Upper Cobb - Fenella Hut
January 16-19, 2007  
  • The upper Cobb River and Xenicus Peak.
  • The Cobb Valley is noted for abundant yellow flowering bulbinella or 'Maori onion'.
  • <em>Bulbinella</em>, or 'Maori onion'.
  • Flowering <em>Hebe topiaria</em>.
  • Striped gentians, another Cobb Valley notable flower.
  • 'Eyebright' flowers, probably <em>Euphrasia cuneata</em>.
  • Fenella Hut, beneath Waingaro Peak.
  • Fenella Hut.
  • Two cheerful DOC workers, Kieran and Lars, giving the hut a spruce-up.
  • Typical scene near the hut -- mixed boggy tussock and rocky outcrops with scraggly beech.
  • Looking down the Cobb from a hill near the hut.
  • Rock, beech, flax and tussock form a natural Japanese garden.
  • West of the hut.
  • Gibbs Basin, a luxuriant herbfield beneath Xenicus and Mt Gibbs.
  • A glimpse of Island Lake from Mt Gibbs, as close as I got.
  • Sundew in flower (<em>Drosera spathulata</em>).
  • <em>Celmesia sessiliflora</em>
  • Orchid, <em>Caladendia</em> sp.
  • Xenicus and Gibbs peaks.
  • Mt Gibbs, Xenicus, Lake Cobb, and Mt Cobb, Lake Cobb, Xenicus and Mt Gibbs (L to R).
  • The upper Waignaro Valley and the ridge leading to Mt Benson and Lake Sylvester.
  • Waingaro Peak and the ridge leading to Kakapo Peak and Lonely Lake (the Dragons Teeth route).
  • Xenicus and Lake Cobb.
  • Waingaro Peak (L) and Mt Snowdon (R).
  • Camp Lake and Mt Prospect on the west side of the Cobb Valley.
  • The Cobb Valley.
  • Cobb Valley floor, heading back to the roadend.
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The Upper Cobb Valley

On this trip I accompanied Bush and Beyond tramping guide Bill Rooke and a client, David from England, for four days in the Upper Cobb area. Day 1 was devoted to the drive up to the Cobb Reservoir, at 900m elevation a prime access point for numerous tracks and locations, and then the five-hour walk up the valley to its mountainous headwaters. There we stayed at Fenella Hut, a favourite with trampers because of its location in the midst of a remarkable area for geology, plant life and scenery. It is also well designed, being built some 30 years ago by family and friends as a memorial for Fenella Druce, a young woman who tragically lost her life in an avalanche on Mt Cook. Fenella loved to visit the Upper Cobb with her father, a botanist, and others in her family.

Over the next two days we hiked to higher elevations on either side of the hut, taking it all in, with weather that improved from misty to sunny. Among the highlights, I saw my first rock wren, albeit on the wing without a chance for a photo. This rare and endangered tiny bird lives only in the alpine high areas of New Zealand.

On the fourth day we had a leisurely walk back down the 15 km to the carpark at Trilobite Hut.