Sabine Branches Circuit. Two Easter Bunnies in Nelson Lakes.

We finally discovered the Clarence - Wairau Road and drove up to Lake Tennyson on the Thursday evening before Easter. For some reason the trusty Google Maps sent us over Jollies Pass rather than Jacks Pass at Hanmer Springs which was especially fun in the dark. Nearly two hours of gravel (metalled?) road later we were at Lake Tennyson and trying not to disturb the rest of the people there who are sensibly arrived whilst it was still light.



Friday dawned fine and the lake was especially beautiful in the morning light.





There was only a little effort involved in climbing to Maling Pass, before an easy 400m descent to the Waiau River. The track up the river is part of the Te Araroa trail ('The long pathway' http://www.teararoa.org.nz/) which will soon stretch from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Because of this it was in the process of being substantially upgraded with some recent pretty agressive trail maintenance going on.



We reached the Caroline Creek Bivvy after another 2 hours or so where a group of hunters had settled in for the Easter weekend. Beyond the Biv the character of the valley changes considerably, becoming much narrower and rocky.



We camped at 'Top Forks' campsite, an informal but well established area in the last patch of bush on the route to the pass.

Saturday was another great weather day and we had fantastic views on the crossing of Waiau Pass. This is a reasonably steep poled route, with a couple of small rocky steps near the top.








We passed a tramping party coming the other way who were heading over to the Pasque Valley. From the top of the pass Lake Constance came in to view and scree / rock descent took us to the shores for a late lunch.



The route to Blue Lake, our destination for the day was slightly convoluted from here as we had to climb around a steep bluff that jutted out in to the lake. This 10 minute section was probably the most exposed of the day.





We were disappointed, but not surprised to find the Blue Lakes Hut full, but found a great spot down by the lake.



It started raining early evening, but had stopped by morning, so we had our fingers crossed that the predicted weather front had gone through early. But there was a lot of cloud around and no wind, so it was kind of ominous.
We passed a party of three doing the same route as us, but in reverse. The party leader kindly took a picture of us, so that should we not manage to escape from the wilds of the East Sabine River, he would have something to show to mountain rescue. We met this party again, after the tramp – they arrived back at Lake Tennyson exactly when we did.



The rain held off until we crossed the Sabine swing bridges, but then grew steadily heavier as we headed up to the East Sabine. There were plenty of tired looking people coming down off of Travers Saddle, who told us they had spent a night camped on the tops ('very wet and windy')
The East Sabine was the most demanding part of the trip. A 5 hour bush bash in the wet. It was a long 5 hours and we were soaked through after 1. Luckily it wasn't too cold. The route had a fair amount of windfall and regrowth and the 'Open Bush' described in the guide book seemed to be mixed with just as much 'closed bush'



We called it a day about 5 and camped 1.5km before the bushline and made a good fire to cheer us up in the fading light.



The final day saw a return to better weather, though high cloud obscured the tops and stopped too much sun. It was a long day. The bush in the upper valley did provide easy travel, but the scrub / tussock mixed with boulders and holes was more awkward.





Things improved after morning tea and we made good time to the pass below Belvedere Peak.



Halfway down the Clarence Valley I had finally had enough of my new boots, which were sending spasms up through my ankles by that time, and finished the trip in sandals. The valley was easy walking anyway and as I waded sections of the final section around Lake Tennyson they came in very useful. We arrived back at the car 17:00 which we changed to 16:00 as we had saved our bonus hour due to the end of daylight saving until then.

Drove back via Jacks Pass at the recommendation of some trampers.

A good trip.