Snow in the Wangapeka

When English tramper, Colin Wilson, did not show up at Karamea after starting to walk the Wangapeka Track, parties from the Search and Rescue Organisation at Nelson and Karamea went into this dense bushland to find him. And find him they did, Mr Wilson became lost but stayed at a hut until help arrived. For the Nelson party, getting into the track was no trouble, but while on the search heavy snow fell in the area and it took the party two days of hard slogging over the ridges to get out.

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the Nelson party: Arthur Curtis (who took the pix used here), Ron Bennett, Brian Weekes, Ross Curtis, and Dave Massam, at the Luna Hut. Some idea of conditions can best be gauged from this pic of the trip out (below).