With an appalling weather forecast it was decided that a weekend trip to the lodge wasn’t a goer; chances are the Bruce Road would be closed and we wouldn’t even get there. Spencer was keen to lead a local day walk instead and I for one really needed to stretch my legs, so did Tracey, Ian, Jo and Megan.
“It is only a day walk” was my attitude, leaving packing till the last minute on Saturday morning, frantically trying to get to the Railway Station by 8am. Meeting up with the punters there was a debate on where to go. Options put forward were: North Ohau, Akatarawa or Kapakapanui. It is always interesting trying to make a group decision. I had recently been to Kapakapanui so was NOT keen, however Tracey cunningly mentioned the tops would be nasty and it was on the schedule in a couple of weeks, (she had recently done it too but her rationale didn’t sound as selfish as mine!). There was also discussion on the nor-west weather system meaning the eastern side of the Tararuas might be “nicer”. We decided on Walls Whare as a road end. Luckily more organised punters had a selection of maps, so we were equipped with those. Walls Whare meant there was a compulsory stop at the French Baker. Over coffee we decided on a round trip: Up to Reeves (an old route), down to Tutuwai, along to Cone and back to the road end. A quick calculation indicated we had just enough daylight. I discovered I was the only one without a headtorch (whoops – the first of many “only a day walk” incorrect packing decisions).
Thanks to the bird monitoring for Project Kaka, the track up to Reeves had been recut and well marked so the navigation part of the trip didn’t eventuate. It is a nice ridge up with bush astelia and rifleman. There was hail and wind and generally unpleasant weather but with lunch at Tutuwai all was well. Thunder and lightening started shortly after lunch and continued for the rest of the walk, there was resistance to leave Cone Hut due to the heavy rain, but as day length was limited, it was onward and upwards. Thunder and lightening continued, with hail and heavy rain, which meant that stopping wasn’t really an option. The track down to the Waiohine River was very muddy and slippery but we arrived at the bridge with day light to spare and were greeted by a falcon at the bridge.
There was the usual changing out of wet clothes at the car, and again the “only a day walk” attitude meant that some punters didn’t quite have a complete set of nice dry warm clothes – but hey what do you need if you are safe at the car, and only have to drive home.
Two kilometres down the road Devil’s Creek ford was un-crossable. Yes we picked our day walk route that was largely stream free. However, we didn’t factor in that we had crossed a ford on the way there; it was brown, swollen and above my knees, and more importantly above the door clearance of my car! Hmmm! There was the ‘she’ll be right – you could get through attitude’, however I didn’t fancy trying to dry out a wet car interior.
As it had recently stopped raining, Tracey put rocks on the water edge so we could monitor the water levels. Then along came two nice hunters and their extra lovely vizsla dog. Their ute would get through, no problem, they offered to tow us through, mentioned that we were welcome to stay at their bach down the road if we couldn’t get through, and asked if they could contact anyone for us. We gave them Pete’s number so people would know we were fine but stuck! When they went through the ford we were all saying “weren’t they nice, thoughtful” and all sorts of other adjectives not usually associated with hunters.
Our rocks told us that the river was slowly going down, and as it still wasn’t raining we thought we might as well wait a bit longer. About 30 minutes later the hunters returned. I crossed the ford on foot to chat to them; they again offered accommodation and presented a care package. I was a bit overwhelmed. I said we would wait a while longer to see how much the stream would go down in the next hour. When back at the car I opened the care package it contained:
- Cans of old crow bourbon and cola
- Large bottle of bourbon, that didn’t have bourbon coloured liquid in it
- A pack of cards
- A towel
- Head torch and another torch
- Spare plastic bags
- Packet of corn chips
We were all so impressed, and interested in what the hunters thought were essential items. The corn chips were opened and consumed, the towel and torches used, the mystery bourbon bottle was opened to reveal curious coloured water. And our attitude “it is only a day walk” was discussed. After a three hour wait, the stream had gone down sufficiently to send the boys in to stand on the upstream edge of the ford, providing guidance for us to drive through. We met the hunters further down the road. They were coming back again to check on us – bless! We returned their wonderful care package – minus the corn chips!
We thought it appropriate to outline what we learnt from our being stuck experience.
- When packing, consider that it might turn in to more than a day walk
- Take an emergency kit
- Consider having extra blankets, food and clothes in your car
- Don’t forget a map and compass
- Gaiters can be useful even for a day walk
- Head torches are necessary even for a day walk
- Take the club van – more clearance!
- Don’t eat your chocolate bar until across the ford
- Remember dry socks
- Take more dry clothes for car afterwards
- The attitude “it is only a day walk” can be left behind