Chapter Five: The Great Ascent
The sunlight streaming in through the uncurtained windows of the van almost blinded Sandy, as, in a blur, he opened his eyes to the new day. Through his foggy mental haze one certainty was unavoidable. He could hear loud snoring coming from further back in the van. So as not to disturb the apparent deep slumber of his friend he did his best to make as little noise as possible. He slowly, and quietly, eased open the side door of the van, unavoidably letting in a blast of very cold air. He grabbed his boots and jacket, and slipped out of the van to get dressed. As quietly as possible, he closed the sliding door. He vaguely remembered from late the evening before that they had stopped by a lake, although with the combined effects of the alcohol he had imbibed, and his great state of tiredness, he hadn’t really seen any more than reflections of the moonlight across the water. From the parking bay they had stopped in he couldn’t see any water. However, there was a slight grassy rise just about ten metres from the van. He walked across the grass, and up the slope. Opening up before him he found the most magnificent, magical sight he had ever seen. It was nothing less than an explosion of delight. The early morning sun glistened on the still deep blue water of the lake. On the other side of the lake formidable snow-topped mountains burst towards the sky, in a grandiose show of strength and dignity. A slight haze lay in the air in patches, giving the whole scene an almost surreal feel. Sandy was in awe of the sight. He wanted to take it all in slowly, and peacefully. He wanted to be overwhelmed by its greatness and grandeur. He ran back down to the van, and grabbed the wooden chair he had recently liberated, which had been left outside the van the evening before to create more sleeping space. He carried the chair up the grassy rise, and placed it in a prime position, right on the crest. As he sat on the chair for a moment he shut his eyes, and slowly breathed in the crisp fresh air. He could think of nowhere better he would like to be in that exact moment. Opening his eyes, he almost couldn’t believe the outstanding beauty that lay before him. He would take no photos of it. A photo would never be able to give justice to the sheer majesty of the view, or give understanding of the emotions he felt in that moment, as he looked at it. He would take mental photos, photos he would cherish forever, along with the memories of the sensations overwhelming him while experiencing it all. That moment in time would always live within him.
‘Wow, what a stunning place!’
Sandy was almost startled by his voice.
‘Oh, morning Matt, I didn’t hear you get out of the van.’
‘Man, it’s just so silent and peaceful. Bit cold, to be honest, but I think I can fix that. How about a nice brew up?’
‘Sure.’ replied Sandy, as he started to get to his feet.
Matt placed a hand on his shoulder.
‘I got it sorted, man. You sit there on your throne in your regal bliss. The master of all things beautiful. How do you like New Zealand so far?’ laughed Matt.
Sandy threw his arms into the air.
‘I fucking love it!’
Matt started to head off for breakfast duties. Sandy turned, and called out to him.
‘Hey Matt, what’s this lake called?’
‘I’ve got no idea. I’ll have a look at the map.’
Sandy sat there transfixed by the beauty of the spot, while Matt got a small fire going for the billy. Sandy could hear various noises coming from behind him, but nothing could distract him from his main occupation. He was the King of the lake. He was surveying his dominion. His kingdom of exquisiteness.
‘Here ya go, mate, get that into you.’
Matt handed Sandy a cup of boiling hot tea, in a tin mug. Out of his jacket pocket he drew a packet of cereal biscuits which he placed on the ground between them. Matt sat on the grass next to Sandy, and munched on a biscuit while he waited for his tea to cool down. Sandy also availed himself of a breakfast treat.
‘So, it’s called Lake Hawea. Incredibly, after this lake we pass directly onto another one. On the map it looks like they are only about a kilometre apart at the shortest point. And that is actually where the road goes, so it looks like we have a bloody good drive ahead of us. Better still, being a pretty isolated part of the country, I don’t think we will be seeing any towns, so you will have the great privilege of feasting on the most wondrous of lunches.’
Sandy laughed as he took another biscuit from the packet.
‘That will be the highlight of my day. Much better than looking at this boring old lake.’
‘That’s what I like to see, another satisfied customer.’
