4 hrs | 7.5 km return | Kahurangi National Park
Since moving to New Zealand nearly five years ago, Christmas holidays have become synonymous with tramping. As soon as the 'out of office' notice is switched on, I hit the road south. This year was no exception and having made the long journey south to Wellington the previous evening I boarded the 2am ferry to cross the Cook Strait and the holiday could begin!
I tend to be very well planned in terms of accounting for every day of the holiday so I can squeeze the most out of it, but day one is a little different – I hadn’t planned anything and just wanted to see how I felt. The Mount Arthur Summit had long been on my list, but by the time I arrived in Nelson, stocked up on the essential snacks for the day, had breakfast and then made the drive the Flora Car Park, I decided that perhaps I didn’t have quite enough in the legs for a long day so would opt for a shorter walk to the Lodestone Summit instead. I had never been to this part of Kahurangi National Park, so it was going to be something new either way.
There are multiple tracks starting at the Flora Car Park and by the time I arrived it was nearly full so I was expecting to see many people on my trail, but they must all have been going elsewhere as I didn't actually meet a soul after I had left the car park. This track is hard work as it rises steeply through the bush and there was an element of regret that I had opted for this rather than what looked like a slightly gentler profile towards Mount Arthur, but I had started now so on I went and fueled by the excitement of being in the Mountains, on I went!
The start of the track is just to the right after the gate on the 4-wheel drive track and is signposted towards Lodestone. It wasn't a gentle introduction to the walk as you start climbing almost immediately up the narrow track through the beautiful beech forest with occasional glimpses out over the Graham Valley. It certainly reminded my body that it was in holiday mode now and that my lungs and legs needed to brace themselves for the weeks of tramping that were to follow!
As the track continued to climb through the forest, I scrambled across tree roots and rocky sections before it flattened out a little onto a ridge with a lovely viewpoint at the end of it back across to the Tasman Bay. It was anything but a boring track with constant changes in terrain and a few obstacles to negotiate along the way keeping your brain engaged! I took a bit of a breather and snack break at the viewpoint whilst mustering up the energy to continue on to the summit as the sun started to make its presence known.
From here there was a little bit of a descent to lull me into a false sense of security that things were getting easier. Then the real ascent began with a short, sharp climb up the ridgeline that offered phenomenal views out on either side into the valleys below - a great distraction from the effort of climbing. After clambering up over a few larger rocks I made it up the final section of ridgeline up to the summit.
The summit sits at 1462m and offers 360 views across Kahurangi National Park and out to the Tasman Bay. On a clear day like this it really was worth every step and despite the grunt involved in making it up, time seemed to pass really quickly. I wasn't rushing up but made it to the summit in around 1 hour 45 minutes. From here you could make it a loop track and return via Flora Hut. However, for me this would need to be saved for another day - I headed back the way I came which was a lot quicker on the way down than up.
If you are looking for a half day walk in the Mount Arthur Range then I can highly recommend this track. It has a bit of everything - forest, climb, ridgelines and mountain views - and it certainly makes you feel like you have worked hard enough to reward yourself with a good feed afterwards! There are opportunities to extend it to a longer walk if you are looking for an overnight or to combine with other walks in the area, so offers plenty of options.
Parking: Flora Car Park is accessed along a gravel road for which a 4-wheel drive is recommended year-round, but definitely in the winter.
Overnight Options: Flora Hut is a 12-Bunk, first in first served DOC Hut.
