This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
By Michael Lightbourne Photos by Ian Harrison
Waiopehu Peak, and Waiopehu Hut in middle left.
I started checking the forecast on the Tuesday before, and it was all bad: gale force southerlies with rain, all over the country. On Wednesday night I picked up my billy and checked again, no change. On Thursday I had another look, and it was a picture of consistency, the forecast was identical. It was with a sense of relief that I found out from our wise and skilled trip leader that she had negotiated a Saturday morning start. As I packed on Friday evening, I heard the rain crashing against the window on no doubt a nearly horizontal angle. I put in an extra layer of clothing.
Got up early on Saturday, and it was more of the same. Our great and helpful trip leader kindly offered to pick us all up from at or near our homes, and we were on our way. Incredibly, as soon as we left the city and travelled up the Kapiti Coast, it began to clear! We had a pleasant morning tea break in Levin, one of the joys of doing an Easy tramp. We then drove the short distance to the road end, where we met the last member of our party, Stan from Levin. Also at the carpark was the flash looking van belonging to the Hutt Valley tramping club. We set off on foot, through farmland initially, and were in good spirits due to the weather having improved dramatically. We wandered up the hill on a good track, though getting increasingly muddy, the eight of us. Andrew, freshly back from the US and keen to get reacquainted with the unique NZ bush, lan, who was taking it much easier than his usual fitter trips due to recovering from the flu (or so he said), Steven and partner Diane, veteran clubbies who surprised me by announcing that this was in fact their first ttamp into the Tararua ranges (who can blame them for staying away really). Also with us was Kirsten, whose artistically mismatched socks remained clean during the whole tramp in the face of mud comparable to that on Stewart Island, Stan, who was able to offer much helpful knowledge and advice on the various tracks in the area, and of course our trip leader Lynda, who I had complete confidence in, despite remembering reading in the journal the time she made her crew walk from St Arnaud to Speargrass Hut in the early hours of the morning one long weekend.
Finally we got high enough to leave the bush and move into scrub, the mud was particularly bad in this area. We then arrived at the Hut in the late afternoon. This hut is fantastic, it's new, large, well built, and the siting of it is so much better than the two former sites further down in the bush. Look out one window and you see Levin and the coast, look out the other side to the main Tararua range. We entered the hut and found the large and lively group from the Hutt Valley club, also a man from Levin and a father and son. We had a full house, but there was plenty of room. Trip leaders who put on an entrée rate highly with me, and this was no exception. It was as simple as Pringle type snacks, but tasted great having just climbed a large hill. The main course was Chicken curry, and using smoked chicken was a great idea. After dinner we viewed the lights of the various small towns in a rather cool breeze, and had a short but enjoyable game of 500.
Over breakfast on Sunday morning there was much discussion about whether to take the Gable End Ridge track back to the carpark. This would have added several hours to the days walking, and in the end we decided it was an easy trip and we’d take the shortest way. But first we finished the walk to Waiopehu Peak, which is really worth doing on a clear day. Then it was back down the hill. The track is well formed and the slope is gentle all the way, but be prepared for the length of the track, it takes most of the day to walk it. When we arrived at the carpark, the sun was setting and it was good to sit down. Thanks to Lynda for a wholly successful tramp, and is highly recommended as a good opportunity to get out in the middle of winter.
The trampers were: Lynda Bushe, Michael Lightbourne, Andrew Mann, lan Harrison, Stephen Hope, Dianne Allardyce , Stan Mackowiak, Kirsten Gregory.