I hiked up the Cobb Valley, in New Zealand's Kahurangi National Park, for three days/two nights. I spent both nights at Fenella Hut, hiking up the ridge to the east on the day in-between.
The road into Cobb Valley is...something you don't want to mention to your car rental company at the airport. It's about 34 km, where the first 2 km are two lane, the rest is one lane, and the final 20 km is dirt. None of it requires high clearance or any such thing, I drove it in a Toyota Corolla. It just makes car rental companies sad when they hear about "unsealed roads", so it's best not to make them sad. Here is a "sealed" section of the road:
Here's a little guy I encountered at the trailhead, a Weka. And at the hut. And on the trail. A word of caution...do not leave anything loose lying around where Weka are found, they will take it (I never lost anything, but people do...).
This is not the well-manicured route that Abel Tasman is, but it's relatively straightforward, and the valley is quite beautiful:
New Zealand's huts, the non-reserved variety found here and most places (but not the "Great Walks"), are classed as either Basic, Standard, or Serviced. "Serviced" largely means they probably provide firewood and probably have indoor water taps (which still require purification). Basic: free, Standard: NZD $5, Serviced: NZD $15. For Standard and Serviced huts one buys "hut tickets" in advance then drops them into a locked/slotted "honor box" in the hut. Here was a pretty cool "Basic" hut where I stopped to eat lunch and dry off from a shower: Cobb Hut:
Here is the "Serviced" hut, higher up, where I stayed: Fenella:
An undocumented, though signposted, feature of this "Serviced" hut is a nearby tarn/swimming hole, about 400 meters away. It's also quite photogenic under the right sky conditions:
Here is a view from the ridge above the hut, looking across the valley towards Cobb Lake:
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2017 08:30PM by ttilley.
