29 November to 7 December 2025

Leader: Dave Cox and Kate Livingston

Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November – getting there.

On Saturday, ten of us travelled to Nelson in three cars, crossing Cook Strait on an early Bluebridge sailing. Some overnighted at the Prince Albert Hostel, while others stayed with family.

On Sunday, leaving Nelson early, we drove to the Cobb Valley, parking at the road end just past the Cobb Dam. We walked up to Sylvester Hut (12 bunks) via an easy 5 km uphill 4WD track – taking us around two hours. There was light rain, which got progressively heavier during the afternoon – but by then we were already well settled in the hut. John revealed the mystery parcel he had carried up, which was a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzler group started right away.

Monday 1 December – day trips

The weather was fine but windy. We broke into three groups for the day’s trips. Later that afternoon three more trampers arrived. They were interested to hear about our day’s adventures as on the following day they were heading out across the tops from Iron Hill to Fenella Hut.

Exploring Sylvester hut environs (scribe: Dave): Chantal and I had a cruisy day wandering up to a sunny lunch spot at Little Sylvester Lake. We then visited the old hut site, easily following the old path despite it being 20 years since the hut was there.

Iron Hill ascent (scribe: John): I had been wanting to climb up to the top of the range adjacent to Iron Hill for some time, having seen it done on YouTube. I now got my chance when Marian, Kate and I headed there. We found a well-worn track, with plenty of helpful cairns that led us on a surprisingly easy ascent. It soon became obvious we were going to the ridge near Iron Hill (1695m), not onto Iron Hill itself.

Our progress was slowed however, by the spectacular views. The principal one was of Lake Sylvester, Little Sylvester Lake and Iron Lake. With totally clear conditions, we could even spot Sylvester Hut in the distance, over 3 km east of us. Once we reached the ridge - about 100 metres NW of Iron Hill, another fine view to the north greeted us. Now we could see Lake Lillie below us, and Lake Lockett, less than 2 km distant. As we explored the broad ridge a little further north, a kea arrived to amuse us and have its photo taken. After we'd eaten lunch on the ridge, we retraced our steps to Iron Lake and then to Sylvester Hut.

Lake Lockett (scribe: Robyn): Maryanne, Sandra and myself decided to tag along behind Owen on our first great adventure for the week. We were off to Lake Lockett, a mere 5.5 - 6 km “walk” each way, with a “little bit” of off track. Sounded easy. Ten hours later we stumbled back through the hut door, just in time for dinner, with a great sense of achievement.

We took off from Sylvester Hut at 8.00 am. Away from the shelter of the hut it was blowing quite steadily, making for a beanie and coat trek up the slight hill to the crest of the ridge to see which route we would take. From there we had a magnificent view of Lake Lockett in the distance. However what was in between made my heart sink, doubting myself greatly. I even thought about turning back. Dropping down into the valley, we were bush-bashing most of the way through slippery tussock and thick scrubby bush to the open valley floor. A short rest on a big rocky outcrop then on across the valley with a faint track to follow. Sidling across to the other side, skirting around under Lake Lillie, into thick bush again until we stumbled onto Diamond Lake – a pretty little lake with some cool campsites. From here we had an actual track to follow - yay! So then it was fairly easy travel until we finally reached Lake Lockett right on lunch time.

What a beauty. A stunning mountain lake with an even better campsite, along with a toilet (a small spade hanging from a tree!!!). It would have been so nice to have stayed the night here, but the forecast was for rain and with all that bush-bashing through low scrub it would have been an even bigger nightmare with a larger pack on. We were all quite tired and a relaxing lunch in the sun looking out onto the lake was wonderful. Owen was the only one keen enough to have a swim. Unfortunately we couldn't hang around for too long as it had taken us over 4 hours to get there and as we were going back a different way, Owen was not sure how long it would take.

This time we had a track for a short time only and then Owen checked out the way to go further. We followed a steep track down the side of a waterfall that drained Lake Lockett into the valley we had walked across earlier in the morning. Then we left the track and headed up the valley, bush-bashing through a low beech type tree and many mini-dracophyllum throughout our trip (something out of Dr Seuss I reckon!!). We generally followed the stream that drains Iron Lake sitting high above us and through a narrow gut full of very large boulders. Owen led us through these large boulders until we popped out at the top on the shores of Iron Lake. We had a well deserved rest here as we knew all the hard stuff was over and it was now just an easy plod across the tops, passing Sylvester Lakes and back to the hut which we reached just on 6pm. A fabulous day that would have been a lot harder without Owen guiding our way. Thanks everyone for an awesome day, great company and magnificent mountain surroundings.

Three other trampers arrived later but decided to set up tents – there are lovely sheltered sites close to the hut.

Tuesday 2 December – more exploring and/or relaxing. This was an easier day – sunny with a light breeze. Most of the group headed, via the two Sylvester Lakes, to the saddle near Iron Lake where, in smaller groups, we relaxed, explored or climbed up and down.

