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EasyMedium Tramp to Waiopehu via Blackwater Stream- February 16418
by Alistair Young
This trip was the traditional "Easy" trip to waiopehu - with one difference - we would be going up the Black Water stream avoiding the boring if easy track to the hut thus it was upgraded to Easy-Medium - with the easy part reserved for the sunday stroll out. The idea behind the trip was to create something a bit more challenging for Easy-Medium trampers but not something too tough, the bonus would be heavy exposure to river travel. Saturday weather was perfect typical still sunny Tararua weather, the first hour took us to the Blackwater-Ohau Bridge - we descended into the stream and started the long but easy tramp up it. The day was uneventful and by midday we had emerged from the gorge part of the stream to where the valley widened - we lunched and some of us swam to fight off the midday heat - it was a perfect day so far.
By mid afternoon we began the fairly steep ascension up towards the twin peaks - I had chosen to follow the river to its source and emerge between the twin peaks of Waiopehu - I am well familiar with the route and have done it regularly as a racy day trip. The route is not normally too difficult if you know the way, but it passes through some of the densest leather wood I've ever encountered so I warned the punters regularly not to get too far ahead and to wait at the intersections to regroup - alas this warning was not heeded.
As we approached the tops the steepness of the terrain and the heat of the day took its toll on some of the punters and the trip split into two with Sarah and I leading from the rear with the "Hares" in the pack surging up the hill keen on the views and the brew on the tops — the weather was perfect after all what could possibly go wrong.
At the final branch in the stream we noticed the "Hares" had taken what looked like the correct branch to those uninitiated in the painful art of leatherwood bashing - the tortoises were fairly tired so we went the "correct" way - which was still a fairly tough twenty minutes of tramping.
We reached the tops by late afternoon - with fabulous views - it was magical and other than the fact Ray decided to nap on a large nest of red ants was a perfect finish to a tough day. We lingered on the tops before heading down towards the hut to meet the "Hares" to our surprise one of the "Hares" bashed his way out of the Leatherwood scratched and tired - telling us the others were still trapped below. An hour later we had untangled the other "Hares" from the Leatherwood and headed down to the hut for a fantastic meal, a few hands of 500, and lots of jokes about leather wood and bush bashing. The next day was most definitely an “easy” stroll out with a pleasant lunch stop at Palmers camp and Ice-cream's on the way home .