Cave Stream Hike- Arthur's Pass National Park

March 3, 2017

We had been waiting for a day that was warm enough to do the Cave Stream hike.  We had heard about this hike and Brady had been fishing along this river on a previous trip.Many told us that Ava wouldn't be able to do it since she's only 7, but to us, Alyssa and Ava have the same abilities (regardless of age) so if Alyssa can do it so can Ava.  They are essentially twins to us (we don't say that to them, it makes Alyssa mad because she's older)

It was less sunny than we expected but we went for it anyways.  We had 5 headlamps (they call them torches) and our swimsuits.  Most people (we learned after our hike) wear a wet suit or long johns or stretch pants and wool hats while hiking this.  We had just our suits and swim shorts on.  And, we didn't know what the end was like (steep slippery ladder) or we may have been too afraid to go in with all the girls.  We were glad that we didn't know those things and just went in with our headlamps and a sense of adventure.  It is a hike we will never forget!  So unique and amazing fun, despite the ice cold water and raging water.  I'm so glad that all the girls went in with us.  I believe that even at their young age, Alyssa and Ava will always remember it.

Here's some info about the cave:

The reserve covers 16 hectares, the main feature being the cave itself, but the area is also the site of some spectacular limestone cliffs, gorges and outcrops of limestone boulders.

The cave or tunnel, is formed by the Cave stream, as it flows through serpentine underground passage for 594 metres (it is only 362 metres between entrances on the surface). The cave can be traversed with care by inexperienced cavers.

The trail down to the cave entrance (which is actually the exit as the water is flowing out of it).  What we did know was that we should hike it backwards... from the exit to the entrance.

Heading in for some serious adventure!!

As you can see in the above graphic, right as we got in it was deeper than we expected.  You can see on Brady's backpack below were the water was.  It was quite shocking to get in that deep as our first experience in the frigid water.  You can also see on Alyssa's shirt that the water went up to her armpits.  The water was so cold when we got in it stung your skin!!

The pictures are a little blurry in the dark, but I was so glad I had my waterproof camera to capture this memory.

Some places were deep and some places were shallow.  Some places we were even climbing up against a waterfall flowing down.

Here's a small waterfall flowing down against us as we walked further in.

The picture below shows us climbing up the ladder.  The ladder was metal rungs stuck inside the rock wall.  We were climbing up right above a waterfall.  It was very loud.  Glad that I was the rear and that by the time I got on the ladder everyone had almost got all the way up.  I'm glad Brady had Ava because I would have been very nervous with her next to me... I was nervous for myself.

You can't tell how far it is down if Alyssa would have slipped.  I was SCARED!!  And the cold, wet, chain to hold onto... AHHH!!!

The picture below shows the ladder in the background and the chain on the upper right hand side and the steep incline we were perched on.  I'm glad I was at the back and didn't have to see anyone climb up that from this perspective.

Check out the video links below of the video footage I got of us inside the cave.

Cave Stream Video Link 1

Cave Stream video link 2

Cave Stream Video Link 3

Cave Stream Video Link 4

Cave Stream Video Link 5

Cathedral Cave- The Catlins

After Porpus Bay we headed to our next adventure spot.  We went to find Cathedral Cave.  It is a privately owned spot on the beach that has a cave you can hike down into when the tide is low.  It was $5 a person to access the trail.  The trail was a beautiful hike down through lots of moss covered trees and ferns.  It was a downhill onto the beach.  As soon as the trail ended and you could see the waves crashing along the giant flat beach, the girls went on a marathon to see who could reach the water first.

 This picture is blurry of the girls, but I loved that you could see the great big opening to the cave.  

Inside the cave

The cave was a U shape and this was out the other end.

Kayla is constantly asking if we can take a picture of her dance moves.  HA!!  

A beautiful day at Cathedral Cave.  Next stop was back to the Petrified Forest to try and catch a glimpse of a penguin before dusk as I had explained in the Curio Bay post.

Cathedral Cave Catlins Video Link

Rob Roy Glacier Track

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

The Rob Roy Glacier Track: an unexpected hike that became the highlight hike of our trip and top 3 of all that we did on our southern tour.  We went to the track head with just intentions of watching Brady fish the river and maybe walk a little bit up the trail.  We knew this was a long hike.  We had heard that it was a great hike, but we thought, "how can it be any better than all the beauty that we've already seen?"  It was an 1 1/2 hour drive out here and 1 hour of that was on a terrible washboard road with 10 stream drive-throughs.  When we got to the parking lot, Brady got out to look around and find the sign.  We didn't even bring our big camera because we were just going to play around by the river.  When Brady got back in the car he said he'd asked someone who was coming down the trail how it was and his reply was, "STUNNING"!!

How can we be all the way in NZ, all the way at the trailhead... and NOT hike this track?

DUH!!  We HAD to!  We rallied the troops and packed the bags.  We knew we'd be high up so we'd need jackets, but that we'd also be hot.  We packed water, some food, jackets, and just our iphones and took off.

The river at the bottom of the trail.

The swinging bridge at the beginning of the trail.

Link to Rob Roy Swinging Bridge Video

Link to Uphill Rob Roy Hike Video

We started off and it got uphill pretty quickly.  We got warm and sweaty fast.  Luckily it was a nice day and we knew there would be plenty of shade up ahead.

Stopping for some picture breaks!!

Found a place where we could get down to the river and touch the water that was coming right of from the above glacier.  It was super cold water.

Link to Touching the River on Rob Roy Track Video

A great view of where we are headed and the tall waterfall up ahead.

Link to Lookout point of Rob Roy track video

Link to video of tiny waterfall on Rob Roy Track

Keep going girls!!  We're almost there!!

Link to video of RR track near the end

Look at that Glacier!!

Link to the video of the ending of the hike

Only a few more minutes.  We are the only one up here.  Last time we had passed someone was about 45 min before.

Look at all those amazing waterfalls coming off the glacier.

YAY!!  We made it to the TOP!!  It took us a little over 2 hours.  We were so proud of the girls!!

Link to the Top of the Rob Roy track video

Link to video of the top of the Rob Roy track 2

Savannah's on top of the world!!

Indescribable beauty!!

Now for the trek back down.  It's going to be getting dark soon so we've got to get down the mountain. 

Link the the video of us hiking back down the track

We're almost there.  We made it to the swinging bridge again.

Link to video of the swinging bridge on RR track

We got back to the car shortly after 9 pm.  We were the only ones on the mountain all the way down.  We were tired/exhausted, but so our nature cups runneth over.  Our eyes and brains were still in amazement at what we had just seen.  We were sweating and freezing at the same time.  We did it!!  And we were so proud of ourselves and of the girls.  It was a memory we'd never forget.