Tag: Matemateaonga Track

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…

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