Easter this year starts with rushing out of the office on Good Friday to meet the Easy/medium tramping crew at the station. On schedule, the caravan packed with eager trampers and heaps of backpacks starts towards Turangi. Just before 10pm we arrive at the backpackers and it takes less than 20 minutes until all of us are in bed and getting a rest ready for the next three days of outdoor activity.
Friday morning starts early as we want to be on the track as soon as possible, and we still have a couple of hours drive to the road end. In Minganui we meet Gary who drops us off at the beginning of the track and takes care of our van during the weekend. And off we go into the drizzle and into a mystical forest. Some trees are so massively big and high, we have to be careful not to flip over backwards when we bend back to look up to the top. I’m excited – it’s my first tramp with the club and I am not quite sure what to expect. Half an hour later, we get to the river and after crossing it a couple of times and struggling to find markers to get to the path, we decide to simply follow the stream towards Mangamata Hut. I quite enjoy the experience of ‘river-ing’ (rather than tramp-ing). As we arrive at the hut after more than five hours walk, we are happy to change into dry clothes and the luxury of an afternoon nap. Helen performs magic and turns the random combinations of communal food each of us has carried into a delicious pasta meal with Easter eggs as dessert.
The next morning starts dry and we are rewarded with a fantastic view over the valley and rising mist above the forest. This time we beat DoC’s estimated walking time and arrive at Central Whirinaki hut at lunchtime. Again, a beautiful walk, much easier because we just follow the track and there are only a few river crossings. After our lunch break, it starts raining again, we refer to the ‘easy’ approach of the tramp and stay in the cosy hut. The ‘library’ consists of a variety of hunting magazines and we learn about duck recipes, guns and other martial tools. There is also lots of time to chat to other trampers about outdoor adventures.
After a good night’s sleep we get into our clothes that have in common a smoky smell of the fire place – and the perfume of two massive steaks pan fried the evening before (yes, those guys carried them in). We start off in a dry and promising day. First highlight are two blue ducks who ‘sing’ their special morning song for us and perform some paddling against the stream, resulting in a funny backward swim. The walk out of the park is easy, apart from some ‘limbo dance’ under fallen tree trunks. With perfect timing we meet Gary and our van, all arriving at the same time at the road end. Some massive clouds are coming in, the forecast looks rather grim. We have a choice to make, Camping at the nearby camping site, or check out the local farm stay. The result is not revealed in this newsletter, sorry. We can reassure you though; all of us had a good time.