Windy Tops

Tag: tararuas

  • Te Araroa and skimming the edge of the Tararuas

    For people who, like me, are interested in recreational walking areas in the vicinity of Wellington and the Manawatu, I noticed this morning that Matty T of the Wellington Region Cycleways blog, has an interesting photo heavy post which shows off the Levin to Palmerston North section of the Te Araroa trail.

    Matty walked the route in reverse from how it’s presented on the Te Araroa website, so it’s necessary to sort-of read each of the following pages in reverse, but the sections covered from south to north were (I think): The Arapaepae Lookout Track, The Mangahao-Makahika Track, Burttons Track and Fitzherbert Bridge to Burttons Track.
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  • Cooking gas to be removed from some Tararua Huts

    I realise there will be concerns about the Department of Conservation’s Wairarapa Conservancy deciding to remove cooking gas from several huts on the Wairarapa side of the Tararuas. DoC’s current Wairarapa Alerts page lists three of the affected huts as Mitre Flats, Totara Flats and Tutuwai. I’d guess Powell Hut and Jumbo Hut will also be targets, but can’t find this officially stated. The reasoning for the removal of cooking gas is that budgets are tight, and providing cooking gas for these serviced huts is quite an expensive operation.

    Personally I’m not concerned about this move. To me it seems that cooking gas (if required to cook one’s chosen meals) is something that should really be carried by a party already, even if they expect to find cooking facilities at a hut, simply for self-sufficiency. If you happen to fall over or otherwise get stuck part way to an intended hut, and don’t have the necessary equipment to cook your meal, you could very well be going hungry and find yourself in danger.

    The Dominion Post article quotes a manager of the Kuranui Outdoor Education Academy as saying that loss of cooking gas could be a safety issue because he might need hut gas to heat up a brew for students, and that carrying their own cooking equipment will make students’ loads heavier. If it’s an accurate quote, however, I have serious trouble accepting this reasoning. Children or not, if the party isn’t carrying self-sufficient cooking facilities on the way to a destination, it’s a safety issue already.
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  • Tararua Footprints Online

    Many people who visit the Tararuas will have a copy of Merv Rodgers’ book from 1996, Tararua Footprints, on their bookshelf. Historically it’s one of the more authoritative guidebooks on the Tararuas, talking about river systems and valleys and how the routes fit together. It covers different territory from the more recently published Tararua Adventure Guide, which is a more specific guide to specific things to do in the range.

    Lately, Tararua Footprints has become very hard to track down, but very awesomely the author has now donated the text to the Tararua Tramping Club for a new online edition.

    Although it’s now 16 years out of date, geography doesn’t change much in that time and most of the information is still very relevant. The longer term intent of the TTC is to turn the online edition of the book into an up-to-date working guide to be edited in an ongoing fashion and be the “definitive Tararua Range route guide”.

    It’s certainly worth checking out next time you venture into the Tararuas.

  • Proposed Tararua Cycle Track

    The Dominion Post and the Manawatu Standard both carried the story of a proposal to build a cycle track through the northern Tararua Range, between Shannon, into the Mangahao Dams and out to Ehetahuna. It turns out that this idea has been around for at least a couple of years (and here’s an earlier article on Stuff), although it’s the first time I’ve noticed it myself.

    The map, taken from a 14MB PDF hosted on Stuff, doesn’t give much detail and I’m having some trouble matching the squiggles to realistic geographic terrain on the topo map of the area. I think the proposed route from west to east appears to enter the range from Kakariki West Road or nearby, climbs up Pohehe and Ratapu, up to Ngamaia and Conical Knob, then around Massey Knob and Ngapuketurua. From here, I’m guessing the idea is to head down a spur via spot-heights 959 and 851, 675 and 670 to get to Harris Creek, and follow the Mangahao River back to the dams and out to Shannon. Apparently the plan would involve building a hut around Ngapuketurua.
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  • Kime Hut Replacement is Actually Happening

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    Visiting Kime Hut at 9pm
    on a winter’s night.

