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The Winter Expedition: Conquering Snowy Mount Fyffe
Kaikoura, 9th & 10th December 2001.
We got up pretty casually this morning. Stinge was the first up
because he had slept so much during yesterday evening! We spent a
few hours carefully packing & re-packing our bags. We wanted to take
just the stuff we really needed up the mountain. No unnecessary
weight. It was like packing for our "Duke Of Edinburgh Award"
expeditions!
After we'd finally sorted out all our gear, we made up a huge lunch
to keep us going. As we were eating lunch, today's Kiwi Experience
bus turned up. We recognised lots of the faces. It's true than when
you're backpacking, you'll keep running into the same people. After
saying hello to them all, we headed off. Packs bulging and
waterproofs in hand, we walked down to the tourist office. Although
it was definitely going to rain, we decided we'd waited long enough
and this was our last chance to climb Mount Fyffe.
It's 15km to the base of the mountain, which is a long walk in
itself, so like most people we took the shuttle to the base of the
mountain. It's a long journey there, but fairly straight. As we
won't be able to phone for the shuttle tomorrow, we tried our best
to remember the route because we'll have to walk it tomorrow. It's
ok to walk 15km after DESCENDING a mountain, but not a good idea to
walk 15km before ASCENDING a mountain.
 We arrived at a big, green wooden gate at the bottom of a muddy
track winding up and through the trees. It had started to drizzle,
so we quickly pulled on our waterproofs. As we wanted to put our
backpacks under our waterproofs to keep our supplies dry, we all
looked quite strange. Stinge had 2 bags, one on his front & one on
his back, with his rain-jacket over them so he looked like a big
green wheel with legs. Em was carrying a small bag on her back and
carrying her sleeping bag on her front, so she looked like she was a
pregnant hunchback. Natalie had a big backpack and was wearing a
black poncho, so she looked like a big, black insect. I was wearing
a big backpack under a green rain jacket with a light, see-through
poncho on top which apparently made me look like a fat green fairy!
Looking up at the path, we couldn't see very far ahead because the
mist was heavy. We had no idea where the peak was or how high it was
(Yes, we knew it was 1600m, but it's hard to imagine what that
actually looks like). We then started our trudge up the track. At
first it was easy going, but the track was relentless. Always up and
usually steep. We wound through rocky paths, the undergrowth thick
around us. The path before us unfolded from the mist. We made lots
of stops to catch our breath. As we climbed higher, we passed a
group of people coming down. 'It's hailing at the top!' they shouted
to us.
 As we got higher, the undergrowth disappeared and the track became a
narrow path with steep drops on either side. We could see right down
into the valley below us. That was some drop. The flat, grey rock
face dropped quickly down and the bottom was hidden amongst trees &
brush.
We kept climbing and the air got gradually colder. The rain teased
us, it stopped momentarily, before getting heavier. We pulled our
hoods further down our faces and kept pushing up. Sleet started to
fall as our warm breath formed white clouds of vapour in front of
our faces. Each time we saw a peak, we thought it was the top. But
as we walked through the mist, we discovered it was just a plateau,
and the path continued to wind upwards.
 We passed signs as we climbed...250m....750m....1000m. The frost was
now becoming very clear on the ground. Then we saw the best sign of
all: 'Mt Fyffe Hut, 5 minutes'. We cheered, and with renewed vigour,
we pushed round the final corner. As we stepped round, we were
greeted with the sight of a small white building. It was very plain,
but strong looking. By the door was a half-full wood shelter. Wood =
Warm fire in the building! Yeay! As we walked towards the building,
snow began to fall around us at a steadily increasing pace.
We entered the building to find a father & son had already got the
fire burning. They'd hung some wet clothes over the wooden beams to
dry. A pan of water was boiling on the stove. We looked round the
single room. There were six plain, blue bunk beds, a small, black,
iron stove and a large, metal work surface. It was basic, but much
better than we expected to find.
