Tramp Reflections 830 - Waitotara Forest
23 October 2009 to 26 October 2009
Trip information for the route through the Waitotara Forest from Puniwhakau to Waitotara Valley road ends showed that it was better to count on an extra day, so we decided to take the Friday off as well. Last year's Labour Weekend tramp saw us struggling a bit on the second day from Puteore hut to Pouri hut, so we were prepared for the worst. Not necessary as it turned out to be much easier than expected....
Contact had been made with Basil Hooper from the Whanganui Tramping Club and it so happened he was organizing two easy day tramps in the area around the Waitotara Valley. Invitation to our club members to join these was sent out, but the response was minimal. Kathy was scared out of our intended group by Don and Don & Clare and preferred going to New Plymouth that weekend. The alternative group leaving Saturday was subsequently cancelled which left the die-hards Kevin B, Grant, Anna and me to do the trip all the way through; Vince booked in at the last minute and joined us. Val and John both had had a rough couple of weeks so they didn't mind doing it a bit more relaxed and volunteered to drive the van around.
The earlier departure time (5pm) was neutralised by Grant's delay in traffic due to an accident, so we ended up driving around in Hamilton and by the time we crossed the city boundary we had lost about an hour. The rest of the trip down to Taranaki went well, especially our dinner stop in Mokau at The Garage, the only place open. The burgers were great (literally) and the other food was very nice as well.
We arrived 11pm spot on at Kathy's uncle place on Puniwhakau road and were pleasantly surprised by the well fitted out accommodation that he had adjacent to his house: very spacious, sleeping 7 of us easily, with kitchen and bathroom and wood fire! It didn't take us long to hit the sack.
After an early rise and breakfast we said goodbye to our host, leaving a couple of bottled gifts behind. The road end was only 10 minutes further down the road. We hesitated at the farm gate, not sure that we were right; the owner of the farm came down to tell us that we were.
John and Val had the whole day to drive around to their overnight spot near Waverley while we headed off over farmland, following the Puniwhakau stream. We soon came to 'the Letterbox', a junction where the early settlers left their mail in a rectangular hole cut in the papa wall of the graded road. From here on it was known territory to us (from last year's first day) to Puteore hut. The track was quite boggy which took a lot of energy out of us. We went up the hill where a memorial site is of a murdered couple of trampers; not many clematis in bloom (not so far yet or already gone?) and we had lunch again at 'Charlie's Clearing' underneath the pines. Before continuing we searched and found a (private) hut, frequented by hunters, as indicated to us by Basil Hooper, quite a messy, but interesting place. We reached Puteore hut after a 9 hour-day.
All huts along this route have been recently put there, since DOC is more or less promoting this route through the Waitotara Forest; other huts in the area have been removed, much to the disgust of local trampers.
Both the next two days saw us leaving before 7.30am and plodding on over a rugged ridge, but the track was much better than anticipated with hardly any windfalls like the ones we encountered on last year's route. We arrived early at Tahupo hut the second day after 5 hours. With too much energy leftover Kevin, Grant and Vince cleaned the rear gutter and pipe and filter into the water tank. Rain came and after it had stopped Kevin, Grant and I went to the old Tahupo hut site, 15min back the way we had come and 15min down the old track that lead to the (now removed) Maungarau hut. Vince took a nap and Anna read some magazines. The rest of the day was killed with story-telling and some more reading before early dinner and sleep.
On the third day we stopped at a helipad, 10mins past the hut, where we chatted and enjoyed the views; Mt Taranaki was clear to see. After another photo stop everybody continued, leaving Kevin behind to take some more photos. Anna and me slowed down at the tail end and also waited at the morning tea stop for more than half an hour before Kevin showed up at last. The scenery had captivated him so much that he had taken a wrong track shortly after we had parted; beautiful he said, but when it went down quite a distance he started doubting, checked his bearings on the map with GPS and turned back. That shows how easy you can get lost: it even happens to the best!
After a steep descent into the Waitotara valley we arrived early again at Trains hut (6 hours). We talked to a young couple from Wellington that had stayed the night before. They told us that some local trampers that also had stayed last night had left already telling them that a 'big party' was expected to arrive...must have been news spread around or the internet! After lunch we went for a short excursion to the nearby Terereohaupa falls.
Just back over the swing bridge and finding our way through the bush we heard voices on the other side of the river: John & Val arriving! After a wee shouting to and thro we continued down stream towards the Omaru River to try and find what used to be the 'real' track coming down the hill: the one we had followed was a shortcut track to the hut. After losing the track we spread out looking for markers, I went down to the Omaru, where there was no more sign of a swing bridge. Kevin and Grant had found the track, followed it up to the ridge track and went down the way we had come. The rest went back to the hut for afternoon tea.
We exchanged stories with John & Val and watched the swallow's nest with squawking young inside. Together we walked to a small waterfall in a side stream behind the hut; the stream was good to bathe in. After pre-dinner snacks (with wine) and dinner we went to sleep early again; John & Val camped outside.
Next day we all had a relaxed 4.5 hours walk back to the van over the nice winding track that reminded us of the Moki-track. A little stop was made at the site of the now derelict Kapara homestead.
We washed ourselves in the river, had lunch in the grass and sun and drove home. On one of the one-way lane bridges in the beginning I pushed my luck maybe a little by not stopping for a truck with a little trailer that by rights should have stopped, to almost the point of touching bumpers; he backed down a little so we could pass.
There are enough opportunities in this area to have lots of other 'laborious weekends' here in the future!
Written by Michiel van Dijk - Trip 1
Photographs by Michiel van Dijk (Casio EX-V7).