A cracker close to home

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A cracker close to home

One Wednesday last year at a club night meeting I was awarded a voucher which read "This entitles the bearer to write an article for the next club newsletter" so I decided i was time to record a few thoughts on a good little trip I was on not long ago anc

Claire decided that my efforts were worthy of inclusion in the club journa instead. John Rhodes deserues an award himself for the quality of hi hatever the Tararuas may throw at us weatherwise, there's no denying that they contain some enchanting places. Our chief for the trip, Allen Higgins, had convinced me that the ratio of tops travel to bush bashing was predicted to be reasonable so I signed up a couple of days before the "off". We're talking Anniversary Weekend here and I was also more than a little aware of the imminent arrival into the lives of Ann and myself of a tramp dampening new little person. A 3day Tararua leg stretch sounded good.

Friday night saw Allen, Sue, Gerard, Glynne and I meandering up Makaretu Stream just north of the Ohau. Gerard had decided he was in training and had emptied most of the contents of his house into his pack. Pleasant travel pausing only to scare the odd eel took us a few kilometres to a riverside campsite and a comfortable night's

...ulrless you'rc a little disillusioned after 20 year s of mud, like Harry.

sleep. The following morning greeted us with a touch of dampness in the air and a misty stroll up to the base of a spur which would lead to Oriwa Biv. Considering the route so far was hackless the terrain was proving friendly enough. Once at Oriwa Biv in swirlingmistand sunounded by drying up bog, navigation proved a little trickier. After some debate we bashed our way down to the Otaki River popping out somewhat further upstream than intended. At 4pm and surrounded by pleasant and enticing flats the big dilemma struck - to camp here or to move on. Murmurings each way ensued, but with the casting vote being made by a Higgins, the only way was up. Even if, as I recall, this was classed as a Medium-Fit trip.

Committing ourselves to a further good 4 hours' exercise including a solid 800m grunt uphillwe all made a mental note of the whereabouts of our torches. Kelleher finally appeared, still unfortunately yielding little in the way of views, and after some careful compass work we struck south down the Main Range. At a gloomy B.15pm the five of us managed to spend half an hour faffing around considering the merits or otherwise of a boggy ridge-top camp. We eventually flagged the idea and dragged our now slightly

PhilKendo presentation that evening, "38 years in the Tararuas weary carcasses up to the bushline on the slopes of Nichols Navigating in the now pitch black and misty conditions had a feeling of d€jh vu. One Fishtail-Richmond trip a feu years back... I seem to recall slogging our way up som( endless dark slope in a situation altogether similar to this This time though our compasses proved surplus tc requirement - there aren't many huts Mr Higgins doesn' know his way to and by 9.30pm we were brewing up ir Nichols Hut.

Our exha effort that evening proved handy and Sundal dawned with us in a good position for some classic clear sunny Tararua tops travel. A quick drop to Park Forks anc re-ascent onto the next enchanting section - Carkeek Ridge - hinted at a potentially clear day ahead on the tops Whether Struan or HamT were elsewhere in the Tararuas ir debatable, but certainly one of them was now casting hir spell of grey weather upon us. Top after top we trudge< along to a chorus of shengthening blasts of wind in ou ears and subtle shades of grey all around us. Thompson Lancaster, ArOte, Pukematawai... oh, really? Never mind it all made for a relatively early descent to Te Matawai Hu along the final section of track, very well cleared of scrub

The tops bit done with, out came the sun for Anniversar Day. A pleasant stroll out over Gable End Ridge followed An honourable mention should be made at this point fo Gerard, for going well out of his way at Ohau Shelter t< fetch water for a brew for us. Excellent views back to thost now dazzling tops of 24 hours earlier reminded me that wr are well positioned here in Wellington for some outstandinl tramping out in our "back yard" (unless you're a littl disillusioned after 20 years of mud, like Harry). Glynnr was certainly happy; he got home in time for his favouritr soap and found that we had helped him sow the seeds ir the back of his mind for an S-K attempt sometime.. Sounds like a suitable venture for a chief guide, Glynne!

Trip members: Allen & Sue Higgins, Gerard Galvin, Glynnr Lloyd, Phil Kendon.

Tramping and Mountaineering 2001/200