Rees-Dart Track 2010

Day five began with packing up the tents in the rain and heading off at 7.30am. We had to be at the end by 2pm for the bus pick up back to Queenstown otherwise we would be camping at the bus stop with the sandflys.



The track on this day was around 17kms, but the track was fairly even (no rocks under foot) so the walking was easy, with a few steep sections through the beech forest. The rain cleared after about an hour so we did not get too wet.




We made it to the bus stop at 1pm with an hour to spare, just enough time to have lunch and change out of our wet hiking boots. I was so pleased that I made it to the end of the hike without any injuries. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever done but it was worth all of the training and hiking to look back on the photos of an amazing journey that I will remember forever.

I would like to thank Jason and Rosheen from Vital Lifestyle, and the amazing bunch of ladies that mentored me through this trip. I will remember you all!

Day four began as a nice sunny morning, however we were expecting rain around lunch time and were hoping to make it to Dalys Flat hut before that so we could pitch our tents whilst it was dry.



The terrain on this day was a mixture of cattle flats and beech forests a there were alot of small water crossings; I am not quite sure why thet were called cattle flats, because there were no cattle and it was not that flat!




The day was around 16kms and would take us 7 hours to complete, and we made it before the rain! The Hut at Dalys flat was overcrowded so we braved it for the last night in the tents, complete with sandflys. It rained that night but luckily it was our last night.

Day three was an optional rest day for me, I took advantage of the opportunity to rest up for the final two days of the hike. I spent the day unpacking the tent (we got a bed for the second night at Dart Hut when everyone else left), doing some washing and sleeping.

Everyone else took the hiking option and walked up to Cascade Saddle. Here are some pictures of what I missed out on.

The day began at 7am. I am not a happy camper so I did not sleep well and it was so cold when I got up that there was ice on my pack. We would warm up pretty quickly on the walk though.



This was the day I was not looking forward too, I knew it was going to be the toughest day of the hike as it was a day of low kms but with climbing and descents. We left Shelter Rock Hut at 8.30am, and slowly began our climb to Rees Saddle. The climbing terrain was not too bad, however after several hours it gets quite difficult. At this point in the trip I felt confident with my footing, during training I was always hesitant with where to step. The tracks were not flat, we had to constantly negotiate rocks and it was like doing a million step ups. My walking poles became my best friends. Again, the photos do not do the terrain justice!



After sever hours walking mostly uphill, we had a well deserved morning tea break with a view.




The track got more difficult, at one point it turned into a waterfall!



We kept climbing up to the bottom of the Rees Saddle. The Saddle was a steep climb to the top, thankfully Jason carried not only my pack but Judy's pack at the same time! It was a steep climb, made easier without the weight of a 15kg pack. We had lunch at the top of the Saddle and the view was worth it.




After lunch the track headed down the valley, the distance we hiked (4kms) was short but it would take us around 5 hours to climb down the valley. I've named this day 'the track the never ended' because it felt like it never would! There was some difficult rocks to climb down, but also some beautiful scenery.

We got to Dart Hut after 11 hours of walking (so much for the estimated 4-5 hours!), the hut was full so it was another night of camping under the stars.

Our day began at 7am with breakfast at the hostel. We caught a bus from Queenstown to Glenorchy at 8.15, where we changed buses and drove onto Muddy Creek which was the start of the hike.



We set off walking at around 10.30am, and the first half of the day was pretty flat, although very muddy. We all wore gaiters, however my shoes would still get wet. There were several water crossings (just enough to get our feet wet) and one river crossing at 25 mile creek. Thankfully the creek was only at knee level and it was safe to cross, but it was freezing cold! We continued along flat ground with some occasional climbs but the terrain was mostly grassy and muddy farm land.



At around 2pm we arrived at the start of Mt Aspiring national park, where we downed our packs and had lunch.



After lunch we headed into the start of the beech forest which slowly climbed up. Every now and then we would head into a grass clearing, and I encountered my first swing bridge!



The beech forest was really pretty, I had to keep reminding myself to look up instead of watching my feet. We crossed several waterfalls, I did not look down or think about what we were doing as some of the crossings were really steep. We usually crossed at a low water point so it did not feel too dangerous, but I did not want to think about the rocks below. The photos do not do the situation justice!



Day one was pretty long, we covered 16kms in 10 hours, arriving at Shelter Rock Hut at about 8pm. Unfortunately the hut was full and there were no beds left, so we pitched our tents and changed into thermals because it was going to be a cold night. Jason and Rosheen cooked dinner (noodles) and we left our boots to dry in front of the wood fire.

The day began at 3.30am when KT and I caught a lift to the airport for our 7am flight to Queenstown. I had not slept at all the night before as I was rushing to finish an assignment, so I was pretty delirious at that point!

The flight went well, Queenstown airport is amazing, it was nice landing among the mountains (although the lady in front of me did not think so and panicked as we landed). There were a million questions from the Customs officers (or so it seemed) and our gear was inspected, luckily we had been told to clean all of our boots and walking poles beforehand.



We checked into BASE hostel and spent the rest of the day shopping for food, buying any last minute gear, packing our back packs and buying hut passes for the hike. We all had dinner at a bar on the lake, before going to bed early. At this point I was too tired to feel nervous, I just wanted to sleep.

Yesterday we did 1.5 laps of the Glasgow road track in the Dandenongs, the really steep and rocky one! It was without a doubt the toughest training session ever! My heart rate averaged 170-180bps over the four hours, even on the way down it was high from fear because it is so steep and rocky. I burnt over 3000 calories so I really worked hard.

But, it was probably the last time I HAVE to do that track, my PT now wants us to focus on distance with a loaded pack rather than steepness. So my instructions for the next 4 weeks are to walk longer and flatter distances with a 15kg pack. I plan on walking 2 laps of Studley park when possible, each lap is 8km and the track is still a little up and down with some rocky patches. So it will be good training.

I am getting a little nervous now....