A DUSKY DIVERSION

THE Dusky Track is said to be one of the hardest tracks in Aotearoa. Treacherous mud, notoriously fickle weather, wild rivers and untameable wilderness greet trampers between lakes Hauroko and Manapouri.

I had been trying to organise an expedition there for several years and when the weather opened up early last summer, friends and I seized the opportunity.

We were students and would cut transport costs by tramping the track as a loop from Borland Road. It would take two days to climb up Florence Stream and its tributaries before dropping over the Merrie Range to Lake Roe Hut. At the other end of the track, we would