January 15th Poads road to Te Matawai hut
We woke up early to an egg breakfast. The eggs were fresh from the hen house and the bread was homemade, the goats milk for our tea with milk from Stephanie's goats earlier that week. Talk about the freshest breakfast I've ever had. After breakfast Stephanies daughter and I walked the goats down to the grass below the house. First time I've ever walked a reluctant goat on a leash I can now check that off my list!
Stephanie gave us a parcel of fresh goat feta cheese and the bread that she baked the night before, then sent us on our way. Not long on the road we ran into Gil. The night before he had opted to cuddle with the sheep and apparently had a very pleasant time.
The start of the Tararuas was very steep. Ascending quickly from farmland into dense, muddy jungle-typical.
This was our first real hut experience, and it was glorious! We had running water, long drop toilet, large dining area, and bunk space enough for 16 people. There was no one else in the hut so I had license to spread out as much as I wanted...and spread I did!
We slept very well on for mattresses pushed together. Besides chasing a rat away in the middle of the night our sleep was undisturbed
January 16th Te Matawai Hut to Waitewaewae
For breakfast we had our usual oatmeal, adding muesli, dried berries, and powdered milk as a new twist. I like to add honey as well to my morning tea and oatmeal. When you're carrying 500 grams of it you try to add it to everything. Which I know I should probably stop buying it but I'm seriously going through that much honey every two weeks.
We hit the trail by 7 a.m. with low hanging clouds coming in fast all around us. Today we were going to push hard to get out of the mountains. What probably should have been done in two days we shoved into one very long, and painful day. It was 13 miles to get to our destination hut Waitewaewae. We gained 2 ,226 ft and descended 1,640ft in the first 5 miles to get to Dracophylum hut.
cool forest
Then we continued onto Nichols hut climbing 1804 ft and descending 2,296 ft in 3 miles.
Finally the last leg of our journey was Nichols hut to Waitewaewae hut, ascending 1,240 ft and descending 4,067 ft in 4.9 miles...which sounds crappy but on the descent the last two miles of it cover 3,243ft. And we did it in the dark (sorry Mom)
We arrived in camp at 9:40pm very achey, sleepy, and hungry- all in that order. That indeed was the hardest hiking day I've had yet. In total we ascended 5,276 ft and descended 8,003 ft all in 8 miles...crazy. That's what I call getting no where fast...or slow. All of these measurements are taken from the trail notes and are probably not accurate since I measured the distance with my GPS on the last day and found that the maps we were given were apparently 5 miles or 8 kilometers off! That added 5 more miles to our day that we hadn't planned on. We'd planned on hiking 12.4 miles that day but ended up hiking 17.4 miles.... That is a gargantuan discrepancy. Since then we've occasionally used the GPS throughout the day to see how far off the maps are, and they're always telling us a few kilometers less than what we actually walk according to my GPS (Garmin 64s)
All in all I'd say that the Tararuas were an enlightening experience for us. Seeing steep mountains on paper is quite different than actually walking the ridgelines in person. I've always been a little iffy with great heights and I have found these exposed sections of rough track very challenging both mentally and physically.
We were pretty beat up and not to mention very low on food. So we decided to bail off the TA Trail early to the nearby town Otaki to resupply and continue down the beach.
That night we shared the hut with Gil and 4 other gentleman. The hut was quite large with wide windows, a big kitchen, and enough space for 16 people and their hunting dogs. We weren't able to take pictures at night so all the photos are taken the following morning.
January 17th: Waitewaewae hut to Otaki township
We awoke to some commotion about an hour before our alarm was set to go off. Apparently there was a helicopter outside ....again? This was the second chopper that we encountered in New Zealand. One of our hut mates; a 70 year old man who had acquired a knee injury on the trail, had been the object of their search. He had injured his knee on the top of the Tararuas, just before the big descent. He had told his partners not to call the helicopter as he would take an extra day to come down. Either his partner or wife obviously didn't get the memo and had sent the chopper for him. The chopper landed in the river bed and the pilot had come all the way up to the door of the hut. He declined the ride which seemed perfectly fine to the pilot. New Zealand has a very good search and rescue system that is supported by taxpayer dollars. Luckily tourists are covered under it as well- free chopper rides for all! Just kidding. Although it does seem ridiculously easy to get a chopper ride if you need one. If cody or I were to get injured seriously enough to need a lift we could do so without getting into serious debt. After the fictitious ride and hospital visit we would then go through ACC. A program started by the government to provide insurance for accidents. If the injury was the result of an accident that would help to provide coverage. We had heard a story about 30 New Zealand Boy Scouts that had gotten themselves lost 20 kilometers from the trail in dense bush. All 30 of them were taken up one by one by the chopper. Another New Zealand man we had run into had been picked up three times because he simply didn't have the strength to walk out of a bad situation. Obviously there is some room for abuse with this system. But just knowing that we have easy access to a helicopter ride makes me feel a lot better about venturing out into New Zealands mountainous country. So no worries mom! :-)
We left the hut and continued down the trail not 5 minutes into our journey a second helicopter landed in the river bed near our hut.
