This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Leader: Simon Ward
Punters: Anita S’ua Andrew Mann Kellie McKay
ride as 4 easy and 8 medium trampers tried to work out just where Whakatawhaino was. The transport cost was only $35 and many thought this would only get us as far as the Ruahines but we couldn't fathom why the mystery trip would go to the Ruahines when that was where the last mystery trip had gone. But the bus just kept on going past the roads which led to the western Ruahines and by the time we had passed through Taihape and Waiouru we were getting hopeful that our mystery weekend was at the Lodge (forgetting that the reason Sue and Kevin were heading up to the lodge was for maintenance). Kevin did a good job of keeping us all in suspense as he turned left at Waiouru onto the road to Ohakune and we all got very excited at the prospect of going to the Lodge. Then suddenly the bus did a U-turn back onto the Desert Road and we realised we were destined for another Friday night under the flies. Kevin pulled the bus over a short time later beside a DOC sign indicating a road into Tongariro National Park and said “has anyone been here before?” Someone yelled out “yes” and Kevin said “well, we can’t let you off here then” and drove on. Eventually we pulled over to the right by a Kaimanawa Forest Park sign and the mediums were dumped on the side of the road with an envelope containing a map and instructions. A short while later, our easy group of 4 was dropped off at the start of the Waihohonu Track. We p She excitement started with the Friday night bus feeling fit, sidling around Mt Ngauruhoe down to Mangatepopo Hut and along the Mangatepopo Track to Whakapapa Village. So we headed off along the track in the dark (a very medium trip thing to do, we thought) for 20 minutes or so until we reached the Te Mako bush. We found a lovely flat spot to pitch the fly with some sturdy trees that were much more effective than poles. The air was warm and calm and we had a pleasant snooze until Anita and Kellie were disturbed by a rowdy possum. Everyone was awake by 6.45am on Saturday. We tried to take our time eating breakfast and packing up but with only 4 of us on the trip we were ready to start walking by 7.55am. Simon observed that this was not typical easy tramping at all. As we walked along the very flat track, the early morning mist gradually rose and by 9.00am we could see both Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe. A few minutes later we stopped at Waihohonu Hut for a break. After using the flush toilets and consuming a few munchies we headed up the track towards Oturere Hut. The first part of this track involved walking over a relatively small hill where we received our best view of the day — Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe in front of us and the Kaimanawas behind. We descended the track to a river where we then headed off track (also a very medium trip thing to do we thought). Ashort distance later we found we needed to cross the river. It was quite fast flowing and the rocks looked were also given an envelope containing a map and instructions. We were to head into Te Mako bush and camp, then on Saturday walk along the track to Waihohonu Hut, then a short distance further along the Oturere Track, then head off the track towards the Waihohonu Springs, and up a gully to the foot of Mt Ngauruhoe where we were to camp on Saturday night. On Sunday we had the option of walking past the Tama Lakes to Whakapapa Village or if we were slippery so Andrew suggested we try and barge our way through the bush to reach the next flat bit. We attempted this for a couple of minutes and Kellie annouced that she would rather get wet so we dropped back down to the river. As we emerged from the bush, ' we found it was raining — wonder if it had anything to do with what Kellie said? So we crossed the river which wasn't so bad after all and proceeded to head up the valley.
Trip Reports
We found ourselves bushbashing a wee bit on the way (also a very medium trip thing to do) before we reached the bottom of the rocky gully which headed up towards Mt Ngauruhoe. We crawled under some trees for a bit of shelter and had a very quick lunch. At this point we were beginning to get quite wet and thinking that spending the afternoon under the fly at the base of Mt Ngauruhoe was not going to be particularly pleasant, especially since we were likely to-get there by 2pm at the rate we were walking. We began to ponder the possibility of walking all the way out to Whakapapa Village that day and getting Kevin to take us up to the Lodge. Simon seemed concerned about the flak we would get from those staying at the lodge doing maintenance work, but the rest of us felt that walking all the way out to Whakapapa in one day via this rather circuitous route we were taking to be quite legendary for an easy group! After lunch we headed up the rocky gully which was a bit like the Devils Staircase on the Tongariro Crossing (although not as steep but a lot longer). Instead of heading right up to the base of Mt Ngarahoe, we turned south towards a saddle which led down to the north side of Upper Tama lake. We rested for a while and contemplated the best way to get around Upper Tama lake to pick up the track which led down to Whakapapa. Kellie suggested that we pack float across the lake but the others didn't appear keen. We decided to head around the eastern side of the lake which involved a lot of up and down along the ridge line. The downhill bits were fun as we could slide down quickly through the scree, although those without gaiters ended up with a few stones in their boots. The mist occasionally closed in around us and just as we felt we couldn't see 20 metres in front of us, the mist would clear again and we were treated to an excellent view of the Upper Tama lake. Eventually we picked up the track and headed down to Whakapapa. The weather had started to get colder and windy, and our feet were beginning to get quite sore. At around 4.30pm, we caught our first glimpse of the Chateau and thought hooray, we had nearly made it, but the distance was quite deceptive we realised when we reached a junction that gave us two choices of route to Whakapapa, both estimated at an hour. We chose the Taranaki Falls route, which was looking quite spectacular. Finally, after approximately 55 minutes, we arrived at Whakapapa. Simon rang the lodge to ask Kevin to come and pick us up only to find that he had gone to get some of the medium party who had given up on their trip! So we sat outside the DOC centre trying to warm up and discussing what a marvellous effort we had made and making (jokingly) derogatory remarks about the medium drop-outs. Eventually, the bus arrived and we headed up to the Lodge where we all enjoyed a hot shower, hot meal and a very comfortable night on the new mattresses. The next morning dawned warm and sunny (as per usual once one finishes a tramp!) and we all pitched in with the Lodge maintenance. It was really great to see just how much work goes into keeping our Lodge in its excellent condition. We packed up and headed back to Wellington just after 2pm, picked up the remaining three mediums who had endured the rain in the Kaimanawas and arrived at the railway station at the respectable hour of 7.30pm. Allin all, a fantastic weekend was had by the easys and great value for $35. Thanks Simon for not getting us lost in the mist and thanks Don for picking a great trip.
PORE AMEE He eS tas eh sata - jute ee