Drive + Tamaki West DOC Campsite
Trampers for this supposedly Easy-Medium trip met their fearless leader Elizabeth (Liz) and intrepid Medium/Medium Fit-ish group members: James (leader) and Ashley at Wellington Train Station carpark at 5pm on Friday to jump in the swanky WTMC van. Trusty James was our driver. Tasty foods were eaten during a quick dinner break in Levin. Stephanie, Claire and Richard ate Turkish at Cafe Anatolia. Karen, Elizabeth and James ate Thai nearby. Marie-Pascale chose Subway.
The group arrived at Tamaki West DOC Campsite before dark. The campsite was nice, grassy and flat with flash toilets, but there was a tap that needed some convincing before giving up water.
Day 1: Tamaki West DOC Campsite to Stanfield Hut via Traverse (A-Frame) Hut
Ascent: 688 m to Traverse Hut + 88 m to Stanfield Hut (776 m total)
Descent: 600 m
Distance: 2.4 km to Traverse Hut + 5.8 km to Stanfield Hut (12.6 km total)
Time: 2 h 30 to Traverse Hut + 4 h 30 to Stanfield Hut incl. lunch break (about 7 h total)
The next morning, the M/MF-ish group departed for their adventure at 8am, whilst the EM group left at around 8:20 am (one person had gotten up a wee bit late).
The day promised to be mostly sunny and hot with a small chance of rain.
The Tamaki West Track to Traverse (A-Frame) Hut was straightforward, but steep and slightly overgrown. Marie-Pascale, who led the pace, had instant regret about only eating a bar for breakfast. Others, like Elizabeth at the back, must have had unassailable cardio capacity, judging from their ability to continue chatting away while marching 600 m+ uphill.
At around 10:55 am, after a 2 h 30 min ascent (including breaks), the bush opened up to panoramic views of Hawke’s Bay and the tops.
A wide 4 x 4 track led to Traverse (A-Frame Hut), which appeared suddenly 1 min later.
The aptly named A-Frame Hut was very triangular and beautifully painted.
The group congratulated each other on the successful ascent and started to enjoy an early lunch.
Suddenly, and incongruously, a group of 3-4 motorcyclists appeared! Some amusing small talk was had, and we discouraged them from riding their bikes down the Tamaki West track or driving off the cliff yonder.
After lunch, at around 11:40 am, the group set off. The next part was easy walking on the 4 x 4 Takapari Road for about 3 km. Then came a track junction – to either go right (down Holmes Ridge) or left (across the ridgeline and down Stanfield/Takapari/Tamaki Track).
An antique hand-made sign informed us of this track junction, which was comforting, given that we were buried in 6 ft tall leatherwood bushes. Elizabeth advised that the plan was to go left along the ridgeline.
The next fun (in an agonizing-kind-of-way) 3 h 30 min were spent swimming in overgrown bushes and slipping in abrupt muddy drop-offs hidden in the cutty grass, while descending some 600 m at a snail pace. Indeed, one helpful sign had previously informed us that this track was no longer maintained.
At one point, another dubious but aspirational sign (handmade in prehistoric times) informed us that we had 45 min to go to reach Stanfield Hut. Sadly, it turned out taking us 1 h 30 mins.
The weary but mighty group arrived at Stanfield Hut at around 3.30 pm (or maybe later).
The starkly orange Stanfield Hut was already partially full for the night. Luckily, some group members had dragged tents and the large club tarp the whole way for this very eventuality. Interestingly, it appeared our fellow Medium/MF-ish group had passed by Stanfield Hut not long before us.
There was a shortage of flat grass to pitch tents, but Marie-Pascale and Elizabeth chose cozy spots (not flat per se) by the river. Richard put up the WTMC tarp there too.
Some kids were amusing themselves trying to dam the river with their dads for some mysterious reason, for hours on end (boys amirite).
The group (mostly Elizabeth and Richard) cooked a Tofu Laksa, which was yummy.
Day 2: Stanfield Hut back to Tamaki West DOC Campsite via Holmes Ridge
Ascent: 167 m
Descent: 589 m
Distance: 4.5 km
Time: 1 h 45 min
After packing up and having breakfast, the group set off at around 8:15 am. The first part of our day involved an easy walk down the river and getting onto Holmes Ridge Track. Compared with yesterday’s track, this seemed like a piece of cake. Our leader, Elizabeth, then gave us two options: a. veering off the ridge at a junction to head straight down to the campsite or b. following Holmes Ridge down to the carpark. We chose the latter. This was the steeper option, but was still easy walking (compared to yesterday).
And before we knew it, we arrived at the campsite at around 10am.
We waited for around an hour before, amazingly, intrepid Ashley and James materialized back from their hardcore trek to Cattle Creek Hut at 11am.
Totals for the weekend:
Elevation gain: 943 m
Descent: 1,189 m
Elevation change: 2,132 m
Distance: 17 km
Time (incl breaks): 8 h 45
The End.