Canyon Creek Adventure

During autumn I was lucky enough to venture into Canyon Creek, in North Otago for a look at some new country with two other friends. We had planned a big adventure on the West Coast, but fresh snow and cold temperatures got in the way of our plans, and the only thing worse than changing plans last minute is frozen toes. So Canyon Creek it was, up the Ahuriri River.

We waited until evening and drove to the Ahuriri carpark, where we set up our sleeping bags in the back of Clifford, the big red truck, and went to sleep amongst the frost. It was a freezing cold night, but we were warm and toasty inside the truck with many blankets!

Early the next morning we shuffled out of our sleeping bags and defrosted our cold hands with some coffee, waiting impatiently for the sun to come up. After the second coffee was finished and the sun finally hit us, we packed up and began the long slog into Canyon Creek. And what a pearler day it was to be in the back country!

After hitting the bush line and spending the morning looking through our binoculars for animals, we got a glimpse of Canyon Creek, and the zig-zagging track leading up to our campsite. We were excited to see the lake hidden at the top, which we had hoped to climb up to if there wasn't too much snow. Stopping for lunch (or any kind of snack) is always the highlight of the trips for me, and we definitely weren't going hungry on this trip! Lunch was crackers, cheese and salami, with some berry and biscuit chocolate on the side.

Finally after many stops we made it to the top, and immediately set up the tents to get out of the wind. After that we brewed another cup of tea and snuggled up under our sleeping bags, trying to warm up before heading out on the next adventure. I absolutely love taking in the views around me and being able to talk without having any distractions from phones or other devices.

That evening we punished ourselves even more by climbing up to the snow so we could see into the Ahuriri valley. It was beautiful, but so different from the green and wild West Coast valleys that I'm used to.

The next morning I was busted climbing out of my tent at 8am, well after the 5:30a.m. starts that I'm used to. We had more coffee and set off to get up to the alpine lake, which was completely covered in snow. The climb was a bit steeper but definitely do-able, and we sat by the lake as long as our limbs would let us before they began to freeze out of the sun.

After this it was time to head back down and back to civilisation, having scratched our alpine itch. Canyon Creek is one for the books if you're ever heading through the Lindis Pass, as it's only 3-4 hours to the campsite and not a very difficult walk. Just make sure if you don't have warm enough gear that you head there in summer, because brrrr.