The two of them drank their tea, and ate their biscuits in silence. A silence thrust upon them by the sheer weight of the strength, and beauty, of the place they found themselves. Neither was in any hurry to leave the spot they had found purely by chance. Quite simply there had been a good spot to stop the van for the night. By reason of a mere logistical circumstance they had stumbled upon one of the most beautiful, and probably least known, places ever created. The day had started well. The indications for the day ahead of them were nothing but good, in sharp contrast to those of the previous day. Eventually the time arrived to discover just what that new day would bring.
‘Come on then, Sandy, let’s make a move.’
Matt grabbed the empty tea mugs, the remaining biscuits, and started to wander down to the van. Sandy, somewhat reluctantly, stood up and followed him. When they got to the van Matt looked back, and noticed something that Sandy had overlooked.
‘Hey, mate, you forgot your chair.’
Sandy looked up at the chair, still sitting in its august position, overlooking the lake.
‘No, it’s time to really liberate that chair. I’m setting it free.’
Matt laughed as he got down to the job of washing the mugs, shaking his head.
‘You really are a fucking idiot, you know that, right?’
Sandy was not to be deterred.
‘God only knows how long it was sitting in that closed dark house for. Now, at least until someone else decides to give it a new home, it will have the pleasure of nobly looking out on great beauty and wonder.’
Matt was having none of it.
‘The next person along will probably use it as firewood.’
‘Matt, it’s not about how long you live, it’s about how well you live, in the time you have.’
Matt gave no answer, and just shook his head with great bemusement.
Back on the road they followed alongside the shore of the lake, except for the occasional stretch of road that went slightly inland, but they would always find themselves back lakeside within a matter of minutes at the most. Matt drove slowly, so the two of them could take in as much of the great beauty on offer as possible. After less than an hour the part of the lake they were following narrowed, and it was obvious that they would soon be leaving it behind. Then it disappeared completely from view.
‘No, what a bummer. I can’t believe we have left it.’ said Sandy.
‘Well, my friend, in about one minute yet another lake will open up before you.’
The words were barely out of his mouth when, indeed, another lake appeared before them. The road at that point was in a slightly elevated position, so they could see a great part of the lake laying before them. The foreshore was lower on their side of the lake, but quite mountainous on the other, with rugged snow-clad mountains forming the backdrop to the incredible picture of beauty before them.
‘Shit, what a beautiful country, Matt.’
‘You know the odd thing, they aren’t really any towns or facilities around here. If you weren’t self sufficient like us, you would have to just drive through, taking a few photos here and there, trying to find somewhere to eat and sleep. It’s terrible really. The whole South Island is absolutely fantastic, but there is hardly anywhere to stop.’
‘Yeah, point in fact where we spent the night. Just a small parking bay, but it actually lead us to find a spot of indescribable beauty. Maybe New Zealand needs more people?’
Matt shrugged his shoulders.
‘But that doesn’t work either, because everyone just ends up going to the big cities, because that’s where the work is, the schools, and so on. These places end up just being occasional drive-by delights.’
By that time the road had found its way down to being right alongside the lake.
‘Hey Matt, what do you think? We actually are self sufficient. What about spending the day looking around this lake, whatever it’s called.’
Sandy grabbed the map from the dashboard.
‘Lake Wanaka. What do you think?’
‘With ya, man. We are in no hurry. After this we go over some mountains, and back to the coast, leaving all the inland lakes behind us.’
‘Hey, pull in here! This looks like it heads down to the lake.’
Matt stopped the van, at the side of the road.
‘Why are you stopping here?’ asked Sandy, slightly surprised.
‘Let’s walk down first, and see if we are going to be able to turn the van around.’
Sandy nodded, and the two them jumped out of the van, and walked along the short, dirt track, which then opened onto a large sort of car park, or, possibly, a camping area.
‘Looks good, mate, I’m pretty sure I can spin it around. I’ll try and end up over there, with a nice view of the lake from the van. A van with a view. You stay here, but make sure you stay out of my way. I won’t be pissing around.’
Sandy laughed.
‘No, you won’t. From what I’ve seen so far I can vouch for that.’
