Windy Tops

Tag: bagged:kapakapanui hut

  • Daywalk: The Kapakapanui Triangle

    Our intended Labour Weekend trip was sadly messed up when our intended 3.5 day excursion became a there-and-back-again trip, between Friday night and Saturday evening. This weather had been predicted to continue until Monday night, but fortunes changed. Rather than ignore the rest of the long weekend, we decided to spend Monday back in the Tararuas again. This time it was only Debbie, Craig and myself who were able to make it.

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    Kapiti Island, seen west from the ridge near Kapakapanui.

    This route is occasionally referred to as the Kapakapanui Triangle. It’s been the subject of a few search-and-rescue operations over the years. Apparently there’s something about triangles which causes people to become lost in them. In this case, some people seem to think that it relates to the loop’s accessibility for a wide range of people, which increases popularity amongst those who might not go tramping quite so much in other places.

    My own theory, though, is that visitors become so distracted in awe with how the interior angles of any triangle always add to 180 degrees that they forget to watch where they’re going. Did you know that any triangle can be split into two right-angled triangles, no matter what type of triangle it is to begin with?

    Dates: 28th October, 2013
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ngatiawa Road.
    People: Craig, Debbie and me.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Around the loop via Kapakapanui Hut, then Kapakapanui, and back to road.
    [Photos]

    [Download GPX file] [View GPX on NZTopoMap]
    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    Well… the Kapakapanui Triangle is not really a triangle if you look at its shape critically on a map. It’s more like some kind of imperfectly formed trapezoid. The Kapakapanui Imperfectly Formed Trapezoid doesn’t roll off the tongue so nicely, though, and nor would it be a name to reliably explain why people become lost in it… unlike The Kapakapanui Triangle.
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  • Trip: Fenceline, Kapakapanui and Renata Hut

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    Marie and Allen walking down
    from Kapakapanui.

    This weekend was going to be a great navigation trip, which I’d been looking forward to because I’m really keen to get some good navigation experience. A couple of people had to pull out on late notice so there were only the three of us in the end. We hadn’t decided exactly where to go until Friday night at the railway station, but the basic idea ended up being an approximate anticlockwise loop starting and ending at Otaki Forks. I’d looked at the forecast on Thursday afternoon and it hadn’t actually appeared too bad, maybe with a bit of rain around Saturday night or so. It didn’t quite turn out that way, though.

    Dates: 28th – 30th March, 2008
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Otaki Forks Road End.
    People: Allen, Marie and me.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights), Renata Hut (1 night).
    Intended route: Up the Fenceline Track to point 476 above Otaki Forks, then south-west around the ridges to Pukeatua, past Kapakapanui and down to the saddle near point 822. Cross the road and head on to Renata Hut for the night. On Sunday, walk along the Renata Ridge Track to point 925, and head north up the ridge for about 1km before hopping west onto another ridge and going north to Waiotauru Forks. Jump over the footbridge, and back out to Otaki Forks.
    Actual route: Well the first day went okay, but we ended up walking down the 4WD track towards Waiotauru Hut until we could see that the river was well up after a lot of recent (and continuing) rain. At that point we turned around, and hitched a ride out to the Akatarawa Road in a grunty Toyota LandCruiser.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Racing around Kapakapanui

    Following the recent daywalk around Kapakapanui, I went back to Waikanae this morning because I was keen to find out how quickly I could do it. I didn’t get many photos this time, except for ones to record timestamps, since I was in a bit of a hurry. I already had a heap during the last trip, and I tend to find photos a bit boring when they don’t involve people. I won’t bother explaining too many details of the track in this report, since I think I did that in my previous post.

    Date: 10th November, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ngatiawa Road-End.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Start at the road-end, follow the loop track clock-wise up to Kapakapanui Hut, continue to Kapakapanui Trig, then continue back down to the road-end. Walk very fast.

    I’m calling this a daywalk, which is usually is, but I’m not sure if it still counts if it’s walked in three hours.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Kapakapanui

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    Looking at Kapiti Island
    from Kapakapanui

    Yesterday I went on my first ever daytrip with the trampey club, which was a nice little milestone. We went for a walk around the Kapakapanui loop track in the Tararuas. This track begins at the Ngatiawa road-end, east of Waikanae. It climbs (and then descends) about 1000 metres, and is probably about 10 kms in length.

    Date: 28th October, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ngatiawa Road-End.
    People: Bronwyn, Mike, Michelle, Éamonn, Peter, Sarah, Becky, Sally, Claus, Jo, Annemarie.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Start at the road-end, follow the loop track clock-wise up to Kapakapanui Hut, continue to Kapakapanui Trig, then continue back down to the road-end.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    (more…)