This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
JAWAS 25 - 27 NOVEMBER 1994 By Pat Duffy
The Easy team gathered at the Wellington rail as usual for another epic journey in the Duchess. The weather was discussed in depth, with the normal, endless predictions regarding the chances of rain, snow, sleet ar sunshine, and after some lengthy comparisons regarding the weight of packs, and a head count we all climbed aboard wondering what we had forgotten. Roger collected the boarding passes and provided a very professional pre-departure briefing for those not familiar with the safety exits and services available during the trip.
After some hours, and a couple of missed approaches and precautionary circuits, we emerged from the blur of jet travel at a campsite somewhere near the northern most extremity of the Desert Road. The Fits camped out but the rest of the group preferred the subtle comforts of the Duchess for the evening.
Dawn came far too early; however, the day looked reasonable with a slight overcast, and the general group eagemess to get going soon overcame any individual’s tiredness. The packs still felt too heavy as we caught our breath on the first hundred metres of the Urchin track. We had set off a little too late to take advantage of the cool moming and the gradient combined with the -warmth of the day soon saw the beads of sweat forming on the forehead as we climbed on through the relatively open beech forest. A confused shining cuckoo kept us company with its shrill rising whistle in a fruitless response to variations on a theme from the maestros in the group. The first part of the track was easy-going underfoot but did tend to grind ona bit with the glimpses of the distant mountains providing some compensation. The transition - from bush to windswept tops was abrupt anda hundred _metres more up the loose scree brought usto the top and atrig. The landscape is sprinkled with pumice, pockets of ash, and buried charcoal beech trees - the remnants of the volcanic activity in the region some hundreds of years ago. We waited for the Medium group while enjoying our lunch, happy with the thought that it was all downhill from here.
One has to linger a while to appreciate the alpine flora and the view out over the Desert Road. From here the volcanic plateau and Rangipo Desert can be seen rising to Ruapehu in the southwest, with the steep cone of Ngauruhoe dominating the skyline further round to the north. Mount Tongariro drops off across the Te Tatau Pounamu Wildemess Area to Lake Rotoaira and Mount Pihanga. Lake Taupo, a deep shimmering blue, looks inviting as we cool off in the slight breeze.
The track is a well-marked poled route towards the Waipakihi Valley; sidling around the ridges it offers a magnificent view of the valley and the river flats below. After a short stroll along the tops we re-entered the bush to follow a steep descent into the valley which finally terminates abruptly at the river. Here we rejoined the. Medium group having their lunch stop. A quick breather and away again but this time into the bushlined bank of the river to follow deer tracks upstream to an open grassy flat where we decided to set up camp. After pitching the flys and carrying out some housework, the place began to look like home for the night.
The weather was kind to us apart from afew spots of rain around tea time which forced us into a fly. Full of devilled sausages, sponge cake, peaches, and lashings of tea we wandered down to the river and back before retiring for the night wondering where the Mediums had got to. The dawn brought a clear crisp start to the day and we headed off soonafter Nick had devoured the last of the © ‘Monster Sausages from the Deep’ that Raewyn had donated to the stew. A couple of hunters joined us on the way back. They had been very successful and had two sets of hind legs and other bits of dead deer sticking out of their packs. Near the bottom of the climb out of the Waipakihi Valley, we thought it polite to let them and the accompanying blow flies past; however, they were no match for the Easys. Robyn was leading the way at a great pace, and the hunters finally relented about three quarters of an hour later when we caught themup. They had unpacked their booty and were looking pretty tired. Nick’s suggestion that their load looked very heavy worked, andhe scored a leg of venison!!
It was indeed good fortune for all of us, as Nick was now weighed down sufficiently to stop himrunning up the hills. - After a slight diversion to scale one of the prominences for a photo session, and a wander along the tops, we made our way to the trig and alonglunch stop in the sun. Suzanne had run out of noodles by now and unfortunately we could not put her claim of being able to I produce “noodles for all occasions” to the test, and settled for Daniel’s squiggles as an alternative treat.
The. reverse trip down from the trig certainly is a lot quicker than coming up. The cuckoo was nowhere to be heard, and we travelled along in relative silence with . just the occasional warbler breakinginto tune on the way to the roadend and the Duchess. Our trip was over.
Adventure tourism is one of the many and recent buzz words that describes outdoor activity in New Zealand, It is an attempt to define one of the many pursuits where people get to achieve their goals, manage their fears in a controlled situation, or just have a good relaxing time in the great outdoors. I would like to think the Easy trip to the Waipakihi Valley in the Kaimanawas had all the essential qualifying elements with a lot of enjoyment and friendship thrown in for good measure.
Thanks to Robyn Darcey, Raewyn Pollock, Nick Gyde, - Suzanne Histen, and Daniel Vos for making the trip such a great occasion; and a special thanks to Roger for flying the Duchess so smoothly. .
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