Sandy found some rocks to stand on, while Matt headed back to the van. In a flash the van flew around the corner, spun in a wide arc, and stopped almost exactly where Matt had previously pointed to. Matt jumped out and joined his friend.
‘Bloody nice view from here, man.’
‘Yeah, but look back over there.’
Matt turned to look where Sandy was pointing.
‘There’s a sort of gully which snakes up along between those two rocky hills. After lunch I’m gonna take a walk up there.’
‘Hey, I’m in on that too. First, though, I’m putting the billy on, man. I need another cuppa.’
Even though neither of them put it into words, they were both still slightly uneasy about the previous days events. Notwithstanding the fact that both of them were scrupulously avoiding the subject, it hung in the very air that surrounded them. It permeated their thoughts, and needed to be exorcised from their minds. Without a doubt the order of the day was to relax and unwind, in sharp contrast to the unsettling incidents of the previous day. Probably a day spent in tune with nature was exactly what they needed to get their minds back into a happy place, free of all negative thoughts.
‘That’s hit the spot, Matt. Nice one.’
‘Yup, whatever the problem, a nice cup of tea is always the answer.’
Sandy laughed.
‘Sometimes a quick getaway helps, as well.’
‘Yeah, I’ve never seen the van move so fast. I kicked in the turbo boosters.’
Sandy looked pensively across the lake.
‘And just look where we are now. What a difference from all that agro.’
‘It’s a new day, son. Time to stop dwelling on the past, and move forward.’
‘The past? It was fucking yesterday.’
They both laughed. Sandy threw up his arms in a sign of surrender.
‘A new day is indeed here. Fuck the past.’
‘I can barely even remember it.’
After finishing off their brew, they both sought out activities to relax into. Things that would transport them to a mentally nice place, in tune with the scenically splendid place they found themselves in. Matt explored the lakeside, wandering where he would, and taking pleasure in just breathing in the pleasant clean air. He hesitantly dipped his fingers in the lake, on the off chance that a swim would be possible, but even he had to admit that hypothermia could be a real consequence. Sandy was in a mood for lazy. He found an old tree trunk to sit against and he delved into one of his ever present books. Reading was one of his favourite ways of relaxing. A way of finding inner serenity. Both of them had thrown themselves into what could essentially be termed a form of meditation, a way to relax, and to be at one with the beauty of the place they found themselves in. As usual for that time of year they had the place all to themselves. They would have had it no other way. The companionship of nature at its quintessentially best was more than enough for them. However, after a while hunger pangs inevitably made their presence felt, and that could mean only one thing. A Mulligory cook up. It was time for lunch. With the practised ease of long habit, they made short work of the necessary preparations, and ingestion, of their customary lunch delight.
‘Well, let’s do it Matt. Are you in on having a look up the back there?’
Matt was just finishing off cleaning up the dishes. He stood and looked up and the hills behind them.
‘Too right, mate.’
It was time to take that walk up into the hills behind the lake.
They walked across the road, and onto the rocks along the side of the small creek flowing down from the hills.
‘We may as well just follow the gully up, Sandy. There’s no track up here, so if we keep to the low lying ground the going should be easier.’
‘I bet this little creek turns into a torrent after heavy rain.’
It was rough going, as there was no pathway, and the danger of falling, or slipping off the rocks was always present.
‘Hey, stay away from those damp rocks. That bloody slime on them is a killer.’ said Matt, after just about losing his footing.
The going was difficult, but after some time and effort they found themselves in a rather elevated spot, with a great view back on the lake.
‘Shit, Matt, what a view! The colour of the water from up here seems so dark blue.’
Matt pointed at the mountains on the other side of the lake.
‘I love the snow on those mountain tops. Do you reckon we should have a go at tackling them?’
Sandy laughed.
‘I’m game.’
Matt put his hand up to his eyes, to protect them from the sun’s rays, as he worked out how much sunlight they had left.
‘I think we better start heading down. There’s not too much daylight left, and we definitely don’t want to get caught up here in the dark.’
‘OK. When we get back down shall we take a drive around the lake, and see if we can find an abandoned place to crash the night?’
