This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
The country had been in drought for at least four weeks. Surely it could be assumed that this weekend would bring more of the fine weather that had been so prevalent. Yeah right! By Friday evening the rain had started and the forecast was for it to persist for much of the next day. Bugger! Club membership was beckoning for Stephen Hope and I who were on our third outing with the club so we had special reason to be excited! Upon discussion, we found that each of our previous trips had also been in less than desirable conditions. The natural conclusion was that the poor weather was definitely due to us! Apologies guys, but maybe we could offer to do some trips in some drought areas for a small fee from the local authorities! With flys up and everyone ready to go to sleep, the rain had an ominous feel about it. The noise kept the entire party awake for several hours, that is, except for Deborah who managed to fall asleep without even turning her light of f. Not even the thunderous sound of a branch falling onto our campsite could wake Deborah who was seemed intent on getting a good night's sleep for the day that lay ahead. By morning the rain had eased. The track promised fantastic views of the central volcanic plateau to the south and over Lake Taupo to the North as the track headed into the Kaimanawa Ranges. The 1.5 hrs was all uphill through bush, not the easiest way to start the day! Once above the bush-line we had the joy of being well exposed to the elements! Horizontal rain with limited visibility tended to impair our “spectacular” views of the volcanoes. Not that certain party members were deterred! Stephen was busy snapping away, but somehow I think they are all going to look the same...Lots of hazy cloud! Once back into bush there was a steep decent down to the river valley where we were able to find some shelter and enjoy a well earned lunch. On a fine day this would have been a great spot for a swim.
Following lunch we headed up river. We were expecting to spend about 3 hrs heading up the river to the hut. About an hour in, we encountered a young group of Aucklanders heading downstream. After some pleasantries, the usual question of “how long to the hut?" The reply being “we've been walking for 4 hours." We were amused. We decided they must have been strolling along as the guidebook suggested ‘easy river walking of three to four hours’. 2 hours passed, surely the hut was just around the corner...3 hrs after seeing the group, “surely only another 15 minutes". We were now getting sick of walking! 4 hrs later, darkness was setting in, “where the f&#% is the hut!" Maybe those Aucklanders weren't so slow after all. The guidebook was coming in for a certain amount of flak from this particular group of trampers! Finally, nearly 5 hours after lunch, the fantastic sight of the hut, perched up the hill, what a relief! Late Saturday, an amusing moment occurred. The river narrowed considerably with no river bed to walk on. Rather than haul ourselves onto banks (we were all rather tired) we trudged through what initially looked like quite shallow water. Quickly it was up to our waists! The water in front of us definitely looked shallower but in fact got deeper (something to do with objects in water looking closer than they really are I think). Before long some of us were having a bit of a late afternoon swim! Those avoiding the swim, it turned out, apparently practiced a strict policy of never getting their underwear wet! Caro especially had fun trying to lift her pack above her head while getting through this particular water hazard! Once at the hut the temptation was just to collapse but dinner preparations started a hive of activity, fire starting etc. After a delicious meal it was straight off to bed for most of the party. Sunday proved much less eventful. The day dawned bright with sunshine. The track heads straight up the ridges to Umukarikari. The weather was perfect with views well out over Lake Taupo. The www.wtmc.org.nz PO Box 5068, Wellington
walking along the ridge is relatively easy (why can't is all be like this). We kept our eyes peeled for deer but no luck. There was a near call though. A particular (nameless) member of the party observed what was thought to be some deer footprints. “Oooh, look what I might have found, look". We take a closer look. “Stupid, that's from your walking pole!” Oh well, these things happen! Before long we were ready to descend through the bush-line back to the car park. This was far quicker than anyone had expected. We spent less than an hour in the bush and before long we were sitting in the sun at the road end deciding which café we would stop at on the way home!
Trip Members Lee-Ann Mitchell, Lynsay F., Stephen Hope, Russel Norman, Caro Henckels, Deborah Weston, Brett Hawes (scribe)