We had an extraordinary number of sign-ups for the Aorangi Crossing trip, originally graded Medium, which was very encouraging to see. We were keen to accommodate as many trampers as possible, as the club had signed up to support the Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) ‘Love our Huts’ campaign (unbeknown to those who had signed up).
Unfortunately, a few people could no longer make the trip (maybe due to hearing about the cleaning), so in the end we had 12 confirmed from the original 18 who signed up. This was perfect, as the club van fits a maximum of 12 people. We also had a few trip leaders signed up, so we were able to break into two separate groups.
A plan was hatched. James would lead a group of 5 slightly faster paced (medium-fit) walkers from the North end of Aorangi Crossing, and I would lead a group of 7 (medium) walkers from the South end. Both groups would meet at Pararaki Hut on Saturday night for a key swap.
Many thanks to everyone on the trip for jumping in and lending a hand with our efforts to spruce up both Pararaki Hut and Washpool Hut. It felt good to be able to contribute in a small way to the upkeep of two relatively remote backcountry huts. We are very lucky to have such an awesome network of huts in our country! Check out the ‘Love our Huts’ facebook page.
Part 1: Aorangi Crossing (from Mangatoetoe Carpark)
Medium Group
Author: Lucy TD
Trampers: Sara H (lead), Jeanna, Sally, Marie-Pascale, Patrick, Adam, Lucy and (on paw patrol) Sophie
After dropping the MF group off at the Pinnacles campsite, we drove on and parked the van at a carpark on Cape Palliser road. We started along Mangatoetoe stream with some daylight left. It was a relaxed 1 hr 5 min hike to Mangatoetoe Hut. Sophie (Sara’s dog) did well to keep us all in line. We arrived at the hut at around 8.45pm – and needed our headtorches as we neared the hut. Those of us in tents set up camp in the long grass outside the Hut – the grass acted rather pleasantly as some extra bed padding.
With the dawn chorus serving as a delightful 5.30 am alarm, we were up and about early, and after the mandatory Hut pic, we set off at about 7.45 am. It was a stepping stone start to the day, as we tried to not get our feet wet…but this approach was very quickly abandoned. Instead, there emerged a point system where we were graded on the slip / slide that was achieved.
We soon hit our first steep section, which led up to the saddle and there were some lovely views when we peeked through the trees. Sophie led the charge, showing off her impressive tramping abilities by going up and down the line multiple times. We stopped briefly at the top for a water break and then headed down a steep section to Otakaha Stream…I won’t name any names, but a few extra slip points were earned coming down.
We followed the stream again until we got to Kawakawa Hut, where we stopped for lunch. The MF group weren’t too far behind us, and after a quick chat, we left them to their Hut clean and continued on.
As we carried on, we found the path to be straightforward and a steady uphill climb.
A slippery descent just before Pararaki Hut claimed one of Marie-Pascale’s and one of my walking poles, but we arrived at the Hut in good spirits at around 3.15 pm. We set up camp and enjoyed a well-earned brew before getting to work on cleaning the Hut. Sara pulled the short straw and did an amazing job on the loo, while the rest of us divvied up the mould scouring of the mattresses and the interior of the Hut. No bigger sigh of dismay than when Jeanna realised that a whiskey bottle that had been left in the roof was empty.
The MF team arrived while we were having dinner, and we had a lush evening chatting and eating around the fire. Sally caused envy with her delicious 3 course dinner.
The dawn chorus was reliable as ever and we were up and ready to go by 7.45 am. There was an immediate steep ascent as we climbed away from Pararaki Hut. Sara broke some good news to us – we’d been looking at the ascent in the opposite direction and we were actually about to do our main ascent of the day. It was a relief to get it done with in the morning! It felt great getting to the top.
The descent, however, was a right piece of work (happily backed up by the MF group in their report!), with a lot of loose dirt and branch- clinging to ease our way down. An impressive dirt surf was achieved by Adam, waving his youthful knees in the rest of our faces. We abandoned the point system here.
