The Ruamahanga River (Anniversary Weekend)

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THE RUAMAHANGA RIVER (Anniversary Weekend) What!!! Use a three-day weekend to We finally made it and carefully do a simple trip like that? It hardly navigated towards Arete and on to seemed possible. But both the Chief Dundas Ridge. The tarn just below Guide and B. Jefferies assured us that Arete proved to be too much of a it was a lot harder and farther than it temptation, and we sat down to have looked. lunch. The best part of 40 minutes was The truck was-traditionally-over- spent eating and relaxing. Who says a crowded, and with some of our more billy boils quicker in high altitude? socially inclined members on board, an The mist cleared more frequently attempt was made to have a sing-song. now, and for longer intervals. "Is that However, this was sabotaged. where we have to go? Oh, brother, We baled out at the Pipe Bridge, that saddle looks mighty deep from uttering sighs of relief and no time was here." Camera's appeared out of their wasted in getting a move on and stretch- waterproof packing so Ken and Alan ing our legs. As it was felt that the hut could take pictures of a "tulip among would be too small for such a multi- the daisies". It was only the sighting of tude, most of us proceeded to the bods on Puke that finally got us going camp site above Ohau hut. Here the again. first segregation took place. Peter and The saddle twixt Twins and Dundas Ken, having been so cramped in the proved as deep as it looked, leaving us truck, that a mere 50-minute walk was, without even enough wind to curse it. not sufficient to revive their blood cir- Dragging ourselves up the last hundred culation, sped on to South Ohau hut. feet or so, we had no eyes for the As we "fit-uns" were still in our pits scenery, so it came as a surprise to find clear sky all around us, when finally cooking breakfast, Dion and his party our gaze needed rest on our reluctant plodded past under a dull grey sky. Not feet no longer. A sudden burst of wanting to climb Yeates in the "Midday and we were on the top of Bannister. speed Sun", writer trod after them, well ahead A peep over the other side, yes, hut of the main party, but closely followed still there and no smoke. by A. Higgins. We had the satisfaction We relaxed once more and observed of catching Peter and Ken still in their the strange antics of Jefferies & Co. pits (a remarkable phenomenon at eight They were taking a mighty strange road in the morning). if they were going to do the "Right Knowing what speed-merchants they from the start this time". trip Past Banwere, we slipped out of the hut again nister turn-off, over Dundas, over Logan and grinded up to the Dora Track turn- even, passing some very prominent off, leapfrogging with four Tararua's, spurs on he way and heading towards bent on crushing the Main Range. real tiger country. It soon became clear G. Vickers, Whakahare member and that the party was heading for Dundas temporary Forestry Service employee, Ridge and not feeling so was hut, us waiting for in Te Matawai and now, we cheerfully sped down to guilty Banhad a fire going of sorts. This was nister Basin hut. quickly built up to size and the brew Dracophyllum makes for difficult was well and truly made when Ken and going, on the other hand there's no Peter arrived. better fuel and it did not take to There and then Alan and myself de- make a brew. Leaving the long cided to team up with Ken, who was of our three-course meal in preparations the capable supposed to do a Bannister crossing hands of Alan and Ken, I scouted for "or sumpin", both of which he more of this stuff, so we would not have eventually did. Just as we were leaving, to use the cullers' supply of firewood. the "Landcross Lip" arrived, and in- Ken, however, insisted I lend a hand, so formed us that as the Chief Guide was I dug up some "milk powder" and made suffering from a crook ankle, he had the instant pudding. I was taken over the leadership of the party. by Max's arrival. He informed interrupted us that So we left, with the "Piker" cry ringing Roger, June, and Bill were on their in our ears. way down, so a billy was put on the fire. We made slow progress to the top of After one look outside it was obvious Puke. Morning mist swirled around us they would be some time yet. Back to and lifted occasionally to give us the instant pud., which seemed to take tantalizing glimpses of the tops. Glimpses a long time to set. "Could be because so brief that a fair time was spent you've been using flour instead of milk speculating about which was what. powder," Ken informed me.

