Poppy

Text taken from the club newsletter.

POPPY by BRIAN

I really enjoyed my tramping trip into Roaring Stag Hut. The track was fairly easy, the hut was comfortable, and there are no ferocious animals in that part of the Tararuas—except for the wetas. And Poppy.

My very first club Tararua tramp was to Roaring Stag. I remember the leader saying to me ‘would I mind getting some firewood’—and I thought it was a question. But apart from that it was a wonderful trip that I remember fondly. So a few weekends ago I decided to revisit the hut. (Poppy is the farmer’s dog that chases your car then barks and growls at you through the fence). I didn’t have anyone to go with so thought I would just go anyway.

The track starts at the end of Putara Road and heads alongside the Mangatainoka River. Then it climbs quite steeply to the top of a ridge before dropping more gently down to the big Ruamahanga River and the hut on the eastern side. It is a delightful track passing through tall beech forest and following beautiful babbling brooks.

But crossing one of these streams I slipped and my camera dropped into the water. By some lucky chance it kept working but I noticed that from then on the photos had a strange green tint. It was only after I got home I realised there was some weed from the river stuck over the front of the lens.

There was nobody at the hut when I arrived which suited me just fine as I wanted a quiet few days away from the noise and bustle of the city.

I cooked a simple meal and after reading for a while I settled in my sleeping bag for the night. I made sure the draw-cord of my bag was done up very tightly because I knew that there would be wetas prowling around inside the hut seeking out a warm place to climb in and lay their eggs. These eggs then later hatch by the hundreds in your wardrobe at home and you have to shut them in the room to stop them taking over the whole house.

In the morning I packed and with the sun shining through the trees wandered back along the track to the roadend. I tried to pat Poppy but she bit my arm off (metaphorically speaking). Anyway it had been a wonderful weekend wandering in the Tararuas—and sometime after the new batch of wetas at home have headed off ouside I will go again.

The stream I slipped in and which caused the odd tint to the photos

Roaring Stag Hut by the Ruamahanga River

Roaring Stag Hut

Inside the hut and nearly bedtime. Good night.