Category: Hiking

30. New Plymouth: Pukekura Park

Sunday, March 10: Cooler and variably cloudy

Walking: 7.6 km

Paul’s

There was time for a little real shopping (bread, cheese, sausage – the latter two for the tramp) and some of the window variety (mainly to see whether a dollar shop had screw-capped 100 mL containers – have seen some by Sistema, but they appear very bulky) while waiting for the weather reports. Not going to be easy for the tramp, with showers or even heavier rain forecast.

Also started having a look at Taupo and found a place that looked quite nice. Will have to make a list for tonight so that I can see what needs to be done most urgently. Read more…

29. New Plymouth: Coastal Walkway

Saturday, March 9: Sunny but a little cool to being with

Hiking: 16.8 km

Paul’s

Breakfast was very laid back. My Japanese co-inhabitant, Taro, was off surfing very early and returned as I was finishing some toast.

After that some shopping had to be done (fruit, something to put on some sandwiches, and some lemonade), then a visit to the i-site revealed two shuttles that would take me up and (hopefully) back down the mountain. Taranaki Mountain Shuttle, whose website I had seen yesterday and which is an absolute disaster is unfortunately the one I had to choose. I say unfortunately because communication is not their forte, and the other company (Mountain Shuttle/Cruise NZ tours) also has a later option for the journey up. In the course of the day I managed to arrange with the the gent from TMS via facebook that I will be picked up @ 7:00 from the nearest street corner and will still have to try to determine when I might be back. Read more…

27. Whanganui: Virginia Lake

Thursday, March 7: Warm and sunny with a couple of clouds

Walking: 10.2 km

Dave’s/Brennagh’s

The photos were on the line this morning, what with trying to get the computer to accept the SD card (Microsoft, what do you do for a living?) and copying them first to the folder “Backup” on the local hard disk and then, somewhat organised to folders on the external drive. This should all be better organised & rationalised. Timelapse sequences could be recognised and taken to different locations, the remaining DNG/JPG pairs automatically renumbered. Shouldn’t be that hard to do (!?!).

In the meantime with the outside tap localised, boots and pack could be washed out (although there was no hose that would have connected to the tap) and left hung up on the clothesline in an attempt to dry. Read more…

25. Ngapurua – Puketotara – Tieke Kainga (TMM 5) – Pipiriki (Jetboat)

Tuesday, March 5: Cloud and fog to begin with becoming hot & sunny

Tramping: 11.8 km

Whanganui River Adventures, Pipiriki Campground 2522 Pipiriki Raetihi Road, Pipiriki 4576 (shared cabin, $25)

Sleep was very interrupted last night; the camera switched itself off when the battery was low and I hauled it inside; even so it took a while to get to sleep.

But I was up pretty much on the dot of 7:00, and everything packed away quickly so that I could get on the go by 8:40. Tried capturing the kilometre posts and I knew I was doing about 4 km/h. The crash site of a Vampire jet plane which remained lost for many a year was passed. The Caves were well signed and I thought that a detour would be admissible, and saw and photographed one cave with stalactites. Track condition was variable, but there were a few more markers today. One big new slip even had danger signs on it and was taped off, but by this time no more kilometre posts could be found. Read more…

24. Omaru – Ngapurua (TMM 4)

Monday, March 4: Hot & sunny

Tramping: 20.4 km

Ngapurua Hut (Doc, $15)

Couldn’t seem to get much sleep last night, and the sleeping bag was always too warm – even after it got down to about 10° I was still outside the bag and only got in because it was beginning to feel a bit cold. Must have had a lot of heat to dump.

Accordingly I was up a little later @ 7:30, but soon had had breakfast and everything was packed away: The volume is slowly but surely decreasing. I was ready to go by 9:30 and set an aim of 11:30 to do the Mt Humphries summit. There was a further route signposted along the way but it is no longer on any map. Got to the turnoff just a little late, had a break of a single muesli bar and then pushed on to the next hut (Pouri) for a lunch break proper and was rewarded by a spectacular panorama of the central volcanoes which I shot as a fivefold ±⅓ bracketed pan with pol filter. The view of Ruapehu was astonishing. Then it was back on the track. Read more…

23. Puteore – Omaru (TMM 3)

Sunday, March 3: Fine & sunny

Tramping: 19.7 km

Omaru Hut (Doc, $15)

I was feeling better when I woke up @ 7:30, and was able to hold down a breakfast of two eggs, salami, crackers with butter, coffee, and packed up leisurely. The night had not been so cold because this was a modern hut with a door that not only closed but also sealed, and possibly some insulation as well. Before leaving at around 9:30 I checked to see where I had missed the path yesterday: The track (in reverse) goes down to the clearing where someone had tried incinerating a sleeping bag, and where I lost the path yesterday. I would only have had to look up.