Bill, Roger, and June arrived in time about climbing out of it as soon as posto save me from being lynched, and sible was met with approval by Ken. we had another brew. Once more the Alan, not wanting to leave us on our billy was filled, but the ensuing brew own, reluctantly agreed to come along, would have to wait till after the stew. providing we'd find a spot where it A stew that looked and proved big would be damn well possible to climb enough for three times our number. out ofvit. Just as well the pud. was inedible. Farther down we saw what might, In its time B.B. hut must have heard with some imagination, be called a spur, some tales (Leon once visited this hut), and at the bottom of it we found a but the gruesome stories told that night muddy, "bastard-grassy" flat, where we excelled all others. Climbing and decided to have lunch. Even at the spiritualism, brrr, what a combination. thought things were brightening already Conditions looked grim when we said and we almost did not mind the last goodbye to Max and his party the next pool we had to go through to reach this haven. morning. Strong winds and low clouds. They were determined, however, to finish Pretty soon we were standing 20 ft. their Bannister crossing. Meanwhile we away from a fire that shattered the rocks had talked Ken into coming down the all around it and that at long last manriver with us, and after waterproofing aged to thaw us out a little. It was here our packs, we said a fond farewell to that a radiant Peter found us, revelling B.B. in conditions that would make a polar bear shiver at the thought of a swim. The Sidle track proved to be excellent He was closely followed by Margaret, without any annoying ups and downs, Murray, John, Penny, and Bruce. The till we hit the top of the spur. A small only time the whole party was together knob and down, down, down. Being too and then only for about half a nhour. confident, we lost the new track just Margaret, Peter, Murray, and Alan conabove the river and ended up above a tinued downstream, and Ken, Bruce, waterfall, at the bottom of which was Penny, John, and myself slowly plodded our first swim. Its icy temperature took up. after we'd reluctantly doused the our breath away. fire. We didn't get warmed up again, so The spur was just not steep enough we never noticed where the track to- to be called vertical, and highly dangerwards Dundas Ridge hut started. Bruce ous in places. Slips on either side of a did not seem to be ahead of us as yet foot wide razor back provided us with though. What a relief. glorious views of rock and water if we After some two hours travelling we looked straight past our toes. A came to the Logan Forks, where we hundred feet down, 200 ft., 500 ft., won't noticed a big disc, marking the start it ever get better. We finally got on to of an alternate route to Dundas Ridge. safer ground, our next obstacle being Obviously just a hunting track. So far dracomphyllum (collective name for the the river, although not very difficult, varied notorious scrubs that guard the did require swimming in some five tussock tops), ranging from thick to very places. Rather strenuous with a rifle, as thick. Bruce's crash tactics paved the we discovered. Temperatures being what way, and relieved of my rifle, after I they were, we did not take too much had damaged my hand somewhat, I had notice of our surroundings and the only no difficulty following him, providing thing that stuck to our minds was an I stayed right at his heels. overhanging rock-face, approximately When first we looked back without 601 ft. wide and some 200 ft. high, tower- our eyes being irresistably drawn down ing impressively above us and effectively the precipitous slopes, it became quite blocking all but the merest glimmer of clear that had we continued down the daylight. river, we'd have had a lot less to do We were now past the first gorge, or than was first assumed. All the same, so the map told us, and a few hours of none of us felt any regrets about having good travelling should lie ahead of us piked out of it, all the more when it was before reaching the second or "bad" discovered, after reaching the main gorge. The number of pools we en- ridge, that the hut was on the same countered made us think, however, that level as we were and on the other side the map might be wrong once more and of the ridge. It had taken just under one that we'd have a long way to go yet to hour and a half to get there, and as we the end of the first gorge. That thought crept up on it "Ole Huey" crept up on proved too much for me and my talk us and we reached the rough and primi- tive shelter of this pre-fab., lined hut, not counting the truck ride of course. with its spring wire beds and foam rub- Racing over the boulders in glorious ber mattresses just in time, gloatingly sunshine, it did not take us long to reach hoping the others would still be in the Cleft Creek, where a pleasant half hour gorge somewhere. was spent having lunch. After my effort of the night before. Scorning the track as being an arti- In never got a chance to get near the food ficial aid, we continued down the river until it was dished out into my plate. after lunch, only to find we'd have to We'd had various air-blasts from Bruce swim some more. Fortunately the temabout not liking his cooking, so no one peratures had improved somewhat all dared leave one crumb on his plate. The round and looking back on it we even most strenuous part of the trip. convinced ourselves that it was quite Ken, still thinking of his Bannister enjoyable really. crossing, talked Bruce into coming along With a good hour in hand before the with him over Mt. Waingawa and down truck was due, we took the opportunity to Mitre Flats. Bruce, still thinking he'd to dry those items that had got wet over make a good shot, wanted to borrow my the weekend (everything) and kicked our rifle and I, thinking of my throbbing heels till about a quarter to four. finger, readily agreed to let him have it. The ride back to the Pines was most And so, on a glorious Monday morn- enjoyable, with plenty of room for ing, we spilt up once more. Ken and everyone. Alas, it did not last very long, Bruce heading up and into the mist; and although a moderate drinker, I John, Penny, and myself taking the road found the long stop at Taratahi most towards Ruapai Forks and the Waira- welcome. If only sO we could stretch rapa, basking in the sun. our legs. Once again we had some trouble with Tongues and been loosened