Tramp Reflections 801 - Urchin to Waipakahi, Kaimanawas

28-30 November 2008

The trip leader was Kevin Bailey with Val Hollands as Co-Leader. The participants of this not so hard core group were Sheila, Nick and Adrienne. Nick and I had not been to the Kaimanawas before; we had come along this weekend to move the van around for Kevin and the rest of the group. Adrienne had been to the area before, but due to her sore knee wanted an easier weekend than Kevin was planning so had joined us for an easier weekend.

Friday night we arrived at our camping spot just off the Kaimanawa Road around 10.30 pm; on went the head torches, up went the tents, we were all snug in no time at all.

Saturday morning dawned with a cold nip in the air; Adrienne’s tent had ice on it but not for long as the sun soon followed. It was a glorious day by the time Nick had driven the ‘hard core’ group of eight trampers to the start of their tramp up and over Urchin then down the Waipakihi River Valley. Our small ‘not so hard core’ group of three planned to walk to the Pillars of Hercules then Tree Trunk Gorge, both on the Tongariro River, before heading south along the road to the Waipakihi River Valley to meet up with the others. It was only a short walk to the Pillars of Hercules, unfortunately the pillars were overgrown with bush so not very spectacular. Undeterred we set off for Tree Trunk Gorge. Along the way we decided to hone our navigation skills, teaching ourselves how not to and then how to locate north using a watch and the sun, we also identified some of the mountain peaks we saw (not all correctly as we found out later!). The track to the gorge took us through some pristine native bush, pleasant beech forest and several stream crossings. The gorge itself was worth the walk; a bridge over a deep chasm with shear rock face narrowing to force the Tongariro through at rapid speed.

We returned to the van, had lunch, and then set off down SH1 for Waipakihi River Valley. Earlier that morning Kevin had given us directions to the end of the Waipakihi River Road… “if you guys just walk up the river 3 to 4 hours, we’ll all meet up and setup camp for the night here!” he said following the river with his finger on the map and then tapping it, if you get to a large stretch of beach (river stone) that seems to go on for ever, you’ve gone to far. ‘Yep, Ok no problem’ the three of us said. Now, here we were, with the river valley stretching out below us in all its glory. Nick and I had never done river crossings like this before, Adrienne had but not in the role of making decisions as to where the river should be crossed. After a couple of false starts in wrong places we crossed safely and were on our way up river making use of the tracks on the banks when we could, crossing the river when they ran out. It was a great experience, the day was still glorious, the three of us had heaps of fun, we quickly learnt how to read the flow of the river and pick the best places to cross; this varied from ankle deep to waist deep! After walking up the river for approximately 3 hours we made an executive decision; we didn’t seem to be anywhere near Kevin’s finger tapping camp site, our pace was obviously a lot slower, so we decided to setup camp and meet up with the others the following day.

Adrienne suggested we camp in the bush as it would be warmer, we found a great spot obviously used before, probably by hunters, with a well built stone pit for a camp fire (irresistible to Nick!) and plenty of space to setup the tents. We bathed al fresco style and were in the middle of cooking our dinners when… as often happens in the middle of nowhere… the neighbours dropped in for a visit… in the form of a nice young couple on a hunting weekend with their 4 and 6 year old children!!! They were camping some way further up the river bank from us and had smelt Nick’s fire.

Sunday was another glorious day, after breakfast we broke camp, hid the tents/packs etc in the bush and set off up river again carrying water and a light lunch in search of the HTC ‘hard core’ trampers. We waded and tramped our way up river, through absolutely stunning scenery for over another two hours. We saw deer tracks, but no deer, we saw the peak the ‘hard core’ were climbing that morning but we saw no ‘hard core’ trampers or finger tapping campsite. We decided to have lunch and then make our way back down river to pick up our stashed gear.

It took us half the time to walk out down the river to where we had left the van. We put that down to experience gained and going with the current rather than against it. We looked hard, but could not find the track; our visiting neighbours had told us was there, that would lead us right up to the road close to where the van was parked so we scrambled up the bank. Nick walked on up to the van whilst Adrienne and I continued to look, we were still looking for the track when we heard voices, and the ‘hard core’ group came striding through the bush towards us… what perfect timing!

We all exchanged stories in the bus and over tea on the way home; everyone had had a great weekend. It was a great experience, we learnt heaps. Thanks Kevin and Val.

Sheila Toppin –“Not so Hard Core Group”

Photographs by unknown (Olympus FE340,X855,C560).