At the bottom, we crossed a creek and arrived at a lovely spot in the sun just before Washpool Hut. It was such a nice spot that we decided to have an extended lunch break.
The MF group had done a sterling job on Washpool Hut. Adam, Sally and Sara were superstars – loading rubbish that had been left at the Hut in their packs so they could carry it out.
We continued on up the final ascent. We were definitely feeling tired at this point, but it was a lovely sunny day and at the top we were rewarded with amazing views over Palliser Bay. The group agreed that this is one of the reasons why we love tramping.
After some undulating terrain, we began our much more pleasant descent to the Putangirua Pinnacles. Patrick, our photographer, took some great pictures of the views. A few areas were sectioned off on the Pinnacle ridge track – nothing to be concerned about, just a little extra caution required.
We arrived at Pinnacles carpark at around 5pm. The MF group, who had been waiting for us with the van, kindly greeted us with chocolate and we all smiled at them through gritted teeth as they told us about the fish and chips they’d had.
We all bundled into the van to head back to Wellington.
Trip Stats:
Day 1:
- Carpark to Mangatoetoe Hut – just over 1 hr
- Moving Time: 1 h 5 min (elasped time 1 hr 15 mins)
- Distance: 4.3 km
- Ascent: 85 m
- Descent: 12 m
Day 2:
- Managatoetoe Hut to Pararaki Hut: 7 hrs 30 mins (including 30 mins for lunch and breaks)
- Moving Time: 4 h 11 min (elapsed time 7 h 23 mins)
- Distance: 12.2 km
- Ascent: 758 m
- Descent: 646 m
Day 3:
- Pararaki Hut to Putangirua Pinnacles Carpark: 9 hrs (including 30 mins for lunch and regular breaks)
- Moving Time: 5 h 40 mins (elasped time 9 hr 30 mins)
- Distance: 15.8 km
- Ascent: 1251 m
- Descent: 1468 m
Part 2: Aorangi Crossing (from Putangirua Pinnacles Carpark)
Medium Fit Group
Author: James W
Trampers: James, Eoin, Josh, Simon, Francis
The medium group left us at Putangirua Pinnacles at around 7 pm on Friday. We set up camp near a picnic table. We spent around an hour down on the beach watching the sun set, the slowly changing colours of the sky, and surfcasters reeling in crayfish. There are certainly worse ways to start a trip.
Setting off at around 7:30 am on Saturday morning, we reached the Pinnacles lookout in 45 minutes. The ridge track remains open, however a DOC sign urges caution. Some sections are bypassed due to slip damage, but the ridge track is still very much a highway and makes for quick travel.
A short distance after the Pinnacles lookout, the track meets an old 4WD road. We followed this road, and it led us through an old beech forest, young regenerating mānuka/kānuka and lots of gorse. At a grassy clearing, just beyond pt 475 on the topo map, we briefly lost the track due to the overgrown gorse. We then did a short bush-bash to regain the track further along.
Gradually climbing up to 700 m elevation, we encountered the first Ongaonga of the weekend (Editor’s note: Ongaonga: a tree nettle native to NZ. Has large spines that can result in a painful sting that lasts several days.https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/129506-Urtica-ferox).
Although we all knew ahead of the trip that there would be lots of the wretched stuff, it still managed to catch us off guard. Josh mentioned that he had only ever been stung once by Ongaonga. In a park, in the city, no less – which he reckoned didn’t really count. He had forgotten what the stings were like and said he wouldn’t mind getting stung again. I swung my walking poles, with all my might, at any patch of Ongaonga I saw growing close to the track. This was pretty effective at cutting smaller stems, or at least bending them away from the track. Eoin sensibly asked whether doing this might be dangerous, as it could send needles up into the air. But I was not deterred from my mission to clear the track of it.
We arrived at Washpool Hut at around midday – the descent to the Hut was steep and required some care. We were signed up to clean the Hut as part of the “Love our Huts” campaign. Eoin, Josh and Simon made quick work of cleaning the Hut itself. Francis took the unenviable job of cleaning the toilet, while I started to pick up some rubbish that I noticed under the Hut. On closer inspection, this turned out to be a large area of buried trash that had accumulated over decades. It felt like an archaeological dig pulling out old beer cans, medicine jars, and dehy meal packaging from different eras – some with half-eaten meals and utensils still in them!
