1910 - 1945 St Arnaud
Left Hunters Hut to go to Red Hills Hut and the day basically consisted of going up and down the valleys of the Red Hills staying above the Upper Motueka River.
There must be and incredible amount of water go through here at times. Some of the side streams we cross are only about four times the size of the stream at home but they have gouged out boulder beds 20-30m wide and 10m deep.
In some ways the track here is more risky that the higher parts with sidling across packed gravel above a long drop being more common than I would have liked. Well. You can't have everything I suppose.
When we got to Red Hills Hut I was seriously in need of a pie and a beer so I left Mr Frodo there and continued on to St Arnaud meaning to hitch once I hit the road. This was slightly stuffed up by there being no place for cars to safely pull over but I made it eventually. The pie was good.
Hindsight
- Poles would have been handy on some of the steeper parts of the Motueka.
- If you are walking to St Arnaud then Red Hills hut is a good place to stay.
- If you are hitching then stop when you hit the road and stay there. It is the best spot.
- Some people ran into dogs that tried to bite them while walking the road.
- The shop is very expensive.
- There is a DOC campground near the lake which is a lot cheaper than the backpackers.
St Arnaud Map
