By Tommy Thomson, 06 September 2024
Jack had given me a relatively easy assignment: The Te Araroa route from Otaki to Poads in 4 days, roughly how long the TA walkers take.
I left the Penn Creek group at Otaki forks and bounced off on the flat track towards Waitewaewae. I took the lower “track”, which barely exists any more but is theoretically a bit faster. I’d done it twice before so should have no issues. After negotiating the well marked route below the big slip, I took what I thought to be Saddle Creek and followed it up. Eventually it steepened up and I left the creek, but there was no sign of either the old or new track. Oh well, it must have all washed out, if I keep going I will hit the new track. I kept climbing and climbing with no new track in sight, and eventually managed to get my GPS working at a major looking ridge. Bugger! I had taken Papa Creek instead of Saddle Creek, missed the new track and climbed all the way to the top of the hill. Slightly embarrassed, I followed the ridge along to the Plateau, knowing I could still easily make it to Waitewaewae and only be a few hours behind plan.
After a nice fast grunt up to Shoulder Knob, I almost got blown off Mt Crawford as I stumbled to Andersons and Nichols. Dracophyllum Ridge had been recently cut and it was a delightful stroll to Dracophyllumn hut, weather much improved. I got there well before dark but not with enough time to make it to Arete, so stopped there.
Next morning dawned clear and fine, so I made my way quickly to Arete, excitedly sending texts to every other group for updates and planning my options. I knew I had time to wait at Arete until the afternoon, perfectly placed to dash off for any missed huts. Hugo had made it to Dundas(Yay!) and I didn’t hear from Jack or Joe, so I lazed around at Arete enjoying the perfect weather until after lunch, then dashed down to Te Matawai to hear from Joe. It was an anxious few hours wait at Te Matawai, unsure if I’d made the right decision leaving Arete, but luckily I got to share the hut with a great group of 3 blokes. Eventually Joe and Britte also stumbled in, surprised to see me waiting for them. They were taking things at Joe pace and were going to miss North Ohau, but a quick change of plans saw me heading to North Ohau and them heading out via Waiopehu. That night I got an unfortunately delayed text from Jack, the wind had forced him off the tops so he would miss Carkeek. We’d failed, but that didn’t dampen my determination much to get as many huts as possible.
It was a relaxing splosh down the Ohau, other than the stress of hoping that my 1% phone battery would be enough for the picture at South Ohau. North Ohau river was a cold slog in both directions but the hut is a gem. I made it out 10 minutes before Joe and Britte.
Some advice for whomever tries this again: You have to be an organizing legend, which thankfully Jack was. Things will inevitably go wrong with big groups, so rely on experienced and keen individuals and pairs for the central huts, and have a plan for communication during the trip.