We bagged up as much rubbish as we could and consolidated glass waste into a midden. Simon and Francis took a bag of rubbish each to carry out. The rest of us did not have the space in our packs. Fortunately, the medium group were able to carry the rest of the rubbish out for us the next day, which we were extremely grateful for.
Below Washpool Hut, a large patch of Ongaonga had to be navigated carefully before we could cross a creek. We then began a steep climb up to pt 765. We all agreed it was probably better to be going up this bit (rather than down), as the steep gradient and loose dirt underfoot would have made for a tricky descent.
Light drizzle helped keep us cool during the climb, and we made steady progress to the top, where we stopped for a short break. At pt 765, we noted marking tape and what looked like a track heading north northeast towards Sutherlands Hut. We kept to the DOC track and made one final steep descent for the day, before meeting up with the other group who were lounging in the sun outside Pararaki Hut. We set up our tents while the medium group scoured mould off mattresses. We all then cosied up at the Hut and enjoyed dinner and the fire.
After triple checking I had the club van keys in my pack, we set off from Pararaki Hut at around 7:30 am on Sunday morning. We were mentally prepared for a long day. A previous club trip had taken longer than planned to travel between Kawakawa Hut and Mangatoetoe Hut, and while that was due to difficult travel in streams (following heavy rain), we wanted to ensure we got out at a reasonable time to collect the medium group from the Pinnacles Campsite.
After sidling above the northern branch of Otakaha Stream, the track led us to a narrow spur which descended to the fork with the eastern branch. There were excellent views on each side of the spur and we took our time so we could fully enjoy the beauty of the bush in the area. Josh was delighted to spot one of his favourite plants (the kidney fern) which had eluded him the whole trip thus far. Once we reached the fork, the track became a highway through grassy flats to Kawakawa Hut.
Beyond Kawakawa Hut, the southern branch of Otakaha Stream is a narrow valley with dramatic, steep sides. Travel here required a lot of rock hopping and time in the stream itself, although the water level was ankle deep in most places. We passed many deeper pools which looked like excellent swimming spots.
Over another steep, but short, climb we encountered a runner out for a day trip – the first person outside of our club that we had seen all weekend. He would pass us again later as we made our way down Mangatoetoe stream.
One of the marked sections of the track involved a tricky sidle of a wall (that was above a deep pool) on the true left of the stream. We opted to avoid this and found that we could continue along the true right, through relatively open bush, and rejoin the track further down. The worst Ongaonga we came across was along the lower stretches before Mangatoetoe Hut. Warning each other of upcoming patches became pointless, as it lined both sides of the track.
We reached Mangatoetoe Hut at around 12:45 pm, 2 ½ hours after leaving Kawakawa Hut, and we stopped for a long lunch break. The day had become hot, but with the van within easy reach, we were motivated to walk at a quick pace out along the stream bed. We encountered lots of sheep grazing this part of the valley, and also saw (and smelled many more) dead possums. We followed a track through the flats (rather than continuing along the stream bed) for the last few hundred metres. However, we found that this led us to the opposite side of the stream from the carpark. So we had to scramble up a bank to reach the carpark.
We got back to the carpark at 2:30 pm, which gave us plenty of time to stop in Ngawi for a feed of fish and chips from a food truck Eoin recommended and to rehydrate with cans of coke and milkshakes. We arrived in time to get the last of their fish, just as they were closing. And just as well – as it was seriously good. We then met up with the medium group at the Pinnacles Campsite.
Trip Statistics:
Day 1:
• Pinnacles campsite to Washpool Hut – 4 h
• Washpool Hut to Pararaki Hut – 3 h
Day 2:
• Pararaki Hut to Kawakawa Hut – 2 ¼ h
• Kawakawa Hut to Mangatoetoe Hut – 2 ½ h
• Mangatoetoe Hut to carpark – 1 h