Obviously they were looking for the kiwi with the injured knee that already headed up the trail.
We thought the track into Otaki was going to be a cakewalk. Boy were we wrong! The trail had been diverted and a new trail had been cut to bypass a slip. The new trail was not a nice trail, basically they had cleared the surrounding bush enough for a faint footpath to be visible. It was more of a guideline than a trail, the going was very slow on our sore bodies. We ran into the older kiwi with a sore knee 25% of the way in. He was in for a long day climbing over trees and stumbling on roots down steep descents on a bum knee. Got to commend him for his determination, knowing the trail conditions I might have actually taken that helicopter ride. The track finally widened out at about 2 p.m. And we had been hiking since 9 a.m. It was only supposed to be a six mile day!
On the wider trail our pace picked up from 1 mile an hour to 3- that's a huge difference.
Summer has finally come to New Zealand, I've never been so happy to see dry grass
Once at the car park we stuck out our thumbs and got a ride down the winding mountain road to the town.
When we arrived we noticed that we had landed in an area with the most outlets we had seen in New Zealand. And the ice breaker outlet was having a fantastic sale. Just in time as our shirts had developed holes from overuse. Finding a deal in New Zealand is like finding a needle in a haystack -damn near impossible. After our shopping we pigged out on amazing Indian food, and settled on a place to stay. We tried Air B&B for the first time and stayed in a very nice spare bedroom in a house that was over a hundred years old. The owner of the house had many pets, I was delighted to get my cat fix in.
After a shower and putting on new, clean clothes we felt human again. both of us were still very worn out and fell asleep almost instantly. Only waking up to put the clothes from the washer and hang them out on the lines to dry.
Fun fact about New Zealand people is that most of them don't own dryers; despite the temperamental weather they tend to put their clothes out on a clothesline to dry. Some of them even have clothes lines in their houses. I think we could learn from their example and conserve energy back home by adopting some of their techniques.
This cutie had been tucked in last night and and was snug as a bug this morning
We woke up early to an egg breakfast. The eggs were fresh from the hen house and the bread was homemade, the goats milk for our tea with milk from Stephanie's goats earlier that week. Talk about the freshest breakfast I've ever had. After breakfast Stephanies daughter and I walked the goats down to the grass below the house. First time I've ever walked a reluctant goat on a leash I can now check that off my list!
Stephanie gave us a parcel of fresh goat feta cheese and the bread that she baked the night before, then sent us on our way. Not long on the road we ran into Gil. The night before he had opted to cuddle with the sheep and apparently had a very pleasant time.
Found this Weta, a victim of a hit and run
The start of the Tararuas was very steep. Ascending quickly from farmland into dense, muddy jungle-typical.
We were to acend 2,624ft in the first 5 miles. Then climbed another 1,640 ft and descended 1,968ft in 3.7 miles. In total we hiked a whopping 8.7 miles, which took us roughly 8 hours to climb. Never did I put so much effort into such a small amount of milage.This was madness!
Our homemade bread and cheese for lunch, and yes my legs really are that muddy
Beautiful views from the top
taking care of blisters
We got to Te Matawai Hut at around 6:30, exhausted and ready for food. Gil was already there waiting for us, sitting there placidly and looking all too much like he had enjoyed himself today. I must admit that Gil's idea of fun is somewhat skewed.
This was our first real hut experience, and it was glorious! We had running water, long drop toilet, large dining area, and bunk space enough for 16 people. There was no one else in the hut so I had license to spread out as much as I wanted...and spread I did!
We slept very well on for mattresses pushed together. Besides chasing a rat away in the middle of the night our sleep was undisturbed
January 16th Te Matawai Hut to Waitewaewae
For breakfast we had our usual oatmeal, adding muesli, dried berries, and powdered milk as a new twist. I like to add honey as well to my morning tea and oatmeal. When you're carrying 500 grams of it you try to add it to everything. Which I know I should probably stop buying it but I'm seriously going through that much honey every two weeks.
We hit the trail by 7 a.m. with low hanging clouds coming in fast all around us. Today we were going to push hard to get out of the mountains. What probably should have been done in two days we shoved into one very long, and painful day. It was 13 miles to get to our destination hut Waitewaewae. We gained 2 ,226 ft and descended 1,640ft in the first 5 miles to get to Dracophylum hut.
tiniest hut on the mountain
Then we continued onto Nichols hut climbing 1804 ft and descending 2,296 ft in 3 miles.
Thank you to the hikers who left granola bars and chocolate, we were running a little low on food and this was a big help.
View of Nichols Hut
Finally the last leg of our journey was Nichols hut to Waitewaewae hut, ascending 1,240 ft and descending 4,067 ft in 4.9 miles...which sounds crappy but on the descent the last two miles of it cover 3,243ft. And we did it in the dark (sorry Mom)
We followed the ridge lines for most of our trip. Now I can officially say that going straight up a hill by the ridge is not the most practical or fastest way to get up a mountain. I've said it before but I'll say it again, God I miss switchbacks!
This deer carcass was left by hunters a long time ago. Hunters prefer to helicopter in rather than hike the ridge.