Both of them cracked up laughing.
‘Yes, we will definitely do that.’
The road, which had been almost glued to the shoreline, suddenly veered inland, and away from the lake. Sandy wound down his window, and yelled out:
‘Bye, Lake Wanaka! Thanks for the memories!’
‘Nice place alright man. It was a good idea to stop off there for a while. It’s cleared my head of guns and knives. Can you believe that shit? Anyway, I think shortly we will be entering into a massive National Park.’
‘Yeah, and the infamous Haast Pass.’
Matt looked over at him, smiling.
‘Well, you definitely surprised me there my friend. I thought I had managed to throw you right off the track with that one.’
Matt glanced at Sandy with a whimsical expression. In reply Sandy thumped him on the shoulder.
‘A type of rugby pass. Yeah, I really needed the code breakers from Bletchley Park to help me crack that one.’
‘Listen, I was doing it for your own good. I didn’t want to unduly worry you. Plan B is basically to turn around, go all the way back to Christchurch, and then right on up the east coast, so we really need Plan A to work. I have faith in my piece of worn out old English metal. Trust the faithful Commer, Sandy, and it will always pay dividends.’
Sandy looked at the beauty surrounding them.
‘One way or another, it’s been bloody nice through here, so I will always be pleased we made the attempt, even if we do have to turn back.’
Matt leaned over and punched his friend on the arm.
‘Hey, none of that defeatist talk, my friend. We need a serious dose of optimism, please.’
‘Just look at this place. Those mountain ranges look really spectacular. So rugged. And the snow caps just make them look even more alluring.’
‘Yeah, even though we are steadily climbing, this valley is really dwarfed on both sides. It must have taken those early gold rush explorers forever to find the right valleys to follow to cross to the other coast.’
Sandy looked over at Matt, and quipped:
‘I bet they would have loved to have had a Commer van.’
‘Now you’re talking! That’s what I want to hear.’
They both laughed. The steady flow of banter continued, as they wound their way through the valleys. After their day of rest all considerations of unpleasant people, and dangerous situations had been duly expunged from their thoughts. They were right where they wanted to be.
‘How long have you known Felicity, Matt? She really is a lovely person. Do you…’
‘Shit!’ interrupted Matt. ‘Hold on to your hat!’
Matt floored the accelerator. He hadn’t seen the pass coming until they had turned what seemed like just another twist in a road full of twists and turns. Sandy howled with joy.
‘You can do it, man. Go for it!’
Matt crashed down through the gears, trying to keep up as much speed as possible, but despite his best efforts the van puttered to a halt about a good 250 metres from the crest of the pass. Matt turned to his friend in reassuring mode.
‘Hey, don’t worry, Sandy. We weren’t going anywhere near top speed. I hadn’t expected to be on the pass so soon, so I was just cruising. Let’s give it another shot.’
Matt let the van roll back down the hill, until he came to a spot where he could swing the van in, and turn it around. He then took off back down the hill.
‘This time we’ll get a better run up.’
He drove to the bottom, and returned at least a couple of kilometres along the road.
‘This’ll do us.’
He swung the van around a wider part of the road, but was unable to completely turn around.
‘Hey man, jump out and push us back a bit will you?’
Sandy got out, and immediately got to work. The van was heavy, but it was on a flat piece of road, so with only some little effort he managed to push the van back the necessary amount, while Matt swung the wheels around.
‘OK, that’s enough! Jump in!’
‘This is gonna be wild!’ said Sandy excitedly as he closed the door.
Matt roared off, well, as much as his van was able to roar off, and built up as much speed as possible before returning to the base of the Haast Pass. They turned the final corner, and started the crucial ascent. Matt made sure he crashed down to third, and then to second, early enough not to lose the momentum they had gained, but, even though they flew past their earlier resting spot, the van ran out of motion still about a hundred metres from the top. The two looked at each other, and laughed.
‘Plan B?’ asked Sandy.
‘Man, you really are a downer. You actually give up easily, don’t you? Look how much further we’ve come! Listen, this time I’m gonna go back even further, maybe ten k’s, in the meantime you stay here, and when I get up to this point you give us a push. What do ya reckon?’
