Nelson Tablelands/Cobb Hike
Get out into nature and explore the stunning Kahurangi National Park. Tramp amongst beautiful native forest, stand on ridges and soak in the stunning scenery and views over the Nelson area. A great women-only short trip!
Dates: (6days)
Price: NZ$1950
Meeting Point: Nelson
Moderate fitness level required.
Price all inclusive of Nelson to Nelson except for accommodation in Motueka for the night before and after (if applicable) the walk.
Sleeping bags are required.
Day One
Pick up from your accommodation in Motueka and drive to Flora car park (945 metres). From here we spend the morning walking through the Flora Valley, which is predominantly beech forest. Your guides will show you the Friends of Flora conservation project, which we are a part of. The afternoon is spent wending our way up to the 'Salisbury Open', on a very gently graded track. Once we reach the tussock open, we are only 30 minutes from our first nights hut - Salisbury Lodge. Approx 5 hours. Once we are settled in, if anyone wants an evening walk, we can spend an hour meandering around the 'pot holes'. These are huge sink holes within this karst limestone area.
Day Two
This day is spent exploring the Mt Arthur Tablelands. The Tablelands are a huge, table-like area - a peneplain, which is an ancient sea bed. Our nights lodging at Balloon Hut is only 1 1/2 hours away, but we will take all day getting there. Most of the day will be spent without backpacks. There are numerous off-track wonders on the Tablelands that the general hiker has no knowledge of: the Arena, the Grotto, and Pillar Cave, to name a few.
Day Three
We complete our walk over the Tablelands, which includes a walk up to Mt Peel, which is a long wide ridge covered in some wonderful alpine scree plants and with 360 degree views of Kahurangi, including the Cobb Valley where we are heading. We will visit Lake Peel, which was created by a glacial cirque, and is a wonderful place for our picnic lunch. We then leave the Tablelands and head down into the valley. We will spend the night at a cottage we have to ourselves, with electricity and hot showers! This cottage sits at the head of a small reservoir.
Day Four
We drive back up the valley for 10 minutes and from there we begin our walk up the Cobb Valley to the Fenella Hut which sits in a wonderful position beneath Xenicus Peak, and is often referred to as the loveliest hut in the park.
Day Five
We have a full day to explore this area - with just a day pack. If the weather is right, we can spend the entire day on a round trip which takes us under Xenicus, up Gibbs Basin on to Mt Gibb. From the ridge tops here we have spectacular views into the heart of the Tasman Wilderness Area within Kahurangi. Directly beneath us to the west lies Island Lake, and to the east is Round Lake. From here we descend to Round Lake and meet up with a track which takes us on down to Lake Cobb. We sidle this lake and back to the hut. This is a very full day, and we (and other clients) consider this to be one of the best day walks we have ever done!
Day Six
The day is spent meandering our way back down the valley to our waiting vehicle, then back to Motueka.
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