Matakitaki-D'Urville gems
Date: 19 Oct 1999, The Press, Christchurch, page 20
Captions: The East Matakitaki hut, with a corridor of mountains crowding the valley head; Lake Rotoiti and the Travers Valley.

Less visited than more popular valleys to the east of the Nelson Lakes National Park, the Matakitaki has a good walking track and is the park's biggest valley. PAT BARRETT is enchanted by the beauty.

FACT FILE The Matakitaki Valley is reached by a long gravel road that leaves State Highway 6, 3km north of Murchison. The road travels via the Mangles and Tutaki valleys to Matakitaki Station, where cars can be left at the entrance to the national park. Access to the D'Urville River is by water taxi on Lake Rotoroa. Generally the terrain provides long, rewarding tramps into the little known area of the park, with good huts and some bridges available. Two passes cross to the D'Urville: David's saddle, a high direct crossing, and our route which lay over an unnamed pass further up valley. Both routes are straightforward, but ice axes and crampons may be needed in summer and are essential in winter. The route described would take an average party four to five days. Map sheets: M30 and M31.

The Matakitaki Valley in the western portion of Nelson Lakes National Park is remarkably beautiful. It is enhanced by the expanses of tussock flats bordered by luxuriant red beech forest and a blue, sparkling river in a series of short gorges and braided channels.

This enchanting scene is set against the rugged backdrop of the Spenser mountains which close off the valley to the south where Faerie Queene, 2236m, dominates the valley head.

This peak was named by W.L.Travers, a wild and eccentric Irishman of the Nelson Survey Department, who, with Christopher Maling, explored much of the country east of the divide. Travers left a plethora of names, from his favourite poets and their works, throughout the empty landscape.

The range blocking their access to the west became Spenser, with its principal summits Faerie Queene, Gloriana, and Una.

The Matakitaki River carries a large volume of water from the catchment it drains to the south, west, and east. It is much less visited than the more popular valleys to the east, despite the fact that good valley track provides an easy although long route through the valley.

The valley is shaped like a giant Y with eastern and western branches forming the arms of the Y above the works. It takes from eight to 12 hours to reach the eastern valley head, depending on fitness and weather conditions, and a similar time to reach the western valley head.

My visit, with a group of keen friends, was at New Year, to this idyllic setting to spend the last night of the year. The sun ebbed slowly from the sky with a thousand stars filling the heavens, and a new moon drifted peacefully above the mountain tops, where we were camped at Downies flat in the lower valley. From here the undulated track took us onwards into the east branch of the Matakitaki, passing over a precarious three-wire swing bridge with a deep, swift current jetting beneath.

Finally, after a short steep scramble through the upper gorge we arrived at one of the highlights of the trek: East Matakitaki hut, which is one of the most isolated huts in the Southern Alps.

The area's beauty is stunning.

The small six-bunk hut stands just beyond the bush edge on a small flat of golden grass beside the gurgling east Matakitaki. Above the hut a corridor of mountains crowd the valley head with bush falling in a thick mat from the high peaks over which tower scree faces and sheer rock bluffs.

Robins called from the bush, and on the warm summer breeze came the distant call of keas as they soared above the valley.

Beyond our high camp lay an unnamed pass to the D'Urville River, our spectacular route to the east.

Here in the headwaters ribbons of water cascade thousands of feet from high snowfields, above which jagged summits and passes guard routes to distant watersheds. Tussock fields extend below the pass into easy meadows beside the river whilst across the valley looms the impressive bulk of Mount Ella.

The next two days found us wandering into the lower D'Urville, where the track becomes easier and a delight to travel. It hugs the river bank and crosses large open grass flats and winds through impressive stands of tall red beech forest with the river passing in an endless torrent of deep pools, foaming rapids, and dark gorges. This truly is a valley that holds the essence of tramping experience and, together with the Matakitaki, provides a diverse experience of the attractions of Nelson Lakes National Park. .