This years Wild Waitangi Weekend Adventure was amazing, especially being able to cross a trip off my ever growing bucket list, even though it was a plan b trip.
The Dingle Burn Valley stretches from the upper Ahuriri in the east all the way down to Lake Hawea in the west, with access to the Ahuriri via Birchwood Road just out of Omarama.
We left Ashburton at 7am on Saturday morning, stopping briefly in Geraldine to pick up two members of the group and carried on to the Wrinkley Rams in Omarama for morning tea.
About eight kilometres further along the highway we turned off on to Birchwood Road. This road is unsealed, has a number of fords to cross and is prone to slips and washouts after heavy or prolonged rain. We were coming in after one such rain event and unsure how far we would get in the Toyota RAV. We made it as far as Birchwood cottage, where we parked up and proceeded to walk the final five kilometres to the start of the Dingle Burn Track. Fortunately we weren’t walking long before a family group passed and offered us a ride in the tray of their Ute.
The Dingle Burn Track was once part of the now historic Ben Avon Station, with the section from Birchwood Road to the saddle following an old farm 4wd track. With a 600 metre elevation gain, following the old zig zag farm track makes for pretty easy travel. The track starts in beech forest until eventually coming out into open tussock country. During the climb you are rewarded with impressive views down to the Ahuriri Valley and river flats.
It took us just over two hours to reach the saddle and with a cool wind on top we didn’t linger long to take in the views of the upper Dingle Burn Valley.
The track down is narrow and steep in parts, especially when reaching the tree line, but we made quick work of it. Once out of the trees in the valley it is a very short distance to Top Dingle Hut.
The hut sits in a lovely clearing with great views to the river below. It sleeps six, has a smoky open fire place and water is available from a side stream either next to the hut or just below. If the hut is full there is heaps of space for tents either at the hut or anywhere in the valley.
The return trip follows the same track, again the climb up to the saddle was just over two hours with the old 4wd track making an easier and slightly quicker descent. Unfortunately no vehicles came by on our walk out so we had an extra hour to go and five kilometres to get back to the vehicle.
Comments