By Toby Burgess, 07 November 2024
As an American, I find the Tararua to be quite special. Though the South Island may get all the attention, and the great walks get all the funding, the Tararua’s are my favourite. I’ve grown to respect (and fear) the Tararua’s. Few other places hammer in the insignificance of humanity and the frightening strength of Mother Nature. I firmly believe now that the Tararua’s are the perfect example of the ideal Kiwi tramping experience: wild, untamed, and beautiful.
Day 0: We left for the trip on Thursday night. We had seven trampers in our group. I felt a little intimidated because the trip included the VUWTC president, Rewa, chief guide Kate, and a bunch of other important people (e.g., former Chief guide Tommy Tramper Thompson). The trip went off to a rough start for me. For some reason, I’d assumed we were doing communal dinners. 5 minutes from the road end, I realised we were supposed to bring our dinners. Oops. Luckily, the rest of the group got our texts and stopped at a gas station in Otaki Forks, buying enough ramen, chips and sandwiches to last me the trip.
Crisis averted. The rest of Thursday night consisted of a short 45-minute walk to Parawai Lodge along the old Otaki Gorge Road. Because of a massive slip, the road is non-traversable by car but is perfectly fine for walking. Walking along the old decaying road was quite enjoyable. I especially liked the old, creepy abandoned bridge.
Day 1: for the first real day of our tramping adventure, we began by following the Waitewaewae sidle track. At the beginning of the track, there were still obvious remnants of the railway lines used by loggers in the early days of New Zealand history to transport lumber. Supposedly, there is even a large cast iron oven in the middle of the bush, though we didn’t find it. Chris forgot one of his poles, so he had to run back to grab it. However, most of the track went quite smoothly. It was 12:30 PM by the time we got to Waitewaewae hut. For some reason, we decided to take a 1 hour and 45-minute lunch break, perhaps the pinnacle of faffery. We took the large 1000-meter ascent to the top of Shoulder Knob. We were knackered by the time we got to the top of Shoulder Knob. We continued along the ridge line until we reached Anderson Memorial Hut. It was windy, muddy and rainy. Jack described the ridgeline as “a place humans should not be”. I think that’s a perfect description. By the time we arrived, it was 8:30 PM and we were soaked to the bone. It was a 13-hour day, though the 1 hour and 45-minute lunch break was a large factor in that.
Day 2: we decided to have a proper hut day. We made a fire and let our clothing dry. I slept like a goddamn rock until noon. By the time I woke up most of the cleaning was done. To help, I sawed through one of the large fallen trees near our hut. I’ve never sawed through a tree before, so I messed up the technique and got the saw stuck. I think I nearly went insane trying to pull the saw out. Thank God Chris helped me get it out. The hut was in good condition. There was plenty of wood piled up thanks to Tommy and we had plenty of time to clean the hut fully. The end of the night consisted of Settlers of Catan and back-country trivia. I learned that Kate is the de-facto Nelson Catan champion and Jack isn’t so good at geography.
Day 3: We decided as a group to go back the way we came to Waitewaewae hut, sidling along the ridge and descending the 1000 meters along the Te Araroa trail. For much of the trail, we discussed Christchurch’s lax public transportation system. Even though we were only walking half the distance of day 1, it felt like quite the challenge. My legs were chafing horribly, and the only thing that was keeping me going was Panadol and the promise of a dry shelter. Every step was agony; it felt like jagged shards of glass were grinding against my inner thighs every time I walked. When we got to the hut, I was in so much pain I lay on the bed with my legs manspreading dramatically. On the plus side, the Otaki river, flooded by days of rain, looked incredible.
Day 4: At this point, I was in so much pain all I could think about was getting in the car and sleeping in a nice bed. Panadol became my only source of comfort. The day felt like a blur. Luckily for us, it was a beautiful sunny day. Even a sunny, humid day felt like a relief after days of cold rain. I was sweating horribly, partly because of the pain and partly from the humidity. Tommy, the madman, packrafted down the flooded Otaki River. We met him an hour down the trail. The rest of us slowly and steadily made our way down the trail. We got an amazing view of a slip that had taken out much of the Southern side of the valley, had a short lesson on wilderness sexism and made our way back to the carpark. We had a full day of tramping, about 8 hours. When I saw the car, I cheered. By the end of the journey, my legs felt like hamburger.
Overall, fun trip. Felt very accomplished cleaning the huts. Dear lord though, the chafing. Oof, ouch my legs.