By Daniel Hunsche, 04 June 2022
Lightning, rain, wind and the mere lack of sunlight set the scene in the week coming before our scheduled journey to take in the natural splendor that was Wellingtons South coast. As the weekend crept closer and closer I wouldn’t have blamed metservice for believing it was experiencing a DOS attack do to the sheer volume of traffic it received from me. But come Saturday the fortunes of the little meteorologist person hiding behind the web-page was speaking came true, clear skies, calm weather and all on a long weekend!
We raced out over the Rimutaka ranges and past lake Ferry with Ngawi in our sights. Stopping for lunch at the Sailors table ~ a food truck seemingly only open on long weekends, but with burgers better than some Wellly cafes. As we filled out stomachs we said goodbye to the last bit of cell reception and continued onwards for a grand total of about 5 minutes (10 for those who got lost) to the Mangatoetoe stream with the intentions of leisurely strolling up to Mangatoetoe Hutt. Now once upon a time you could get a 4wd to this humble abode, but you’d be forgiven for believing in fairy tails. Forced to track livestock we traversed the valley, jumping from animal track to trappers track, bush bashing to straight up walking with the stream. Spotting a grand total of about 1 orange marker we stumbled upon the hutt, with more time spent finding a suitable track through the bush than actually walking (It took like an hour or two give or take, I have deadass seen a man shepherd his child while carrying another on his back to this hut).
The weather remained blissfully clear and with nightfall the clear skies allowed for a very, very cold night. 7 people breathing allowed for adequate rainfall from the roof, which was a pleasant surprise for those that happened to be sleeping underneath the danger zones (condensation yaya). As is with most track finding expeditions it was significantly easier coming back out, only bashing our way a handful of times and heavily relying on the stray cows for directions we made it back to the road end in no time where we parted ways briefly, some going to check out the potentially famous lighthouse depending on who you ask and others heading straight for the sailors table for another burg.
And then, the literal part of the trip that was advertised, The Pinnacles! After our expeditions we met up with our chief guide and another friend to set up camp at the pinnacles campsite, flat grass and plenty of room to camp and part, its pretty much ideal. Theres a couple of toilets but the only water source came from the hand basins in said toilets so be prepared! After home base was set up we journeyed briefly up the river bed to check these bad boys out. And what a solemn experience, we walked right up, getting all in and around the cracks that these monoliths created while protruding so far up. Could one collapse randomly and kill you? Yes. But what is the New Zealand government going to do until it actually happens? Nothing, and we took full advantage of that raw experience, just sitting inside the earth, what a humble feeling.
In this part of the world the sun sets behind the Remutaka Range, with a soft stony beach in between. We capitalized on the face that the campsite was just over the road to check out this phenomenon that never sets old and took in our last sunset of the trip. The end, thank you for reading.
