Hope Kiwi Pass

A few weeks ago, the University of Canterbury finally had its Clubs Days, where the school's teams, societies and clubs set up booths and convince you to join the ranks of their esteemed members. I joined the volleyball club (although they have no gym to play in post-earthquake), the Gentlemen's Club (a social club, for Bingo nights and cocktail parties), dance classes (although I have yet to attend one), but most importantly I joined the Tramping Club. Although I may have explained what tramping is in an earlier blog, let me refresh your memory: Tramping = Hiking. And no, Mum, tramping does not make you a tramp :)

Canterbury University Tramping Club (CUTC) runs trips all over the South Island every weekend. It's an amazing way to see parts of New Zealand that are only accessible by foot. CUTC's Freshers trip kickstarts the year, combining new members with past members on an overnight. Normally there would be over 100 people on the trip, but as a result of the earthquake, a lot of people pulled out of UC so there were only 50 people this year. The trip took us to Hope Kiwi Pass, which is in Lake Sumner Forest Park (100 km northwest of Christchurch). Mal and Drea both came, and we met loads of new people.

A few of the TC's members

The hike out was sunny and pleasant, although there were many wasps about and Mal got stung on her ankle, resulting in a 3-day cankle. Arriving at Hope Valley 16km later, we spent the afternoon playing sardines in the long grass. At night, we hung out with our new friends before retiring to our tents.

Playing in the long grass

Not a bad view!

Sunday wasn't quite as beautiful as Saturday, but it was still a pleasant walk back. We were greeted with a BBQ at the carpark, along with a lesson in river crossing (there are lot of drownings in NZ each year so they take river crossings very seriously). The water was frigid so I was thankful to have clothes to change into! We were bussed back to Christchurch and arrived back at Ilam around 7:00. We were exhausted, but we loved the trip and I definitely can't wait to get back out with the CUTC again soon.

Morning light hitting a different kind of tent city