Exhausted, and with the weather getting worse, we decided to forget
about the summit. 1200m is more than enough for today. We hung up
our clothes on the remaining beams and began to search our bags to
find some much needed dinner. An hour later, we were all fed and
wrapped in our sleeping bags sitting on our beds. The fire was still
blazing so the room was cosy & warm. We spent a few hours writing,
reading, chatting & playing cards.
 Of course, it wasn't too long before we wanted to know about the
toilet facilities. The other man told us that about 100 yards around
the corner there was a little round porta-loo type thing. It turned
out to be a very small, smelly drop-shoot type of toilet. Everything
just falls into a basin under the toilet seat. Lovely. We also
learned a lovely New Zealand phrase: 'Dropping the Kids off' = going
for a poo. Nice?
After it got dark, we all decided to go to sleep as there wasn't
much else to do in this little hut. It wasn't the most comfortable
place in the world, but I fell asleep eventually, using my backpack
as a pillow. Stinge was the only one who had trouble sleeping,
because he was right next to the other man who snored all night,
very loudly!
The next day, we woke quite early, with the sun. When we looked
around, we realised that the other guy and his son had gone, but
left some of their stuff behind.
I was desperate for the toilet, so I quickly got dressed and stepped
outside. I was greeted with a magnificent view. Before me, stretched
a carpet of thick, white snow. Every now and then a brown rock could
be seen jutting out. I turned round, and behind the hut, far in the
distance, reaching into the sky, was the snow covered peak of Mount
Fyffe. My staring in wonderment was quickly broken due to the fact I
was almost ankle deep in snow & starting to feel the cold. So I
quickly hurried through the snow path to the toilet.
When I returned, because the fire had burned out and it was quite
cold, we all got ready quickly and ate a quick breakfast. Just as we
were leaving, the father & son returned. They hadn't brought any
rain-jackets, so they were wearing black bin-bags with arm holes cut
into them. They said they'd tried to reach the summit, but the
weather got so bad & the visibility so low, that they were forced to
turn back.
After saying farewell, we started our descent. The layers of snow
soon disappeared, but we were happy. We'd had our first white
Christmas for longer than we can remember. We sped down the mountain
singing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas". The clouds were very
high and we quickly passed through them on our journey down. This
meant we had a clear & breathtaking view of the land around. Mount
Fyffe was surrounded by a range of other mountains, some taller,
some smaller. Far down below, square green fields stretched for
miles around. A thin blue river snaked through the valley. Far out
on the peninsula we could make out the small town of Kaikoura,
shining in the distance next to the sparkling blue sea.
The downhill journey was much easier. There was no rain and the pace
was brisk. We sped down the slopes, winding through the same paths
as yesterday, hardly stopping at all. As we neared the bottom, the
sun could be felt beating down on the backs of our necks. We soon
reached the car park at the bottom of the mountain and paused for a
moment. Then we began the 15km trek home.
We started by hiking along the straight gravel paths. There was
little sign of life except for field after field packed with cows.
One herd of cows came galloping over to us, which was quite scary
because cows are BIG things. Luckily they didn't try to mow the
fence down.
We soon came to a real tarmac road and turned right towards Kaikoura.
It was pretty much one long road all the way back. After walking for
about 30 minutes, a big black jeep pulled up beside us. Written on
the side was 'Kaikoura Motorbikes'. A middle aged guy with grey hair
& round glasses leant out and asked "Need a ride into town?" As
Kaikoura is the only town around for miles & miles, he could only
mean this town. We all nodded vigorously and eagerly boarded his
jeep.
After speeding through the roads for a while, seeing what we could
have walked, but luckily didn't have to, he dropped us off just
outside the town centre. We soon got back to the hostel to get much
needed warm showers & a big, hot dinner. We relaxed for the rest of
the evening (we deserved it), before getting an early night. I need
to get up at 5am tomorrow to go WHALE WATCHING! Night Night!
Next Diary Entry >>
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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