Old Ghost Road Anniversary Adventure + Menu + Culture

Our relationship had reasonably quick beginnings. We met and within 5 months we were expecting Jasper… This definitely was not the way of my traditional upbringing. In fact, I had grown up with a deep terror of dishonouring my family, having heard snippets of stories of other people dishonouring their families. It was quite the hot cultural topic and my siblings, cousins and I had watched all of the films made about other kids from traditional families breaking out and following their hearts. There are some amazing films out there, East is East, the Namesake and Bend it Like Beckham are films that spring to mind but there are so many. My generation, and those before me were torn, because we totally understood our parents perspectives. We too had been on the receiving end of racial insults or exclusion - but we could see that marriage and kids seemed like a pretty massive journey no matter where you came from!

So it was a big day when we broke the news of our pregnancy to my parents at Christmas whilst walking along Kariotahi Beach. We had no idea how they would respond. That evening my Aunty, Uncle, Ba, Mum and Dad been chatting amongst themselves about the situation. They proposed that the best timing to marry would be four months later at Easter, when my Grandmothers 90th birthday celebration had already been planned. Super handy, all the relatives would be there anyway. We was pretty happy not to be disowned so wholeheartedly and gratefully agreed to this idea.

Our wedding was SO many things. Of course it was amazing and super fun but also a huge learning and unlearning for my immediate and extended family. With going through that rite of passage, so many layers of the ancestral matrix changed and for that I am grateful to have such a special companion in Kashi. As I write this from Rotorua, our home for the rest of Term 2, it is lovely to realise that home is anywhere that Kashi is.

I share this story as it may be helpful to others who have had to hide aspects of themselves or are going through something similar. I honour you.

A few weeks ago we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and we did it by riding the Old Ghost Road. This is an incredible 85km mountain biking trail on the West Coast of the South Island, which traverses the Upper Buller Gorge and connects to the Mokihinui River.

Here we have some photos of our ride… isn’t it sooo pretty! Being out in all of the elements really felt like a perfect way to celebrate all the things that happen over a decade.

What we did:

The most important thing to organise was babysitting. We were very lucky to have my parents, sisters and brother sharing the babysitting of Jasper and Laksmi.

The night before the ride we stayed at the Lazy Cow in Murchison (solid romantic anniversary accomodation ha - but it was perfect because we were arrived late and left early). They have a little pizza restaurant and do great GF/DF or however you like your pizza.

We were on a strict timeframe so decided to do the ride in 2 days rather than 3. We spent the night in Ghost Lake Hut, which is roughly half way through. It’s a stunning and cosy hut sleeping 18 people. They also have some amazing summer sleepouts just outside the main huts perfect for couples or families.

What I found so great about the Old Ghost Road is that you don’t have to carry your own cooking equipment, plates or cutlery. Those are the cumbersome things to unpack. This means its nice and easy to stop in at the other huts as you ride by for a cup of tea and a snack.

We began at the Lyall DOC Campground End and used HikenBike to relocate our car.

Day 1: Lyall Campground to Ghost Lake Hut 30km. Uphill (Grade 2). This ride starts with a 3-4hr gradual climb to Lyall Hut going through beautiful native bush. It goes on for ever, but isn’t that steep or technical. Eventually you reach the tree line and the wondrous views (of clouds and rain!). There is then one to two hours of exposed track that is a little more technical and scary, but easily manageable by an intermediate level rider. Finally after a descent back into the bush, you arrive at the Ghost lake Hut.

Day 2: Ghost Lake Hut - Seddonville Trailhead (the end) 55km. (Grade 3). We had to wait until the rain calmed down so were delayed in starting until 8:30am. Day 2 began with the toughest section of the trail. The 9km of mostly descending to Stern Hut took us almost 3hrs, although we did spend a lot of time posing for photos. It was pretty rugged and also absolutely stunning. After Stern Hut the next challenge is The Boneyard. This is roughly an hour long climb, with views of some small lakes and lots of fluffy goats. After The Boneyard we had some pretty fun descents and then a few little climbs. I stopped and stared at a Ponga tree for 20min at one point, and Kashi had to pull out the classic “not far to go now”. There were lots of incredible bridges to cross, rivers and eventually also the moon! Thankfully, Kashi brought some lights. Eventually we did arrive at the finish 9hrs or so after we left. Lucky it wasn’t a race! I haven’t laughed so hard for a while about stopping to stare at the Ponga tree so I am grateful at the opportunity to recap.

Menu

Breakfast:

Hot water with lemon

Granola, we had YUM granola with hot water and dash of coconut milk powder.

Coffee/tea

Dinner:

Trident Tom Yum Rice Noodles at Ghost Lake Hut were pretty delightful to warm up with.

Homemade Dehydrated Beans and Rice with extra Tio Pablo spices

Strong Snack Game:

Because we were only staying one night, I think the key is to have a strong nutrient/protein dense snack game to keep the momentum going whilst riding. Nothing too sweet until quite late into the ride otherwise the likelihood to turn into a puddle and not want to keep moving would have been quite high!

Blueberries

Macadamia & Brazil nuts, Almonds

This amazing Manchego style sheep cheese

Some Leftover Pizza (Day 1)

Bars, Sesame Snaps

Chocolate covered things

Salami (Kashi)

Leftover Beans and Rice (Day 2)

Post Dinner
Biosphere Magnesium Sachets were super handy to pop in some water (nice to have extra on hand if someone mentions they are a bit sore). Or just tip your magnesium into a container/little bag.

Herbal Tea, Chocolate!

Emergency Rations

We had three Absolute Wilderness freeze dried meals with us in case we didn’t have enough food but we didn’t need them.