The Jollie River flows into the eastern side of the Tasman River not far above the head of
Lake Pukaki. A public access easement up the Jollie Valley begins from the Braemar Mount Cook Station Road.
Arriving at the carpark mid-morning on Saturday we were surprised to see so many vehicles already there. As the Jollie Valley is often frequented by hunters we were glad to be carrying tents in case the Green Point Hut was already occupied.
After walking 2.5 kilometres on the vehicle track through Mt Cook Station we reached the Gammack Conservation Area and soon after the Jollie Hut. The Jollie and the Green Point huts that were on Braemar Station were built in the early 1900s for musterers. Both are now under DOC guardianship, having been brought into the Conservation Estate after the Tenure Review of Braemar Station in 2008. Mt Cook Station underwent Tenure Review at around the same time which means that the Jollie River now marks the boundary between the Mt Cook Conservation Area on the west and the Gammack Conservation Area to the east.
Above: John, Bruce and Joan arriving at Jollie Hut
From Jollie Hut we continued up the valley. Soon the vehicle track ran out and we were
making our way either up the riverbed or on grassy terraces.
By mid-day the low cloud had cleared completely and we had unobstructed views of the
steep-sided mountains of the Gammack Range, the Burnett Mountains and to the peaks at
the head of the 25 kilometre-long valley. All the peaks are over 2,000 metres. In the river
we saw many trout (sadly dead) and at one point spotted deer high up on the mountainside.
It was an 11 kilometre walk to the Green Point Hut and after five hours we were happy to
spy the hut sitting on a glacial terrace beside the river. We were even happier to find that
the hut was unoccupied. With six bunks, five of us opted to sleep inside while three
erected tents.
[Thanks to the volunteer efforts of NZ Alpine Club members – with financial support from
the Backcountry Trust – this hut, like the Jollie,was upgraded in 2021. At Green Point Hut
the team replaced all the lead heads with tek screws, placed a new Clearlite, fitted some
new flashings, replaced the old window with a new aluminium framed, double-glazed
one, installed a new door frame, blocked rat holes in the floor with tin strips, fixed broken
bunk slats, reinstated a missing roof joist, and painted the exterior trim and roof. At Jollie
Hut the team did similar work and intended to replace the lead-head nails with tek screws
but found that the whole roof needs replacing – “a good project” they said, “for a group
with roofing skills.” We can only thank this team for the hours they put in.]
Later on Saturday afternoon, after unpacking, erecting tents and having a cuppa, most of
us walked a little further on around the shrub-covered point (making it obvious why the
hut was named Green Point). The end-of-valley view inspired some of us to aim for a
second trip up the Jollie valley, to spend two nights at Green Point Hut and do a day trip
further on to see the derelict Little’s hut. We returned to Green Point hut that was now in
the shade, the sun having dipped beneath the Burnett Range.
Catherine had kindly organised the evening meal. Though it was a higher-than-normal
bench-top, on which an extra large gas bottle and cooker sat and then a large saucepan on
top of that, Catherine was not short of an answer to the difficulty this presented and it
wasn’t long before she had cooked up a tasty meal of mince and rice for the eight of us.
It was early to bed. Next morning we left soon after 9 am and made faster time down the
valley, partly because more time was spent following the well defined track on the grassy
terraces compared with the day before.
We reached the turn-off to Jollie Hut just as our empty stomachs reminded us it was time
to eat so again made the short detour to lunch outside the hut, basking in the warm
sunshine. From there it was up and down a few hills and back to the vehicles.
We returned along the Braemar Road to Tekapo where we stopped for an ice-cream which
Wayne kindly shouted us because he had just celebrated a milestone birthday. It was an
enjoyable weekend exploring a new valley on two beautifully fine autumn days. A very
big thank you to leader and organiser, Catherine. Those on the trip were Bruce, John,
Wayne, Graham and Joan, Hazel, and reporter, Dorothy.