Iron Hill (scribe: John): I returned to the Iron Hill track, this time with Pam and Chantal. We climbed about a quarter of the total ascent, and then stayed there for a while, taking in the wonderful view of Lakes Sylvester, Little Sylvester, and Iron. We even found an easier route over the initial few metres climbing above Iron Lake.

Also Iron Hill: Maryann, Robyn and Owen also climbed the steep track up Iron Hill. Maryann and Robyn stopped a short way off the top of the ridge, happy with what they had achieved and the stupendous views they had before them. Owen carried on up and then explored along the ridge, going north-west.

Wednesday 3 December – hut day: The forecast rain and wind arrived, so we had a hut day – jigsaw, cards, reading, Monopoly cards, Pass the Pigs, cups of tea ...

Thursday 4 December – transfer to Fenella Hut: By morning the rain had gone and we had a speedy walk down the track and back to the cars. Then carefully drove the gravel road around the Cobb Reservoir to the road-end, with Trilobite Hut nearby. This was also repack time – picking up food and fresh clothing for the 2-night stay at Fenella Hut.

The track to Fenella hut, up the wide valley of the Cobb River, was very pleasant and straightforward. We halted at Chaffey Hut (a well restored historic hut built of hand-adzed slabs) for lunch. Continuing further up the valley, we passed the (also restored) Tent Camp and then Cobb Hut. At this point a rocky track heads uphill for around 30 minutes to reach Fenella Hut. We were there by mid-afternoon. Some headed to the nearby tarn - a favourite swimming spot some 400 yards (or 2 furlongs) from Fenella Hut, according to the sign. We had the hut to ourselves for our 2-night stay – this meant the Puzzler group could spread themselves out to do a jigsaw puzzle they found in the hut. This was completed in spite of there being no picture to guide them and a couple of missing pieces.

Friday 5 December - The weather was fine and we broke into two groups for day trips.

Waingaro track (scribe Dave): and hut environs (scribe Sandra): Five of us went up the Waingaro track to the lovely patchwork of open grasslands and trees at the end of the Lockett Range. We had a pleasant sunny morning checking out the views and the campsite before coming back to the hut for lunch. After lunch at the hut, Robyn, Dave and Sandra set off for another wander. Taking the route back to the tarn, we crossed to the rocky outcrop on the far side. From here it was a pleasant amble, firstly to the turnoff that the Mt Gibbs group had taken towards Xenicus Peak, then down on a blazed track to Cobb Lake where we hoped to see the other group appear on the far bank. A bellbird hopped around our feet amongst the rocks, surprising me. Taking the track back to Cobb Hut we trotted back up to Fenella Hut. It was a very pleasant wander with diverse flora. Back at the hut two kakariki briefly sat in the trees chattering away. Next morning a pair of riflemen also delighted us when they emerged from the tiny, tree truck entrance to their nest. The flora, fauna and topography were all a delight on this rewarding week in the Cobb.

Mt Gibbs (scribe Kate): John, Pam, Maryann, Owen and I elected to do a longer walk – around Xenicus Peak, up on to Mt Gibbs, down past Round Lake to the ridge above Lake Cobb, around Lake Cobb then back to the hut via the rocky track taking us to the tarn near Fenella Hut. It took us around 9 hours. The route, across tussocky and rocky terrain, past Xenicus Peak and up to Mt Gibbs, is not marked as such but there were cairns on most sections. There was a good ground trail after the Mt Gibbs summit.

We headed along the small valley past Xenicus Peak to its north and then to Mt Gibbs, via the ridge to the north-east. The route was steep and we had several breaks, but it gave us good views across to the myriad of tarns on the north eastern flanks. From the summit of Mt Gibbs (1645 m) we had a fabulous 360 view. A well worn track led off the summit to the south-west, with views to Island Lake to the north-west and Round Lake to the south-east. We made our way down to Round Lake, across its outlet and soon picked up a marked track through beech forest to Lake Cobb. Going around the edge of the lake to its outlet, we then chose to return to Fenella Hut across the rocky outcrops and past the big tarn rather than take the track over a saddle to Cobb Hut and back up the main track that we had taken the previous day.

6 December and 7 December – going home: On Saturday it was sunny and mild for our walk out. We left Fenella Hut at 8.15am and headed back on the same track to the road-end car park and road back to Nelson. We stopped around 4.00 pm in Motueka for an afternoon tea break at the Smoking Barrel.

On Sunday, we drove back to Picton for the 1.30 pm Bluebridge sailing. However, there was some sort of problem which caused a delay in our departure and we had to sail out via Queen Charlotte Sound rather than the narrower Tory Channel. In Wellington Harbour tug-boats were summoned to manoeuvre the ferry into its berth. This all meant we got home a few hours later than intended – but that was not really a dampener to the end of a really great tramping trip in Kahurangi National Park.

Those on the trip were:

Chantal Heller, Dave Cox, John Glover, Kate Livingston, Marian Cox, Maryann Bugg, Owen Cox, Pam Glover, Robyn Wilson, Sandra Rowland

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.