through leatherwood and such, but we managed this stop, and no amount of heckling to pick up a very old track, and although could dampen the spirits of our choir. this was lost more often than we old And even if no one sang in tune, it did hands could safely have done without at least pass the time away. losing face, there was no one to wit- I'm still not quite sure where everyness our bungling, so we did not worry. one went that weekend, but statistics On reaching the river we dropped prove that, collectively, eleven different our packs and proceeded upstream to- huts were visited by T. & M.'s. No mean wards Roaring Stag Lodge. Not quite feat. Moreover, all scheduled trips were knowing where to find it, sometimes completed with some variation thrown in getting lost looking in the wrong places. for good measure. A good omen for this only to discover afterwards that the hut coming year? is not really so well hidden after all. -Hank. We arrived just in time to see four Those on the trips: Margaret Webb, T. & M.'s saddle up, and now the Murray, Hall, Bruce Jefferies, Alan Higoriginal party, minus one, moved to- gins, John Patchett, Peter Daniel, Penny gether for the first time that weekend Rickard, Ken McNatty, Hank Bertholet. * * ORIWA RIDGE (January 24-26, 1964) On a fine warm evening, four mad, as the grandfather clock we were carrybrave fools were seen to set off from ing struck midnight. (We took the clock the Ohau pipe bridges at 8.30. Summer because we were afraid we might lose seemed to have come at last and the four our watches.) Murray seemed to have mad, brave fools, being Peter Daniel, had trouble on the way up with his wind- Murray Hall, Alan Higgens, and Me screen fogging over and my head felt a were off to make the most of it while it bit pulpy from testing all the nutcrackers lasted. A half-moon provided enough along the track. Apart from that we all 'ight for us to pick out our spur and we felt fine. lost no time finding the start of the track A quick brew and we were in our pits, to Waiopehu Hut. The track was not but somehow no-one seemed tired and bad, a bit overgrown in places, but 21 conversation threatened to go on for hours saw us at Edward's Shelter Hut, hours. We eventually dropped off to which had recently been renovated. In sleep and before I knew what had hapfact, it looked temptingly comfortable. pened, Peter was waking us up. It was However, we moved on after a brief stop only 4.30 a.m., so we blamed it on the and were at Waiopehu an hour later, just grandfather clock. Breakfast was cooked in a leisurely fashion and we managed but I suspect it was the bit where the to toddle out of the hut at 6.30 a.m. to Bush Lawyer was the thickest. The next the sound of grandpa's ding dong. The few hours were just a blur of pushing. morning was perfect with no breeze and struggling, sweating, cursing, grumbling, all the tops and ridges showed in clear and seemingly getting nowhere. detail from the far end of Dundas Ridge, along the northern end of the Main Somewhere along there we came Range to Crawford and beyond. Low across a pool, right in the middle of one cloud filled the Makaretu Valley and of the really thick patches of bush. Here spilled over the edge of Oriwa, our im- we knelt in the ooze at the sides, and mediate destination. From the top. of being careful so as not to disturb the Waiopehu it didn't look far to Oriwa, bottom and the wog population, slurped but it took about 2 hours to get there delicately at the delicious tepid, brown with some choice leatherwood bashing to waters of our tarn. As he reclined romanstart with and later a bit of cutty grass like at the side of this pool, Murray crawling. Oriwa Lake Hollow was like an stated, while nibbling a Nutrola biscuit. oasis, only the complete opposite, i.e., that he felt quite kingly reclining there an oasis is a patch of trees in a big open in such a sylvan setting. Here also we dry space: Lake Hollow is a big open made the important discovery that Murclear space in a big patch of thick trees. ray's chocolate butter spread, which was The lake itself had shrunk somewhat and horrible on bread, made excellent chocowas no more than a mere puddle in a late milkshakes. large bog. After more crashing and floundering By this time the sun was rising higher around we eventually reached the Otaki in the sky and it was becoming decidely River via a small stream. We ambled off warm. (N.B. Fine warm weather was an down river and reached Waitewaewae unnatural phenomenon for the summer half an hour later. It had taken us exactly of 1963-64.) We struggled off Oriwa twelve hours from Waiopehu hut, timed through more foul leatherwood and then by the last ding dong of our grandfather on with more reasonable going towards clock. Notoriwa. With every bump ascended conversation became more and more diffi- Next morning Murray gave an earlycult as we mixed our negatives and morning concert for the benefit of some Oriwas. schoolboys in the hut. He recited extracts from some of Shakespeare's works while "This is not Oriwa." promenading the top bunk. After this recital we wandered liesurely out to Otaki "No, this is not Oriwa." Forks and during a stop at Plateau Stream, made another important dis- "Is this Notoriwa?" covery, i.e., one 8 OZ. tin of reduced "No, this is not Notoriwa." cream when used by four people in four milkshakes is rather rich, and tends to Later: give the drinkers of such milkshakes a feeling of nausea, biliousness, and over- "This must be Notoriwa." fullness. The flavour is definitely not un- "Yes, this is Notoriwa." palatable, but this drink is not recommended for those with sensitive stomachs Oh the relief when we finally reached -ask Allen. the top of Notoriwa and knew we didn't -MARGARET WEBB. have to decide which was Oriwa, which was not Oriwa, not Notoriwa or * * * Notoriwa. Our 10.30 morning tea break on RUAPEHU HUT BOOKINGS Notoriwa turned into an extended lunch Members wishing to use the vacant stop, and after filling the water bottles bunks on weekends when the hut is in case of fire, we trundled merrily on occupied by outside parties should conour way. Uncle Nick's Elephant Pit was tact Brian Hunt. dutifully noted and great care was taken not to fall down it. The remarkable bump Six bunks are available for members called Flat-top was observed also, some on these weekends and bookings will be distance along the ridge. Which was Flat- issued on the first come first served top and which wasn't I wouldn't know, basis.