Then it was onto the track. Today’s variation was a kind of donkey track along the contour lines and that went well until about the third westward section where the signs were lost for a while. I was not optimistic about proceeding, but eventually found a sign, and the track had surreptitiously changed mountain sides. A little further on I thought I had reached a larger clearing, but the going here was also tough. Came through again, but appear to have lost quite a bit of time finding the track. Read more…

22. Trains – Puteore (TMM 2)

Saturday, March 2: Sunny throughout, one or two low clouds

Tramping: 18.4 km

Puteore Hut (Doc, $10)

Around midnight I woke to what I thought were human voices. Didn’t think that the track was getting to me that quickly, not that I was dreaming. Got up to see what was up, and two young hunters, Lars and Jason had arrived and, seeing my boots hung up at the entrance, were having a drink before deciding on further action.

I ushered them into the hut, pushed all of my gear aside to make room for them, and they dumped their sleeping bags on the upper deck and asked whether they could bring their weapons in, unloaded, of course. With that out of the way, there was also a 24 pack of some RTD plonked on the table, the partaking of which I negated. They had started from the road end at around 7:00 and done most of the track in the dark, with Jason unable to use his headlamp because it had been switched on accidentally in their car and the batteries had run out. With those formalities out of the way we all retired to bed and slept. Read more…

21. Waitotara Road End – Trains Hut (TMM 1)

Friday, March 1: A bit cold to begin with but soon becoming warm & sunny

Tramping: 13.2 km

Trains Hut (Doc, $10)

Sleep was very intermittent last night and I was up way before 7:30. The proximity to the highway was not helpful. Anyhow I had plenty of time for breakfast (cereal, toast, coffee, and two cans of L&P in the fridge), took out some rubbish, packed my stuff together (hopefully a little better this time) and just after 9:15 went outside to await my chauffeur.

He – Dave – was there pretty much on the dot of 9:30. Among other things he had been a fire investigator with the voluntary fire brigade, which, of course, was right up my skeptical alley. And Howard had been right: He was the guy with the “golf carts on rails,” which I could make no sense of yesterday evening. Read more…

16. Mangaturuturu – Wanganui Corner (RMT 4) – Ohakune – Whanganui

Sunday, February 24: Rain overnight, snow on the mountain, clearing to partly cloudy, one hail and rainstorm, otherwise in Whanganui overcast & wet

Tramping: 3.2 km

Dave’s/Brennagh’s (airbnb, $81.3)

We all slept in past 7:00 this morning and I was in no hurry at all, so I let the others pack and leave towards Whakapapa. A bit of sun shone on the new snow on the mountain, and otherwise the day looked promising.

With the others out of the way, I tried to organise my pack a bit better, and when all was in, I swept out the hut. There are pictures on the walls documenting the hut’s construction in the late 50s, and since then one fairly open and bright annex has been added, as well as solar panels and LED lights for the evenings. Read more…

15. Waihohonu – Whakapapa – Mangaturuturu (RMT 3)

Saturday, February 23: Heavy rain overnight, overcast with drizzle in the morning, becoming fine by midday and a bit of sun in the afternoon

Tramping: 34.5 km

Mangaturuturu Hut (Doc, $15)

The party girls had gone on for a bit last night, but eventually even they were subdued and went through our half bunkroom to theirs and were quiet. Not much in the way of snoring and by 6:30 I was ready to get up and have my breakfast served by hut warden Jaime.

I had won the general prize the night before of identifying the bird on the back of the $20 bill (karearea) and had two pancakes with frozen blackberries, chocolate and maple syrup. Trevor had also gotten a prize (for knowing the exact number of Doc huts in the country: 956), as well as the medical professor, Margarete as it was her birthday, and it was all served at 7:00. The rest was packing and by 8:30 I was ready to go and see what Whakapapa had to offer. Read more…

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