This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
ith the New Year fresh and my head still spinning from the celebrations it was time to greet the coming year with a tramp. Since the weather was sort of fine and warm, a sort of river trip seemed appropriate. So John and I found ourselves at Otaki Forks on the first Saturday of the year heading for Waitewaewae, and since we both “know” the Waitewaewae Track so well, an alternative route was proposed using as many water-ways as possible. After crossing the Otaki just above “the Forks” we made our way up the Waitatapia Stream. As an alternative access to Saddle Creek, hence bypassing the bridge and the track’s initial slips, the Waitatapia offers fast, varied and easy travel during summer — as long as you know the entry point of Saddle Creek in order to regain the track. Our plans for the day were to take us up-stream and further afield. We had soon passed Saddle Creek and headed on into “virgin” territory when John spied a hunter’s bivouac secluded under the trees. After a quick sortie we were soon on our way upstream while basking in the warmth of the day. Before long we arrived at a creek which gave us easy access to a saddle south of .2875 on the topographical map, despite the presence of one pesky waterfall halfway up. On achieving the saddle, and after some map consultation, we ploughed on down into the headwaters of Boyd Wilson Creek and eventually into West Waitewaewae Stream before merging with the Otaki River some 100 metres downstream.
Trip Reports
Once at Waitewaewae Hut the first order of business called for a plunge in the river, and a plunge it was, for someone forgot to tell the river that at this time of year it’s supposed to be a warm 30° Celsius, not 30° Fahrenheit! Well, so much for the anticipated swim. That night we shared the hut with one other tramper and some dubious wine to boot, thus settling in for a night of serious eating and not so serious chin wagging. And despite some heavy snoring echoing around a near-empty hut from sources which shall remain nameless (neither John nor I could pronounce his name anyway), I survived the night. Only in the wee smallish hours of the coming morning when silence eventually descended on our small patch of paradise was I able to gain something resembling sleep. With the morning light intruding I reluctantly got up and decided to meet the day head-on. After a hearty breakfast John and ! were soon off on the final stage of our quest to avoid the “Waitewaewae Track”: this entailed navigating the Upper Otaki Gorge and following it back to the Forks.
Though the day started fine and the water temperature tolerable, cloud cover soon overtook us and the temperature dropped. On meeting the first large pool John enthusiastically readied his one-man Warehouse “blow your lungs out” Zodiac complete with paddle, and eagerly plunged off at full steam down-river. Upon pumping up my old but trusty inner tube I found that I had inadvertently grabbed a mini rather than my trusty maxi — horror of horrors! Well at least my pack
Howard Biggs would float! So began a series of sidles around pools which would have made me an honorary mountain goat even by goat standards. But alas, some pools failed to yield and wet I did get. With my tube under my chest and my pack on my back my partial submergence must have looked akin to an oversized “pond skimmer”. As the Otaki was somewhat higher, colder and swifter than usual, travel was slower with a fot more compulsory swims. By lunchtime we reached the confluence with Plateau Stream and a hot brew was eagerly consumed.
A strengthening cold wind and the lateness of the day found us opting to exit the gorge via Plateau Stream and back up to the main track. Both of us felt that the most interesting part of the gorge was now behind us anyway. But what a stream it turned out to be! It has everything one could want from a stream, including waterfalls of all sizes — some you climb up, some you climb around — with steep bits, flat bits, deep bits, shallow bits, straight bits and bendy bits; you name it, this stream has it. So if you are looking for an interesting stream to test your skills, look no further! After three hours we gained the Waitewaewae Track and followed it down into Saddle Creek and back into the Waitatapia, retracing our path to the Forks. Although we didn’t quite succeed in a complete alternative route to and from Waitewaewae, a good time was had exploring some new territory.
Punters: John “Zodiac” Collier Howard “Mountain Goat” Biggs