 They travelled north via a tributary of the Arahura River which eventually met the Buller River , which they reached in March . In April , while making his way up the Buller Gorge , Brunner suffered paralysis of his leg . The party had to lay up for a week for Brunner to recover some use of his body . With the aid of Kehu ( Pitewate and his wife abandoned the party when Brunner became ill ) , he was able to reach Nelson in June 1848 , thus ending after 550 days what he described as his ' Great Journey ' . 
