Back down to lake side

Today has been marvelously rough and demanding.

From Lake Angelus we crossed from the relative ease of tussock to steep, broken rock, jagged ridges and back to broken rock again before we reached the bush line.

Then we descended 1000m straight down to the Sabine Hut (sand fly city and wasp haven), close to where the Sabine River enters the top end of Lake Rotoiti.

The photo was taken in the latter stages of our long traverse of Cedric Ridge. Not far above the bush line it widened out and we had a superb view back to the bottom end of Lake Rotoroa where we'd parked out cars two days earlier.

Sabine Hut is older and darker, tucked into the edge of the bush beside the lake. We braved the sandflies and wasps and had a swim in the lake. It was surprisingly warm (warm being a relative concept - compared to a mountain tarn for example). I certainly felt a lot cleaner afterwards.

The Sabine River is one of the areas prime back country trout rivers. I'd carefully worked out I was prepared to carry 700gm of fishing gear and take the opportunity to fish back country.

In perfect warm and windless conditions, I spent a happy couple of late afternoon hours wandering along the lake edge between the hut and Sabine River. Less than 100m from the hut I was in the thick of deer sign, more than I've seen in a long time. There was fresh sign from early that morning and older sign many days previously. I spotted where the deer rub the bark off the trees and their favoured pathway into and out of the bush.

In crystal clear calf deep water I spotted a magnificent brown trout. I grinned from ear to ear as it quietly slipped back to the safety of deeper waters. The bush and views felt very West Coast. I negotiated huge logs to keep my boots dry until right before I reached the first channel of the Sabine River. I ummed and ahhed and in the end thought "Bugger it, wet boots it is". A big call as I knew they wouldn't dry out over the next four days.

But it was worth it. I had the river and lake edge to myself. A small rainbow trout followed in one lure, curious until it ran out of water. I had a couple of other touches but no firm take. That didn't matter, in this setting I'd release anything I caught. At least one large brown trout was feeding where the second river channel entered the lake, it's tail was easily as large as my hand. I watched another large splash and frenzy of thrashing, either the same fish or another similarly sized mate.

The sand flies were relentless but the net thing over my head and cap worked well. The best $10 I've spent in a long time. I wandered back to the hut where I negotiated the awful long drop loos and the kamakazee wasps that hang around waiting for bare bums and nether regions. 

Fortunately mine are all intact ;-)

If I can just say (I'm about to rant), I'm sick of young (and in one case, not so young) foreign tourists who use our back country huts and camp sites and don't pay.

It is theft, free loading and no, you don't have a right to use the huts and facilities for free. If you can't afford or won't pay $5 - $15 per night for a camping site/hut, don't come. No excuses and don't insult me with your lies. (You're safe again, rant over ;-)