Having previously visited Camp Stream Hut in the Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park in Autumn after a long warm summer just ending, I was keen to pop up and over and check the area out in a cooler climate. Round Hill had just closed for season, the rivers were high with snowmelt and there were still patches of snow hugging the hollows on the hills so the area looked quite different. The ski-field road was an unrelenting grind made easier by biking up, I love riding along the plateau and taking in the wonderful surrounding views, especially as the last light leaves. Also there’s nothing quite as good as a set of wheels to make a tedious decent back in the dark go quicker. Once the trail starts to drop into the river valley sneakers was the best bet, knowing I was going to have wet feet for the majority of the trip, at least they are light. From the valley floor you cross a river (a very cold one full of snow melt) and back again then meander along till another crossing where you then follow Camp Stream up to the hut. The entire track was very wet, snow melting, full streams, but the scenery was stunning. With Round Hill’s bare slopes behind, rolling hills leading to glimpses of interesting valleys that disappeared into the Two Thumb Range and higher snow clad peaks just visible. The evening spent at the hut was beautiful, however once the sun fell behind the hills the temperature dropped like a stone and it was time to return. Heading back as dusk fell and the mountains were lit with orange was a welcome destruction from the fact that my feet were going from freezing to numb. The bike ride across and down as the sky went from various shades of blue to purple also did not help to warm things up. Thank-fully I was greeted by two kids who were overheating from hanging out in their sleeping bags and were only too happy to help defrost my toes.
To view the Camp Stream Hut painting visit here: https://www.bellamygallery.co.nz/collections/works-in-progress/products/camp-stream-hut-untitled
A while ago I explored the Arthurs Pass area with my good friend Dulkara, we walked up the Taramaku River, bush bashed through the thick & steep bush up to the open tops where we spent three days traversing the ridges. On the second afternoon, after lots of up and down ridge-line scrambling we approached Lake Morgan...
Camp Stream Hut, a historic musterers hut on the Te Araroa trail near Tekapo with Roundhill in the background. A magical place to visit, especially in the late afternoon although once the sun falls it becomes bitterly cold. On this particular trip the walk out was sodden with snow melt and my feet lost feeling in the last main river. Brr…
Inspired by an almost dreamlike trip along ridge lines, past Lake Morgan and to the top of Mt O’Shanessy the painting is slowly taking shape. I really wanted to capture those warm, golden, summer West Coast rays that you...
