Tramp Reflections 795 - Waitomo - Apple Tree Road

28 September 2008

The trip, (led by Brett with co-leader Gail) to Waitomo started in high spirits on a beautiful and clear day at 7:30 am. I was warned this tramp was a bit further away with the guarantee of getting wet. The drive to Apple Tree Road with 8 of us in the van, went quickly as we all got to know a bit about each other. The environment was welcoming with the Hamilton Tramping Club members getting to know the first time trampers a bit more.

Once we got to the end of Apple Tree Road and everyone had their boots and packs on and ready, Brett the leader, gave us a brief run down on how the day would go. First we would walk back down the road and start the loop. Then we would turn off this track to go and see the Twin Water Falls. The track started off as a gravel road and was easy and fast walking until we reached the bush, where we tramped along a DOC track to the turn off. At this point Brett showed us where we would be going and about how long it would take to get there. He also showed us where we would be going once we got back to this point.

The track was amazing with native bush surrounding us. We followed our leader up, over and around the landscape.

We finally took a break for morning tea about 10:30 to catch our breath and make sure the party was doing ok with the speed and terrain. We continued tramping until we reached where we would be having lunch. But first we went and looked at the two falls. It was amazing to think that the falls were both connected. The top falls was surrounded by bush and it was hard to move around to get a good look. Then we moved onto the lower fall where we were to have lunch. It was beautiful with amazing rock formations and the hot sun contrasting to the cold almost cave like shadows. Since we were at our lunch spot early (about 11:45) we got to explore the area a bit and take loads of photos.

After lunch we walked back to the Tawarau falls loop with many stops on the way to check out the bush along the path. When we finally got back to the Tawarau Falls loop, Brett stopped us again to check the if the speed and everyone was ok. As we all were fighting fit, we continued on our way looking forward to the end of the tramp.

After a while we started to follow a river upstream to see the Tawarau Falls. There wasn't much to see as it dropped off down below us but the view down was amazing. The conversation was great and I got to know a few amazing people and a little bit about them. The track in places was steep both up and down hill and sometimes slippery, but it all added to this great tramp. I got to challenge myself and see how much I could take until I fell over. There were many funny moments when someone fell onto their bum due to the muddy and steep track.

There was a lot of talk about how deep the river crossing was going to be and how the weather had been pretty good and that it hadn't rained in a while. Everyone was hoping it wasn't going to be above the waist. When we finally got to the river crossing we got into two groups of four and crossed the river together. It was great that Brett had planned to do the loop anti-clockwise as we were only half an hour from the van after the river crossings. It was awesome to do a river crossing but great to get back to the van so we could change out of our wet gear. We got back to the van about 4:15pm all tired and hungry but happy. Over all the tramp was really good as we got to see the native bush, talk to some amazing people and get our feet wet!

Natalie

Photograph by Natalie Sorensen (Olympus uD600).