“On a Mish” #97 My Hip and the Havelock Valley (Part One). Havelock Valley. Hakatere Conservation Park.18.5.2020. Back in 2020 the world was plunged into chaos thanks to Covid, and for weeks we were all confined to the four walls of our homes as we waited for the ‘all clear’. It was only a couple of months before that I had seriously damaged my hip in a work accident. This rendered me immobile and unable to go out into the wild world I loved so dearly, and then ironically, everyone joined me in my situation stuck at home. The lack of wilderness was really getting to me, so when we were allowed to venture into the wild, I went with my cousin Adam in his Suzuki Jimny on an adventure involving my bad hip and the Havelock Valley…
Along with the news that we could head out into the real world was the fact that there was going to be three days of sunshine above the hills of Hakatere. Somehow, we agreed on a mish up the Havelock Valley, and thanks to all of my time spent climbing around Mt Potts I knew the area well… from a distance. I was both excited and nervous as I was super keen to get back into the outdoors, but I didn’t know how my hip would cope with the many bumps of a 4WD mission. I’ll never know if I don’t go, so after meeting up with my bro (cousin) we drove to where the water of the Rangitata River flows.
It is about three hours or so to get from Christchurch to beyond the Rangitata Gorge. It is near the gorge that the land goes from a slight upward angle to mounds, hills and mountains. Growing up I would look across the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps, waiting for a day when the whanau went west. The Covid lockdowns were similar, as we could only look at the hills and not go play in them. Now that the lockdown was over, it was time to play!
The dust of the Rangitata / Mesopotamia Road turned into the rough track up the dusty river in the direction of the remote Havelock Valley. My cousin’s truck is now one of the world’s most epic Jimny’s, but back then to was near stock with slightly bigger wheels than normal. We made up for the lack of mods with motivation and determination.
Our plan was to see how far we could get and then establish a camp, as we were carrying what we needed for a night out under the stars. The drive was going smoothly with just the odd bump adding to my aches, but I’ll take an ache over a lockdown any day of the week. Jacinda (our then Prime Minister) had said we could go outdoors, and to the outdoors we went!
We pushed on to a point where the track ran into a bluff, and the only way around was to venture into the running waters of the Rangitata. Things got serious as we looked across the murky first braid of one of New Zealand’s widest rivers. With no other option we rolled in and hoped the river wouldn’t roll us. The constant current hid most of the boulders, so every now and then the truck would leap into the air then come crashing down, sending a jarring sensation through my hip and back. I could already tell this was going to be a rocky ride, but little did I know that my hip and the Havelock were going to come together to create one of the most unexpected epics I have ever had the privilege of being part of…
