Windy Tops

Tag: bagged:rangiwahia hut

  • Trip: Rangiwahia Ruahine Womble over the Tops

    4570070669_e208816894_m-9473389
    Sunday morning.

    Sitting in the claustrophobic corner of our van, also known as the back seat, I’m struggling to keep my dinner down. We stopped some time earlier at Levin, where I visited one of my favourite feeds for Friday nights, Thai Taste Express. Very unusually, I couldn’t even get through all my dinner. I have a theory that a lack of sleep over the past few days has played badly with my system, and it would also explain my headache. Most vans aren’t made for a nice back-seat experience, especially not on windy unsealed country roads. We’re aiming for possums every couple of minutes though, so hopefully something good is coming out of it for New Zealand. Eventually we’re at the end of Renfrew Road below Rangiwahia. Stepping outside, into the rain, I suddenly feel much more able. The fresh air certainly helps.

    Dates: 30th April – 2nd May, 2010
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia Road-end.
    People: Alistair, Hans, Mika, Pete, Bernie and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (2 nights)
    Route: Walk up to Rangiwahia, go for a wander around the tops, then down Dead Man’s Track.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/20100502-rangiwahia-ruahine-womble.gpx%5D

    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.

    It’s about a quarter past ten in the evening when we begin our walk up by torchlight, and will be a further hour and forty minutes before we reach Rangiwahia Hut, situated just over the bush-line at 1300 metres above sea level. Along the way, I notice that what was by far one of the Department of Conservation’s best ever signs (the “Worst Is Over” sign that used to decorate the top of the detour around the major slip) has disappeared, either removed or taken by someone who wanted a souvenir. Near our destination, I begin to feel queasy again which may not be a good sign. We arrive, however, and the only occupant on this Friday evening is the one person we were expecting to find, who’d driven down from Tauranga to join a trip that Sam was organising, and this helpfully means we don’t need to be as discrete when settling in.
    (more…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Te Hekenga, Howletts and Heritage

    We finally managed to get around this scenic loop in the Ruahines, which is almost entirely made up of tops travel. It was a weekend of very nice weather, even though a light easterly in the Ruahines meant walking through some clag. For me personally, it was the first time I’ve connected the dots between two different sides in the Ruahines, having reached the same place from two different sides, and this felt quite rewarding.

    3092447970_02b24fc4d6_m-8040450
    Alistair collects water from one of the
    tarns on the way up Te Hekenga.

    Dates: 5th – 7th December, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia road-end to Heritage road-end.
    People: Alistair, Dirk, Paul, Amanda, Harry, Steve, Roger, Bernie and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Howletts Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Up to Rangiwahia on Friday night. On Saturday, walk past Maungamahue, around the back of Te Hekenga, then to Taumataomekura and Tiraha, and down Daphne Ridge to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. On Sunday, continue to Taumatataua, Otumore, and Tunupo, then descend to Heritage Lodge and out at the Heritage 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.

    Levin is a good place to stop for dinner when driving north of Wellington up SH1 on Friday night. People often want to stop at Bulls because it has a kebab shop which some people like, but this time everyone agreed on Levin, and that suits me because I think there’s a wider variety of choices. There’s also a supermarket, which suited Alistair who was last back to the van, carting a 12-pack of toilet paper after he’d realised he never packed any.

    (more…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia to Heritage via Triangle and Iron Gates

    Honestly, who would have thought it’d be rainy fogged-in weather on Labour Weekend? Apparently not us, because we had a fairly intensive tramp planned that would have gone from Rangiwahia over to Howletts, then back via Iron Gates. Unfortunately it rained and it snowed and it didn’t really work so well, but it was still worthwhile and from a personal perspective, I was still able to see places I hadn’t seen before.

    2974845185_a010cf67d1_m-2406627
    Steve, Amanda and Paul
    north-west of Mangahuia.

    Dates: 24th – 26th October, 2008 (one day shorter than intended)
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia to Heritage Road-end.
    People: Steve, Amanda, Paul and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Triangle Hut (0 nights), Iron Gates Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Intended Route: Walk to Rangiwahia, then around Maungamahue and the back of Te Hekenga , over to Taumataomekura, Teraha and to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. Then via Daphne Ridge, Otumore and down to Iron Gates Hut (or possibly Triangle Hut) for Sunday night, before heading back up to Rangiwahia Hut and out again on Monday.
    Actual Route: Due to weather issues we went straight down to Triangle Hut and Iron Gates Hut on Saturday, before continuing to the Heritage road-end on Sunday and getting out a day early.
    [Photos and movies]

    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.

    After dinner from that Kebab shop at Bulls, we reached the Rangiwahia road-end at around 9.30’ish, I guess. At the very least, after the walk up the hill (which from past experience seems to take about 90 minutes), we were settling down at around 11pm on Friday night. The weather forecast was already dismal, without much suggestion that things would clear up until about Monday. Although we’d made plans to sleep in, Steve was still up and about at 6.30, and everyone followed.

    (more…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Sawtooth and Pourangaki

    2414424440_55f6fe291f_m-2967452
    Distant silhouettes after Sawtooth.

    Dates: 11th – 13th April, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia road-end.
    People: Alistair, Sarah, Illona, Jane, Amanda, Dirk, Paul, Harry, Craig and meeeee.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Pourangaki Hut (1 night).
    Route: Past Rangiwahia Hut to Maungamahue, over to Te Hekenga and around to Taumataomekura and Tiraha. Over Sawtooth Ridge to Ohuinga, then along to point 1632 and down the official track to Pourangaki Hut for Saturday night. Straight up to point 1614 on Sunday, then back along to Maungamahue, and out via Rangiwahia Hut.
    [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…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Maungamahue, Te Hekenga, Triangle

    2306441683_7a32214524_m-7132995
    12 people in a 6 bunk hut.

    The weather report for the weekend indicated what looked to be quite a violent deluge of a front smothering the entire country all at once, from north to south. The met service was issuing weather warning’s galore. Forecast chart visualisations available through Jim McGregor’s metvuw.com website might have implied that all of New Zealand would be bathed under a combination of beautiful sky blues and majestic sunset reds during the weekend, but unfortunately the colouring on those charts was artificial, and in fact indicated quite the opposite. Our party was affected too, with two members pulling out late on Friday afternoon, having decided they were too frightened at the prospect of spending a whole weekend playing cards against the rest of us at Rangiwahia Hut.

    Dates: 29th February-2nd March, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia Road End.
    People: Alistair, Sarah, Marie, Jeremy, Dirk and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Triangle Hut (1 night).
    Huts seen: Pourangaki Hut.
    Intended route: Up to Rangiwahia Hut on Friday night, then past point 1635 to Maungamahue. West to Te Hekenga, around to Taumataomekura, along Sawtooth Ridge to Ohuinga, then down to Pourangaki Hut for Saturday night. Up to Pourangaki on Sunday morning, then back along to Maungamahue, and out again via Rangiwahia Hut.
    Actual route: Shortened a lot due to weather and injuries, we reached Te Hekenga then followed the spur down to Triangle Hut for the night. Back up to Rangiwahia Hut via the main DOC track, and out.
    [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…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia Hut

    Dates: 22nd – 24th September, 2006
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night)
    [Photos]

    This was a WTMC easy-rated trip to Rangiwahia Hut in the Ruahine ranges, from Sep 22nd to 24th 2006.

    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…)