Date: 12-13th April 2014
Tramps: Zeinab Chegini, Tania Seward, Jeff Ducrot, Rachael Horner
Words: Zeinab Chegini
Photos: Tania Seward
Cuddling, huddling, huggling, snuggling; these are the terms that are discussed when four happy trampers share a two bunk biv. What would an overnight tramp be without copious amounts of huddling anyway?
We were at Devil’s Den Biv at Lewis pass, enjoying some vegetarian, dairy-free soup made by Jeff. And if you know Jeff you’ll know that meals just can’t go wrong with him around.
The morning had started with us meeting at Rachael’s place for a delicious pancake breakfast, after which Tania, Jeff, Rachel and I had set off for Lewis Pass. It was rainy and foggy and going for a soak in Hanmer Springs instead of tramping was tempting enough to be joked about. But sure enough, we got to the beginning of the track and our journey started. It was drizzly and somewhat cold, and walking kept us warm. We passed Nina hut half-way through the trip and made our way through an unmaintained track in a beautiful forest.
After passing the bushline the tussocks were nice to walk on, and we reached the biv just as darkness fell. We had a warm dinner which was the second best thing after sighting the biv. The excitement of the evening led us to discussions that etiquette would not normally allow, such as assigning territories for each person so that we don’t walk on a territory marked by another, if you know what I mean.
The next morning we woke up to snow and Tania ran out in her infamous mint green Crocs to take a picture of the hut. The snow solved the territory problem for us since they could be clearly marked now.
We said goodbye to the warm hut and made our way down through a different route this time. We passed through some tussock and some more hobbity forest, and after a walk through a beautiful grassland beside the river and a final river crossing we reached the road. Some hitchhiking took Jeff back to the car and the car took a very happy group back to the Christchurch.
CUTC 