After canyoning in Robinson Creek, we drove North up the West Coast in uncharacteristic sunshine. We stopped at the car park to Blow Fly Hut and after much faffing walked into the hut for lunch. Well kind of lunch. We consumed a tub of yoghurt by the river and then continued walking. We climbed up to the tops which was a bit of a slog. Unfortunately the cloud had come in and pushed the sun away. Along the tops we walked. Sometimes the cloud would clear briefly and we’d get a view out towards the valleys below. We reached the new Mataketake Hut, which is bookable. It was cosy and full of girls so we didn’t stick around (it had also been booked out) preferring just one female and lumpy ground. We continued on towards Dime Lake where we planned to pitch our tents.
Abruptly, the cloud began to clear as we were pitching our tents and we climbed back up from our tent site and took photos. We had pitched some way above the lake in some moderately flat spots. I started preparing our rice risotto for dinner and we chatted. It was a nice evening and the disappearing clouds had left stars in the sky. I took some night photos of the glowing tent as Craig and Rachel headed off to bed.
The cloud snuck back in by the morning and we walked down to Maori Saddle Hut from the tops. We faffed around there with cups of tea and food for a while before walking out towards Blowfly Hut and back to the road. We treated ourselves to a swim in Lake Paringa and drove North. We camped at Lake Ianthe in the evening and enjoyed the sandflies and mosquitos as we cooked “the last supper”. The following day we drove back to Christchurch. The sky was moody and so was Craig’s stomach so we skipped our planned canyon and went through Cave Stream instead.
