago. That was a fun day of scrambling but the rain arrived toward the end of the day and we were pleased to return to our warm motel unit and get out the cards as the rain got heavier and heavier.

We were to head off for our overnight trip up to Carroll Hut, west of Arthur's Pass but two huge landslides occurred during the night and cut off any chance of access in that direction. Nearly 400ml of rain fell during our time there, 47ml in one hour overnight. Nothing for it but to head east out of Arthur's the next day, once the road in that direction was cleared - which was the direction we all had to head for. Instead of a homeward trip taking ~3 hours, it was more like7.

A couple of highlights come to mind: Neil doing his 'Ministry of Silly Walks' at Castle Hill. Not sure what the group of Korean tourists thought! Sue giving us each a wonderful massage with hot stones after our walks back in our motel unit. As a result, Andrew has made a special trip to a West Coast beach to collect more 'special' stones for her. Roll on summer!

Jean (Cheeky) Hayward