Very purple mushroom Cody found on the trail, he originally thought it was a superball that someone had dropped because the color was so unnatural
We arrived in camp at 9:40pm very achey, sleepy, and hungry- all in that order. That indeed was the hardest hiking day I've had yet. In total we ascended 5,276 ft and descended 8,003 ft all in 8 miles...crazy. That's what I call getting no where fast...or slow. All of these measurements are taken from the trail notes and are probably not accurate since I measured the distance with my GPS on the last day and found that the maps we were given were apparently 5 miles or 8 kilometers off! That added 5 more miles to our day that we hadn't planned on. We'd planned on hiking 12.4 miles that day but ended up hiking 17.4 miles.... That is a gargantuan discrepancy. Since then we've occasionally used the GPS throughout the day to see how far off the maps are, and they're always telling us a few kilometers less than what we actually walk according to my GPS (Garmin 64s)
All in all I'd say that the Tararuas were an enlightening experience for us. Seeing steep mountains on paper is quite different than actually walking the ridgelines in person. I've always been a little iffy with great heights and I have found these exposed sections of rough track very challenging both mentally and physically.
We were pretty beat up and not to mention very low on food. So we decided to bail off the TA Trail early to the nearby town Otaki to resupply and continue down the beach.
That night we shared the hut with Gil and 4 other gentleman. The hut was quite large with wide windows, a big kitchen, and enough space for 16 people and their hunting dogs. We weren't able to take pictures at night so all the photos are taken the following morning.
We had running water from a rain barrel collection
The blue barrels are for hunters dogs
We awoke to some commotion about an hour before our alarm was set to go off. Apparently there was a helicopter outside ....again? This was the second chopper that we encountered in New Zealand. One of our hut mates; a 70 year old man who had acquired a knee injury on the trail, had been the object of their search. He had injured his knee on the top of the Tararuas, just before the big descent. He had told his partners not to call the helicopter as he would take an extra day to come down. Either his partner or wife obviously didn't get the memo and had sent the chopper for him. The chopper landed in the river bed and the pilot had come all the way up to the door of the hut. He declined the ride which seemed perfectly fine to the pilot. New Zealand has a very good search and rescue system that is supported by taxpayer dollars. Luckily tourists are covered under it as well- free chopper rides for all! Just kidding. Although it does seem ridiculously easy to get a chopper ride if you need one. If cody or I were to get injured seriously enough to need a lift we could do so without getting into serious debt. After the fictitious ride and hospital visit we would then go through ACC. A program started by the government to provide insurance for accidents. If the injury was the result of an accident that would help to provide coverage. We had heard a story about 30 New Zealand Boy Scouts that had gotten themselves lost 20 kilometers from the trail in dense bush. All 30 of them were taken up one by one by the chopper. Another New Zealand man we had run into had been picked up three times because he simply didn't have the strength to walk out of a bad situation. Obviously there is some room for abuse with this system. But just knowing that we have easy access to a helicopter ride makes me feel a lot better about venturing out into New Zealands mountainous country. So no worries mom! :-)
We left the hut and continued down the trail not 5 minutes into our journey a second helicopter landed in the river bed near our hut.
Obviously they were looking for the kiwi with the injured knee that already headed up the trail.
We thought the track into Otaki was going to be a cakewalk. Boy were we wrong! The trail had been diverted and a new trail had been cut to bypass a slip. The new trail was not a nice trail, basically they had cleared the surrounding bush enough for a faint footpath to be visible. It was more of a guideline than a trail, the going was very slow on our sore bodies. We ran into the older kiwi with a sore knee 25% of the way in. He was in for a long day climbing over trees and stumbling on roots down steep descents on a bum knee. Got to commend him for his determination, knowing the trail conditions I might have actually taken that helicopter ride. The track finally widened out at about 2 p.m. And we had been hiking since 9 a.m. It was only supposed to be a six mile day!
On the wider trail our pace picked up from 1 mile an hour to 3- that's a huge difference.
Fun swing bridge crossing a river
Once at the car park we stuck out our thumbs and got a ride down the winding mountain road to the town.
When we arrived we noticed that we had landed in an area with the most outlets we had seen in New Zealand. And the ice breaker outlet was having a fantastic sale. Just in time as our shirts had developed holes from overuse. Finding a deal in New Zealand is like finding a needle in a haystack -damn near impossible. After our shopping we pigged out on amazing Indian food, and settled on a place to stay. We tried Air B&B for the first time and stayed in a very nice spare bedroom in a house that was over a hundred years old. The owner of the house had many pets, I was delighted to get my cat fix in.
After a shower and putting on new, clean clothes we felt human again. both of us were still very worn out and fell asleep almost instantly. Only waking up to put the clothes from the washer and hang them out on the lines to dry.
Fun fact about New Zealand people is that most of them don't own dryers; despite the temperamental weather they tend to put their clothes out on a clothesline to dry. Some of them even have clothes lines in their houses. I think we could learn from their example and conserve energy back home by adopting some of their techniques.
Stunned by the scenery! And the rise and fall of the route! Aw, hell. Climbing in the dark is easy. For you two!
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