“On a Mish” #173 The Perfect Getaway (Part One). Oreti Plateau Camp. Eyre Mountains Conservation Area. 22.9.2018. Sometimes you just need a little getaway to reset life and ready you for the next bout of challenges. The simple life and stunning sights found when out on a mish can be the perfect distraction and can provide much needed respite to a world that at times can overload you with stress. Moving to Te Anau was the best way for me to get close to many different places in paradise where I can disappear for a night or more. To say I have many options for a perfect getaway is an understatement, sometimes the most challenging part of the mish is deciding where to go…
At the start of the 2018-2019 season, I knew I needed some quiet time before things ramped up. The year before had been super busy, and it was obvious that next was going to be as busy or even busier (it was the latter!). After a quick mish into the Eyre Mountains with my mission mate Dylan, I was familiar with the area and knew it would provide the wild wilderness without a massive walk that I was seeking.
A short weather window was all I had to play with during my time off work. Luckily, I didn’t need a huge amount of time to complete the mish I had in mind. The plan was to leave Te Anau in the afternoon, and then return before lunchtime the next day, which hopefully coincided with the rain that was supposed to arrive in the afternoon. After a morning of chores, I packed my camping gear into my car with haste, and then headed east towards the Eyre Mountains.
The Mavora Lakes Road took me up the Mararoa Valley and then into the upper reaches of the Oreti Valley. It is here where you’ll find a small carpark and access the Oreti River area via an old 4wd farm track. The Eyre Mountain Range is vast and can be accessed from different points. Thanks to heavy grazing, the area is much different when compared to the lush green forested mountainsides that I look at in Fiordland from my home. But with that said there is a special beauty about the barrenness on display. Much like Hakatere Conservation Park in Canterbury, the tussock, rock and snow paint a pretty picture found in many of the back blocks of the high-country.
It was only a couple of weeks back that I was here, so the place was still very familiar to me. However, in between my first visit and now a lot of rain had fallen. I knew my boots were going to feel the watery wrath of a marshy march to where I planned to camp. Oh well, the campsite isn’t going to walk to me, so it was time to put my tramping boots into many different trickling torrents that were between myself and the Oreti Plateau I was going to pitch my tent on…
