We started off on a gorgeous Saturday morning from Wellington Railway Station, heading for Poads Road (about 4km east of Levin) in the club van. Our intention was to head up to Waiopehu Hut, cook up a lovely curry, enjoy the view, sleep like logs after our exertions and come back down on the Sunday. The forecast looked pretty good, although Sunday was supposed to be a bit drizzly and windy. But we never had to worry about Sunday’s weather as circumstances conspired slightly against us…
First things first. In the group were two prospective new club members who hadn’t been on an overnight trip with the club before – Alex and myself. Of all the packs hauled out of the van at Poads Road, whose do you think were the heaviest? The others were kinder than they might have been when between us we pulled out a towel, coffee stovepot and 900-page novel, among other things (note to self: buy lightest possible e-book reader for future trips). I decided to leave my fourth litre of water, hairbrush and a few other bits and pieces behind (not the coffee pot though!).
With Alex’s and my packs a little lighter, we started off shortly after 10:30am, traversing the paddocks for 1km to the track start. From there, Waiopehu Hut has a posted time of 5 hours for about a 9 km tramp, climbing 1000m and descending 200m on the way.
We started up. I don’t think I really took in the beautiful lowland bush we were walking through in the first hour; I was blowing too hard and thinking about where my feet were going, how I really needed to be a bit fitter, and my choice about the coffee pot. Too late now! But the gradient seemed to lessen slightly after we passed the junction with the track that heads east to Ohau Gorge, and not long after, we stopped for lunch.
Refuelled, we continued up through the lovely forest, which was giving us good cover on a hot day. We had another quick break at about the 3-hour mark. ‘Great,’ I thought, ‘about another 2 to go. I’m going to murder that coffee when I get there.’ But no. A person coming down from Waiopehu Hut passed us. Apparently there was very little water in the tank, and the tap was broken so what water there was, was leaking out.
Having little water in a busy hut (another group of 8 was also planning to stay) was not a good prospect. We considered various options and in the end decided to change the tramp to a day walk, with people free to continue as far as Waiopehu if they wanted before heading back down. The least fit person in the group, I was confident about tramping 2 or 3 more hours at my slower pace, but I quailed at the thought of maybe 6 or more hours and decided to turn around there. All the others were made of tougher stuff, and decided to continue.
Van key in hand, I headed back down and reached the road-end 2h45m later, knackered, but having enjoyed the forest – surprising how different it looks when you’re on the way down! The back seat of the van was a very comfy spot to park up and knock off a few hundred pages of my book while I waited for the others to turn up. It was a stunning evening, sunny with a bit of a breeze. The only thing I was lacking was: fuel and a cooker for a coffee!
The others arrived at 9pm as the last light was going, fatigued after their 10-hour effort. They’d all made it to Waiopehu Hut and enjoyed the views out to Taranaki and Ruapehu. They had also filled their water bottles/bladders from the second tank on the other side of the hut that was in perfect working order, albeit fairly low in water. D’oh!
We elected to head directly back to Wellington, no stopping for KFC, and got back around 11 pm. I don’t know where Anna found the energy to drive, I slept most of the way and I’d only walked about half the distance! Thanks Anna So…not the overnight tramp we planned, but still an opportunity for everyone to enjoy the Tararuas on a fabulous day.