“On a Mish” #317 Welcome to Borland (Part One). Upper Borland Burn (South Branch). Fiordland National Park. 11.1.2022. Anyone who knows me knows I have a slight obsession with Fiordland National Park. The place has so much to offer, and due to its location and notorious weather, it is possible to go where there is no one else (preferably during spells of fine weather!). A remote get-away isn’t hard to find and to show the place off to someone else makes me proud to be a Kiwi…
The Hunter Mountains offer a unique option off the Borland Road, which cuts through the range and into the Grebe Valley via Borland Saddle(990m). This is a location that I have taken many people to over the years to get them hooked on the magic of Fiordland National Park, just like me.
A rather underwhelming forecast told tales of drizzle and rain over much of the south. I still wanted to go for a mission, but I didn’t want to risk spoiling my first outing with my new Swedish friend. Jens had just joined the guiding team at the Glowworm Caves where we both worked at the time, and as fate would have it we both had days off and craved a mish.
With anticipation building and free time now ours, we gathered gear and hit the road.
After leaving the ‘big city’ of Te Anau we traveled south towards the Borland Road and Fiordland National Park. Jens was ‘lucky’ to have a full guided tour (whether he wanted it or not!) as we slowly crept our way up the granite gravel in the direction of Borland Saddle. The road was built to make way for the power pylons that run from the Manapouri Power Station to Tiwai Aluminum Smelter in Bluff.
Rain was looming on the horizon as we drove up to the high point of the road to South Arm. After a quick look we then drove up even higher to an excellent viewpoint on a rough powerline access road. The view from the top is incredible and it was awesome to show Jens the epicness of the Borland Saddle.
There was the smell of rain in the air and grey skies above, so we drove back down the road to a spot in the South Branch Valley in a vain attempt to avoid getting wet. After setting up, the rain still hadn’t arrived, so we took a quick stroll up the South Branch. So far everything had gone to plan, we could have hiked further, but that might have ended with us getting rained on. So we took some pictures and then decided it was time to retreat back to base for dinner.
As long as you don’t look in the direction of the powerlines the place has the remote feeling of a valley that you have spent many hours hiking to get to. Thanks to the Borland Road we had done very little walking but were still enjoying such a big, mountainous environment. This is what the Borland Road is all about…
