Trekking in NZ: Day 2: Perry Saddle Hut to Saxon Hut (16 kms)

Beautiful morning - sun streaming in through the windows.

First up: the climb to the top of Mt Perry (from 885 m to 1238 m). Only a few of us took this on (silly me)! There was a lovely section with the most amazing variety of alpine plants as we climbed out of the plains below. Very technical climb. Panoramic views at the top including of the snow on the distant mountain ranges. We were very slow coming down - it was incredibly tricky and I did a few uncontrolled slides and glides.

After the descent, it was a straightforward route back on the main track through tussock areas alongside the Perry Creek and via lovely beech forest and waterfalls into red tussock downs stretching westwards. Quintinia Waterfall:

We had morning tea sitting in the sun at Picnic Table Corner; passed the famous Boot Pole which marks the change in direction of the track and where trampers have tied old boots over the years; then lunch with a pesky weka at Gouland Downs Hut (7 kms, if you don’t include our detour to Mt Perry). This hut was built in 1936 and surrounding it is an outcrop of numerous limestone caves in a beech forest carpeted in mosses and ferns and a lacy waterfall.

Saw a variety of birds (no animals in NZ!!): whio on the river; rifleman birds, tomtits and robins.

From there it was a really nice walk of 5.4 kms into Saxon Hut (our stop for the night). The walk passed through open grasslands crossed by streams and waterfalls. There was even a nicely positioned seat with a pleasant view - one of only 2 seats I saw on the track! MF and I walked this section together and enjoyed a short rest here.

We cross several creeks and rivers over bridges. The group crossing Big River:

Saxon is such a nicer hut because there are only 16 beds and only 8 of us plus a young German couple on 6 months sabbatical and Norm from the US walking on his own. It is also a fairly new hut; named after John Saxon who surveyed the track in 1886.