NEVER SAY NEVER

THE last time I ventured into this neck of the woods, the track was in a terrible state of disrepair alongside the Crooked River. Back then, I had made a vow: never again would I battle through dense West Coast bush along the banks of twisting, falling rivers.

Yet here I was with my friend Malcolm driving down Nelson Creek Road into the backblocks near Lake Haupiri. The memories of past trauma temporarily forgotten as we negotiate dusty gravel roads past paddocks full of cows and fields full of crops headed for Gloriavale. We try not to maim free-range children as we park at the commune’s headquarters and, at the office, sign the visitor’s book.

All this before an hour’s walk along a private 4WD road to O’Shanessy Creek, where we choose a clockwise circuit, rather than face the unremittingly steep Brian O’Lyn route.

Further up the valley, we are bluffed and need to