Friday
We left at around 4.45 pm from Wellington train station and had a dinner and supermarket stop in Palmerston North before continuing on to Anzac Park campground (arriving at around 8 pm). We all set up our tents, except for Bogdan, who took the opportunity to try out his tarp. The campground is next to a field of cows, so we could hear some mooing throughout the night.
Saturday
We left the campground at 9 am to drive to Moorcock Saddle – arriving at about 10 am. We were travelling in two cars – only one of which was a four-wheel drive. The drive up to the Saddle was a bit steep at one point, and people in the car two-wheel drive car had to get out and push! But in the end everyone (and both cars) made it. Big credit to Sally for pushing on to the top carpark!
Our original plan had been to do a loop – walking to Longview Hut, staying Saturday night at Makeretu Hut, and then passing Happy Daze Hut, Stacker’s Hut, Black Stag Biv and Awatere Hut on Sunday. It was already very windy at the road end, which didn’t bode well. We started walking to Longview Hut and it was very windy on the ridge. We got to a particularly exposed windy section and had a discussion about whether we should continue on or not. Considering the weather report said it was only going to get windier the next day, we decided to turn back and head down into the river valley.
In the end we decided to walk to and stay the night at Awatere Hut and then return the same way on Sunday morning. This route was also still quite windy, although not as bad as heading up to the ridge, and it was quite steep going up and coming down. It took us about 1.5 hours to walk from the carpark to Awatere Hut. There were a couple of people there already, although they weren’t planning to stay the night. We had a good chat to them – they were checking trap lines.
We then decided to walk along the Makaretu River to visit Happy Daze and Stacker’s Huts, although Frankie decided to stay and relax at Atawere Hut. We had a look at Black Stag Biv on the way – it’s a derelict shack set a few metres back from the edge of the bush by a big fallen tree.
The water level of the Makaretu River was quite low, so for the most part we walked on scree by the river, but we still needed to cross the river about 30-40 times. The deepest part of the river was probably up to our knees, but overall we made pretty fast time.
Happy Daze Hut is located at the edge of a nice clearing and you could definitely camp there if you wanted to. We also checked out Stackers Hut, as it was nearby – this is a private hut on private land, so you can only see it from afar, on the other side of a fence.
We had a couple of false starts, as the route was not sign-posted. However, after going down a track behind and to the right of Happy Daze Hut, and then going left, then right, we were able to see Stackers Hut from about 20 metres away.
Harry then led us down a sidle track (above the river) that took us back to the river junction that you follow to get to Makaretu Hut, where there is a DOC sign that states it’s 15 minutes to Happy Daze Hut. It took us about 5.5 hours for the return trip from Awatere Hut to Stacker’s Hut.
When we got back to Awatere Hut we started making dinner – a tofu green curry. Many thanks to Sally for organising all the ingredients. We then had dessert, which was a collection of chocolate and lollies etc brought by group members. The hut has six beds. Two people in the group camped outside, including Bogdan, who attempted to improve the design of his tarp shelter. Unfortunately his tarp blew down at some point during the night.
Sunday
We headed off back to the car at 9 am. It was windier than the previous day and I felt as if i was about to be blown over at some points.
We had some excellent coffee and food at Norsewood Café (always a recommended spot to stop at on a club trip!) and arrived back in Wellington at around 2 pm.
Overall, a successful tramp with a bit of excitement. It was good to get out into the hills and make the most of things despite the weather not being ideal for tops travel.