Two groups piled into the van at Wellington Station on Friday night and then headed off to the Wairarapa and then Tamaki West Road campsite (near Dannevirke).
The plan was to drop Richard off for the night at his parent’s house near the road-end and for the rest of us to camp at the road-end. Richard would rejoin us on the Saturday morning. However, Richard’s parents kindly offered us all a place to sleep for the night. I did ask if they minded another eleven people using the toilet but Mr Manning pointed to the outhouse and said we could use that.
So twelve of us invaded the Manning home. Some slept in beds, others on couches, some on the lounge floor, one in the carport and a couple of people tented on the back lawn. In the morning we descended like locusts on the kitchen and Mrs Manning was busy boiling eggs, making tea and coffee and also rustled-up muesli for some people who forget breakfasts.
A bit later we were at the Tamaki West road-end. This looks like a pretty good road-end with lots of grassy space for tents and toilets nearby. It was very windy here so we started tramping straight away. We were soon climbing up to Traverse or A Frame hut. Unfortunately due to stormy conditions we had no views as we ascended.
A couple of hours later we arrived at A Frame hut in time for morning tea. This hut is accessible by 4WD by a route from near Palmerston North and I’d heard that the hut was in poor condition due to vandalism. There was a 4WD parked outside the hut so I was fearing the worse.
A Frame Hut, Ruahine Forest ParkAfter an unsuccessful attempt to open the hut door a sheepish looking man opened the door after some knocking and kicking. As we barged into the shelter of the hut a somewhat angry looking woman who was sharing a double sleeping bag with the man glared at us and then turned over and burrowed into the sleeping bag. She did not emerge while we were there.
We had some debate later as to whether we had interrupted an intimate moment or if she was just annoyed for being woken up. Anyway, we ignored her and had a brew. This was a chance for stoves 1 and 2 to be fired up. Stove number 1 was an old meths-burner and number 2 a more modern gas fueled device. A Frame hut was in surprisingly good condition and with only one leak it was pretty dry inside. There is a platform bunk and lots of graffiti. With a concrete floor and no fireplace it would be a bit chilly but passable. After a hot drink, snack and map consult we headed back into the storm and tramped along a 4WD track.
In fine weather there would be great views from here. We had great views of the insides of clouds and decided that the inside of Tararua clouds are a bit wetter that Ruahine clouds.
After the 4WD track we returned to a proper tramping track and descended a steep and slippery track to Stanfield Hut. Soon after arriving the sun came out so we had lunch in the sun and managed to dry out. During lunch stove number 1 was again fired up along with stove number 3 (gas burner). There were two parties of hunters based at Stanfield Hut. A couple of guys had driven in along the 4WD track and walked down to the hut and a few young guys had tramped in.
We headed upstream from Stanfield hut along the lovely Tamaki River West Branch and then onto the track to Cattle Creek hut. We had some views of the Northern Wairarapa at times and passed through some very nice bush. Just above Cattle Creek hut there was an open section where we were all blown about a bit by the strong wind but we managed to get to the hut without any mishap. Karen’s group was already safely settled in at Cattle Creek. They had arrived earlier in the afternoon after taking the Homes Ridge track from Tamaki West Road road-end.
It was very windy at Cattle Creek hut but it’s a sturdily build hut so we were fine. The hut sleeps eight so some of the group slept in tents or on the veranda. We had time in the evening to relax and talk before cooking a meal for eight people. During lunch and then before dinner we had been comparing soups. According to Bernie the ‘natural beefiness’ of Hearty Beef soup is impossible to beat (despite him trying some of my Cream of Mushroom soup). I did enjoy the Hearty Beef but need to sample a few more varieties before making up my mind as to a preference.
During dinner stove number 4 was brought into action (MSR white spirits type).
On Sunday morning one of the group members brought out from his pack a gas cylinder and stove (stove number 5). Due to the excess of stoves number 5 was not used on this trip (but it was still good to have). We used stove 4 on Sunday morning.
There is an old map on the wall of Cattle Creek hut that still shows some of the huts as NZFS (New Zealand Forest Service). This showed an interesting looking track heading up Cattle Creek hut to intercept the track we came in on. We did not take this track (just a route by now) but returned to Stanfield hut via the same track as the previous afternoon. I’d like to go back to this area for some more exploring.
We caught up with Karen’s group at Stanfield hut and had morning tea in the sun. Stove number 1 was fired up briefly.
The last couple of hours was spent tramping down the Tamaki West River West Branch back to the carpark. This is a lovely river and we had sun so it was a pleasant time.
We all made it back safely and after a side-trip to Dannervirke we returned to the Mannings to give them some beer, wine and chocolate to say thanks for putting us up on Friday night. We also had home cooked quiche and pikelets courtesy of Mrs Manning.
We had a smooth trip back to Wellington and arrived at the station about 4.45 after an enjoyable trip.