We met on Saturday morning at 9am at Wellington Train Station – thanks to Debbie who was our driver for the trip. It was a small group – just the four of us (myself, Tony, Debbie & Jamie). It was Jamie’s first hike with the tramping club.
When we arrived at the start of the track, the sky was grey but luckily it wasn’t raining. As we walked up the hill it was super muddy. It was an enjoyable experience, and the group shared stories along the way. Debbie shared some stories from her recent trip doing the Kepler Track.
We finally arrived at Waiopehu Hut after 5 hours of walking at a slow to medium pace – but sadly there were no views as it was overcast. The Hut was reasonably full, with two other groups and four dogs. We were all pleasantly surprised by the dogs, who were cuddly and wanted pats from everyone.
Dinner was a lentil curry with capsicum and tomato (great choice by Tony). We shared chocolate and hot tea for dessert. Jamie introduced us to a new game called “Cactus”, which we played for several rounds in between patting the dogs.
On the next morning, the sun shone through and we saw some fabulous views (which Tony had told us about). We set off at around 8am. The initial plan was for us to head up to Richards Knob, go over the ridge line and then back down the other side. But after about 30 minutes of walking I wasn’t feeling very well, so we decided to drop our bags, head up to Richards Knob, and then return to the van the same route we had walked the previous day. I am grateful that the group was flexible and agreed to change our plans. Our walk, including the trip up to Richards Knob, took around 4.5 hours, at a slow to medium pace.
