Distance: 2.8 km (1.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 602m to 737m. Gain: 135m. Loss: 10m . Gradient: 3 deg (Gentle)
Skills:

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

Primary, unmapped (2/5)
Route not on maps, but is principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Gentle (difficulty: 2/5)
Gentle slopes

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Low scrub in open or bush / river rocks

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

An old 4wd track climbs the spur between the Jones and Waiau to terraces above. The track (and flats below it) is choked with broom and can be hard to follow. Once on the terraces, going is easy on open grasslands. Follow terraces up the north side of the Jones. A poled route commences at the back of flats to pass the small scrubby stream 1km before Jervois Hut. The route from here to the hut is intermittently poled.

0.66-1 hr

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From Jervois Hut follow the intermittently poled route east along terraces north of the river for 1km to reach broad open terraces flats. Continue east along these to the small spur which descends to the forks between the Jones and Waiau. The start of an overgrown 4WD track down this spur is marked by an orange DOC warratah/marker. The descent is scrubby and hard going, as is the crossing of the broom-covered flats to the more open banks of the Waiau beyond.

0.66-1 hr