Had to have an extra day off in Hanmer as the weather was horrendous; we got a ride out to the start of the track at Nelson Lakes and sat in the shelter but the rain was tipping down and didnt stop from then on. Decided was a bad idea to come out today after all and managed to get a ride back to Hanmer. Should have listened to the MetService forecast of severe weather warnings a bit better but its ok we started again the next day and only two rain showers - we hardly got wet, it was great!
Along the river flats to the Kiwi Saddle and through the bush to Lake Sumner. 
The track was under water around the lake and we saw a 4x4 stuck up on the high banks around the lake (a DOC worker told us later that they had driven in, then the river had come up so now they were stuck).
Along the track some more, a mix of bush and river flats staying at various huts en route then up over Harper Pass. Pretty good going up there as we happened to be following the DOC track cutters up there which was great, they had cleared nearly all the tree fell for us. Got to Locke Stream hut mid afternoon and got the weather report from the DOC radio there thats connected to Arthurs Pass visitor centre and they said the weather was looking good for the next few days but could be a few showers so we decided to push on a bit to the Kiwi hut for the night to get some ground underfoot whilst the sun had decided to make an appearance.
We had to look for quite a while for a safe crossing of the Taramakau river and again the Otahake as there had been so much rain everything was flowing pretty high, fast and strong but we got across safe and well and carried on the high water route from the Aitkens shelter to the Morrison footbridge. 
Now, theres a high water route and a VERY high water route; we did it for an hour then managed to drop back down onto the river flats before we completely ran out of steam. Managed to get ourselves around the river to the footbridge instead, much easier option!!
From here it was just over Goats Pass then into Arthurs Pass on a short road walk; however, we tried to cross the Deception river at two different places both aborted attempts due to high levels and the flow being too strong. We decided that we would camp for the night and try again in the morning as the rivers were dropping a good 15cm each day. The next morning, off we went again up the valley to a 'fairly good crossing point' and yes we managed to get across although it was still pretty strong. We wandered up the valley from there for another half hour or so then had to cross back to the other side. 
That was a no go unless we wanted to become the next tramper drowning statistic so we aborted our attempt again, headed back over at the point where we had first crossed and decided that the road walk was the safest option. There has been exceptionally high rain in the last two weeks making everything very difficult to manage and rivers a nightmare! We had to get a ride for the last few kms into Arthurs Pass as the Otira Tunnel and viaduct could have resulted in a road incident instead of a river one. If its not one thing its another. Oh well we are now here in Arthurs Pass and planning the next haul down to Lake Tekapo and have now done 2000km - we're getting there!!!
Apparently there has been 1.5 metres of rain in Arthurs Pass in two weeks - no wonder the rivers were high!!
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