"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams" - Oprah Winfrey
Normally the long Easter Weekend means a challenging multi-day trip exploring new areas. Last year the planned trip was cancelled as we were in lockdown for this Covid-19 pandemic. This year, I didn't have any big trips planned, just a quick overnighter up the Rangitata River to Curtis Memorial Hut.
It turned out to be a pretty good plan, especially as the weather was going to be turning nor-west on Saturday, which can bring lots of rain to the rivers in the Canterbury headwaters and definitely unpleasantly strong wind.
This trip was going to be a mix of driving from the Potts River up to Curtis Memorial Hut, then a return walk up to St Winifreds Hut. As it was also well into the roar, we were expecting a full valley and equally full huts, so we were prepared to be tenting out for the night.
Parking at the Potts River, we unloaded the RZR from the trailer and loaded on all our gear. We followed the river down to where it fans out into many braided branches making for good crossings. We then headed up valley to cross the Clyde River where it joins into the Havelock River.
Behind us we could see the southerly rolling in, and in front of us there were patches of blue sky and cloud but no rain.
We continued up the river, there were patches of smooth stones making travel pleasant, but the larger stones and boulders did slow down progress at times. We decided to keep to the true left of the Havelock River hoping to find remnants of an old track that headed towards Curtis Memorial Hut and beyond.
The further we travelled, the less likely it appeared we were to come across a track, but it was great to be running alongside the Cloudy Peak Range and Freezing Point. All our past trips up here have been up the true right following the track near Growler Hut.
Eventually we picked up an old track on tussock benches opposite Carneys Creek, it was great knowing that we were close to the hut and that the travel would be much more pleasant for the remainder of the way.
We arrived at Curtis Memorial Hut after a 2 hour drive, if we had been in the 4WD truck, it would have been a much slower and bouncier trip.
We were incredibly lucky to arrive at the hut and there be no one in residence, surely people would arrive as the day progressed?
We set about unloading the RZR, and getting our gear into the hut. After a quick lunch and getting the day packs sorted we were out the door heading up valley, for a walk to St Winifreds Hut.
From Curtis Memorial Hut, the old 4WD track seems to be well used and clearly defined on the tussock benches. There are only a couple of sections where we were in the river bed, but the stones were friendly and the walking not too strenuous.
As we crested the high point of the shingle at Fan Stream we could see St Winifreds Hut and Eric Bivouac in the distance. We found a suitable crossing point of the Havelock River, on me it was knee deep and not too swift. We then carried on the short distance to the hut.
Again this hut was empty, so we lingered for a while, glassing the nearby slopes, and enjoying a well earned afternoon snack.
As all good things must come to an end, so did our lazy afternoon. We retraced our crossing of the Havelock River and headed back down to the hut for the night.
It was just us in the hut that night, looking across and down river the other side of the valley was quite full.
Sunday dawned clear and sunny, with a bit of wind starting to pick up. We had decided that for our return trip we would cross over to Carneys Creek and pick up the well used 4WD track, stop in at Growler Hut to see if any hunters were around, then head back down to the Potts River and the vehicle.
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