Snow on Powell!
Our journey began with a drive on the winding road to the Wairarapa, we eventually arrived at our first stop, the Clareville Bakery, for a last minute coffee and pastry. Once satiated with morning tea, we began our journey to the Tararuas, with a radiant sun shining, the snow was glittering off the peaks, as we approached it. Due to the surprisingly perfect weather, the Gentle Annie track was busy.
Mountain House
Myself and the rest of the team continued on our journey, and we decided climbing up to Powell Hut today would be too strenuous, as we left Wellington at a leisurely 9:00am. We continued at an unhurried pace, and settled on visiting the Mountain House. Interestingly enough, this shelter used to be a hut, but was severely damaged. WTMC volunteers re-built the structure that we see now, which is the perfect lunch spot, particularly on a cold winter day.
Our first taste of actual bushwalk started at the Seats junction – and it did not disappoint. We started noticing more mud, roots, slippery spots, and branches as we ambled down. We were all counting our luck, as the entire weekend promised to have good weather. Tony and Adam, had both been on this track before and warned us bleary eyed, that this track could be heinous during heavy rain.
Since we had such wonderful dry weather, all of our stream crossings were very simple, we were spoiled by many bridges on this track, which is a luxury in the Tararuas. Right near the stream we saw a Violet Pouch Mushroom, which surprised our group, as many of us had not seen that type of mushroom before.
Within the last hour of the walk, we crossed an impressive bridge, just at the perfect moment, and witnessed the most beautiful sunset. The sheer luck of being at that spot, at that specific time was astounding. This is probably the most gorgeous sunset I have seen this winter, as the weather tends to be windy and rainy in Wellington.
We arrived at the lovely Totara Flats Hut just before nightfall. The hut was already buzzing with a few people as well as one very well behaved dog. Adam and Kaitlyn went to work, and started chopping wood outside the hut, to prepare for the chilly evening.
The twenty six-person hut was very flashy with all the amenities (fireplace, mattresses, mess-tables, and even some pots and fruit cans). Jeremy, Adam, and Miel attempted to get the fireplace going with the help of some campers, unfortunately the wood was too soggy for any heat to build up in the hut. Tony, Lia, Gemma, and Adam were on cooking duties. Jamie (our original leader) gave us ingredients to make nachos with no set recipe, so the cooking team got our brains together and made a delicious meal. Luckily, some of the team were carrying spare chocolate, and we were spoiled with KitKat and Macadamia Nut Whittakers. By the time we were finished with food preparations, we were joined by the very fit, MF group.
After we finished eating our dinner, Jeremy (our leader) discussed the following morning’s plan and forecast. The decision was to go on a short side trip to visit the namesake of the hut, the Totara Flats, and leave by approximately 9:00am in the morning. Tony taught us a new card game after dinner, called three up three down. The team had heaps of fun playing this game, I will certainly remember it for my next group adventure.
Distance: 5.7km (approx.) Time: 5 ½ hours
Another perfect day in paradise
The following morning, the weather was perfect. We all had a relaxed morning of packing up and eating breakfast. Before heading to the Totara Flats, we decided to leave our heavy packs at the hut, and take only the essentials (water, PLB, and maps). Due to winter conditions, the sun was just rising on the horizon, even though it was later in the morning.
Today we returned on the same track we came from, so the team knew exactly what to expect, with a little muscle soreness to add to the fun. The main ascent started at the beginning of the walk, thus we did the most difficult part at the very beginning.
Once we reached the junction, we had a short break for lunch, and continued on our trek through the Gentle Annie track. We heard very few forest friends. We did have a friendly tomtit follow us around, but sadly besides that saw very few creatures. The team made the decision to hurry back to the van, as we were all excited to stop at another cafe on the way. There were not many options, as it was a Sunday. We managed to find one open cafe in Greytown. As they were having their mid-winters Christmas celebrations, Christmas decorations could be seen everywhere, and carols were heard on the streets. We made it back to Wellington by the late afternoon with no issues.
Distance: 12km (approx.) Time: 4 ¾ hours