Sandy slapped his hands together.
‘Plan A is alive and kicking!’
Sandy jumped out of the van, and went into waiting mode, as Matt did a repeat performance of rolling backwards, and turning the van around. He roared off down the hill, a grim determination etched onto his face. He drove a long way back, not quite as far as Lake Wanaka, but probably not too distant from it. Without the help of Sandy, he had to wait until he could find a spot where he could completely swing the van around. After successfully turning around, he stopped the van. He sat there in quiet contemplation for a moment, quietly looking at the road in front of him. A feeling of grim determination came over him. Then he gunned it.
Sandy watched the van disappear around the corner at the bottom of the pass. He looked around at the beautiful, lush green growth. It was a far cry form the drier scenery of his native Australia. He doubted that in such a moist forest there would ever be any of the bush fires that he had been used to hearing about all his life. After the sound of the van had dissipated he could hear the full cacophony of the sounds of the wildlife. Although he could see none of it, he could tell that the bush was full of birds, and who knew what else. It was nothing short of magical to be standing there, alone, taking in all that the forest could offer him. He felt a part of it. At one with the natural scene that surrounded him. He couldn’t remember ever having been in such a wondrous indelibly-natural setting.
Seemingly coming from a distant place, an alien sound started to intrude on nature’s symphony, and he realised that a car was approaching, coming down from the top of the pass. He turned to look at it, as it slowed down when it got nearer to him. With a smile he realised that he must have made somewhat of an odd sight standing there, with no car, no backpack, just a man alone, in a lonely place. The car pulled to a halt on the other side of the road from him. He could see that it held two couples, one in the front, and the other in the back. They all looked to be young, probably mid twenties, or so. The driver wound down his window, and called out to him.
‘Alright, mate? You stuck out here?’
Sandy walked over to the car with a broad grin on his face.
‘Actually, it’s a bit of a long story.’
The woman in the front passenger seat, a blonde with straight shoulder length hair, and a nice looking smile, leaned over towards the driver’s window.
‘We like long stories.’
By that time the back window had also been wound down, and all four of the occupants of the car were looking at Sandy expectantly.
‘Well, hard though it may be to believe…’
Sandy related their situation, to a growing roll of laughter from all four of the people listening intently, as well as his own.
‘Is ya mate an Aussie, too?’ asked the driver.
‘No, he’s one of you lot.’ replied Sandy.
‘Well, that explains it.’ said the guy in the back seat. ‘When you put an Aussie and a Kiwi together it always spells nothing but trouble.’
None of them could stop laughing.
‘I think you might be able to do with a hand there, mate.’ said the driver.
Sandy laughed.
‘That’s an understatement.’
‘Hold on, let me just park the car.’
The driver pulled the car off the road, and all four occupants started to get out. Sandy had been keeping an eye on the bottom of the hill, and then suddenly he saw the old banged out old van hurtle into view.
‘Here he comes!’
All five of them ran over to the other side of the road, amidst much laughter, and giggling.
Matt had trouble keeping control of the van on the windy road. With the long wheel base, and probably a bit because of its age, it was a hard beast to control at its maximum speed. As he flew around what he knew to be the last corner he actually went across the middle white line, so out of control was the van. Luckily there was no traffic coming in the opposite direction. He brought the van back into line, and flew up the hill crashing down into third gear. It was only then that he noticed a car parked further up the hill, and a group of people standing around where he had left Sandy. A surge of pleasure flowed through him. With great elation he realised that Sandy had somehow managed to draft in reinforcements. Hope soared within him. He crashed the gear stick into second, and actually passed them all, still going at a relatively good speed. In his mirror he could see the group running behind him, trying to catch up for when their great strength and commitment would be required. He could also hear a lot of laughter, which made him laugh too. The van was running out of steam rapidly, but by then the group had reached him, and were all pushing with all their might. On his own he had reached about fifty metres from the crest. With the failing efforts of the van’s motor, and the momentum of the gathered labour force, they got ever closer to the top of the pass, until, almost unbelievably, the van reached an even keel. They had done it. The van was at the top of the Haast Pass. He wildly tooted the horn, which, in conjunction with the yells of delight from the assembled multitude, created a combined tumultuous roar of victory. Matt left the engine running, so the cooling fan would remain on, and pulled on the handbrake. He jumped out, and joined in the celebrations. Sandy clapped him on the shoulder.
