Tramping in the Urewera

Machine-read text (unproofread)

Read from the scans by software, so it contains mistakes. Typing it up properly would help blind readers: use Suggest an edit.

TRAMPING IN THE UREWERA At Christmas two Club members, Bev Bock and Beryl James completed a trip through the Urewera Country. Ne are sure that other members will be interested in their experiences so we print below an article by Beryl about the trip. Ed. On Boxing Day, Bev and I accompanied by five Gisborne friends, Janet, George, Dunc, Milton and Barrie, left Gisborne for a tramp into the Urevera Country. After travelling for half a day by car and truck to the back country near Matawai we walked the remaining few miles over farm land to the start of a. track made by the prophet Rua to his stronghold, Maungapohatu. Our aim was to follow this track, over which no one had been for fourteen years. After tea that night the boys shot five pigs, thus providing meat for the next day's breakfast. We rose at 4.30 the next morning (and continued to do so throughout the trip) to get a good start before it got too hot. The first part of the track was wide and well graded over easy countryo More sport was provided by a pig and wild cattle. After a long and very hot day we camped by the Anini Stream. The next day was voted a rest day and was spent sunbathing and fishing in this pretty spot - a little river flat in park-like birch country. The track from here on was much more difficult to follow, being overgrown and having many windfalls. It disappeared completely for long stretches, so the next day we climbed on to a ridge thet leads up to the sacred mountain, Maungapohatu, which rises behind the village we were going to. We camped that night at an altitude of 3,600ft. Along the ridge the going was difficult as we had to force our way through leatherwood but we were repaid by some wonderful views of this tremendous stretch of bush country. One particularly fine scene of a lake of early morning mist lying in a. huge basin below us will be long r emembered. When we reached the bluffs of the flat-topped mountain we descended into the basin to the track again. We reached the Maori village about 9.30 on December 31st. At first the Maoris were shy - certeinly it was raining and we did look queer in our oilskins and parkas - but they were soon feeding us with delicious cherries and they supplied us with potatoes for our stew that night. We did not stay long, the weather was unpleasant and we still had nine miles to cover to get to the road as well as not knowing where we would spend the night. Once more we felt like tourists, walking along a broad, well graded track through beautiful bush. When we reached the Waikaremoana a Rotorua road we wa.lked a further seven miles before finding our accomodation for the night a 6' x 81 roadman's shack where we had our New Year's Eve Dance. On January the first we were picked up by car and so home.