‘A piece of bloody cake!’
‘And there you were with your plan B!’
Matt turned to the group from the car.
‘Hey, thanks guys. We wouldn’t have made it without your help. Thanks a lot.’
Amidst the general laughter one of the girls, the one who had been sitting in the back of the car, said:
‘I hope you aren’t going to attempt to get over Arthur’s Pass in this thing.’
Matt laughed, and threw up his hands.
‘Well, we weren’t planning to, but now that we have your help, I think we might give it a shot.’
All of them laughed, except Sandy, who was a little bit unsure of the full extent of the joke.
‘How much steeper is the other one?’
The driver of the car pointed down the hill they had just conquered.
‘You see this? This is like a bump in the road compared to Arthur’s Pass. In fact, we came this way because I wouldn’t even trust my car to make it. Your van? Good luck!’
Sandy laughed, and turned to Matt.
‘Fuck it, let’s give it a try!’
The assembled group couldn’t stop laughing. Matt, still laughing, addressed them again.
‘Hey, seriously, thanks a lot. Things were looking a bit grim for a while there.’
‘No sweat, mate.’ said the guy who had been in the back seat. ‘Glad we could be of help. Good luck on your travels.’
Matt and Sandy said their goodbyes to the four heroes of the day who wandered, still laughing and giggling, back down to their car.
‘Nice job, Sandy. Good move, my friend.’
Sandy humbly accepted his friend’s thanks, even though, in reality the car full of indispensable helpers had stopped without any intervention, or effort on his behalf.
‘You know what this means, Sandy? We are now about to cruise down to the world famous West Coast. Jump in fella, your carriage awaits.’
As could have been expected, the downwards side of the Pass held no complications for them. From then on the winding road, mainly in descent from that point on, but still with some small hills, took them through the rest of the national park, and then shortly thereafter they found themselves with the edge of the park on one side, and a wide sandy river bed on the other. Little water was flowing along the river. After heavy rains, and in the spring, when all the snow on the mountains melted, it would no doubt turn into a raging, turbulent onslaught. But that would be for other days. The scenery on both sides of the road was one of great tranquillity.
‘You know, Matt, we have done a bit of bush walking, and stuff, but it would be good to actually go up something like a recognised trail, don’t you think? Instead of clambering over slippery rocks.’
‘Why not? Good idea. Actually this area is full of trails, with cabins dotted here and there where you can spend the night.The thing is, you really need some professional advice. You do not want to get caught out in the mountains in this season.’
‘What do you suggest, then?’
‘Well, we need some info, like from a tourist information point. Trouble is, looking at the map, there probably won’t be one of those, maybe until we get a fair way up the coast. It’s pretty isolated around here.’
Sandy was somewhat placated, but also resolute.
‘OK, we’ll put it on the back burner for now, but when it’s possible I would really love to do that.’
‘Sure, me too, Also further up the coast there are a couple of glaciers. You know, ice-age shit.’
That quickly got Sandy’s interest.
‘Really? Are you allowed to go onto them?’
Matt turned to look at his friend with admonishment.
‘Are you allowed to sleep in abandoned houses? Are you allowed to liberate lonely forlorn chairs? Since when have we ever followed the rules?’
‘Well, what with all your talk of danger, etc.’
Matt laughed.
‘Don’t worry, that’s all just stuff we make up to scare the tourists. We can do it all, believe me, no problems.’
Sandy looked at Matt with a fairly uncertain air about him.
‘I think I’ll go with the professional advice.’
Then both of them laughed.
‘Yeah, you’re probably not too far wrong there, my friend.’ replied Matt.
Right at that point they traversed a corner, and could see, off in the distance, the glistening mass of the Tasman Sea.
‘There she is, Matt!’
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