    For several years now there have been rumours that Kime Hut would be replaced, and they’ve been subsequently quashed or pushed back for one reason or another. (Budget issues and such.) This summer, the rumours seem to be formulating into something that actually occurring. Kime Hut is in a very exposed part of the Tararuas, and serves as a stopping point for some as part of the Tararua Southern Crossing. The hut has a big internal space and its reputation is one of being a very cold place to stay, and although it can keep off the most harsh aspects of a storm, it’s also sometimes referred to as the refrigerator—on this occasion in 2009, Craig measured the indoor temperature to be approximately 1°C warmer than the outdoor temperature. It’s fairly common to hear people pleading for some form of heating in the hut, but that’s never happened.

    Last week (after I asked) I was very helpfully informed by one of the local staff at DoC’s Kapiti Conservancy that yes, Kime Hut is going to be replaced during the summer of 2012/2013.
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  • Daywalk: Up Mount Reeves

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    Meow.

    With a day to spare in Wellington, I had a thought of attempting to find Snowy Hut in the Tararuas, which I’d be keen to see some day simply through virtue of it not officially existing. To do so would involve some river travel, though, and with a forecast that would allow little if any room for error or mistake, lest becoming totally screwed by a severe storm due to come in by evening, I reluctantly decided it’d be a bad idea. This led to plan B, which was a jaunt up to Mount Reeves, which is mostly under trees, involves no rivers, and should be easy enough to retreat from if the storm came in early. I’ve never been up Reeves Track before. (Maybe there’s a reason.)

    Thus on Friday morning, I drove to the end of Waiohine Valley Road, behind Greytown and near Woodside Railway Station, and parked next to a herd of unrestful cattle. So far, so good. No sign of stormy weather, and a little sunshine.

    Date: 2nd March, 2012
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Waiohine Valley Road.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: None.
    Route: From Waiohine Road, up the Mt Reeves Track past Rocky Knob to Mt Reeves, then back again.
    [Photos]

    [Download GPX file]
    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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    Leaving behind the farm.

    Soon after sorting my tramping outfit, shortly after 10am, the local farmer drove up on a 4 wheel motorbike. It turned out he was about to move the moo moos to a new paddock. He reckoned where I’d parked the car was fine, but I soon found myself being closely followed up the farm track. There would’ve been a few nice scenic photos of the Waiohine River down below, if I hadn’t been stumbling with camera batteries.
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  • Tararua Range Hut-Bagging Board Game Experiment


    A loose symbolic representation
    of The Tararuas?

    A few weeks back, in a comment, I alluded to a thought that the Tararua Hutbagging Competition concept could make an awesome board game. I’m thinking towards the more complex and strategic Ticket to Ride kind of board game than the Ludo or Monopoly kind of board game.

    The thought hasn’t really gone away, and since that time I’ve been wondering how such a game might work. The rules could potentially be based on something like those of the recent LandSAR hutbagging competition. eg. Players get three “48 hour” attempts to enter the range, visit as many different huts as possible before getting out again, and tally up points in doing so. Strategies might be similar to what people and teams try to use in the real world competitions.
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  • A Crossing to Remember: A Tararua Southern Crossing in 1920

    Several days ago, I noted that it’s almost 100 years since the Southern Crossing Track was completed, which is pretty cool. This, however, was only the beginning of a significant tourism venture for both the Otaki and Wairarapa regions. At a time when the northern parts of the Tararua Range had barely been explored, the next phase of the project would be to market the walk across the southern end to potential tourists, convincing people that a visit to the Tararua Range could be a relaxing escape into the outdoors, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

    Earlier, in 1907, Willie Field and Frank Penn (editor of the Otaki Mail) had combined with a botanist, Bernard Aston, to enthusiastically promote and raise funding for the cutting of the track. The track was completed in 1912, and committees were formed on both sides of the range to plan for building of huts specifically so that walkers could stay the night. The committee on the Wairarapa side was more successful in raising funding, with the original Alpha Hut complete by 1915 and Upper Tauherenikau Hut in 1917. Tramping clubs soon began to form—the Tararua Tramping Club (TTC) having its inaugural meeting in 1919 thanks to the efforts of Willie Field and Fred Vosseler. Young members of a fledgeling Victoria University Tramping Club were also exploring, with an allegedly less mature attitude than a more “refined” TTC.

    In 1920, to fan the potential of the Southern Crossing as a major tourist attraction, particularly for his own Otaki region, Frank Penn produced a 40 page booklet, forwarded by Fred Vosseler. The first part of the book was titled Across The Tararuas and explains the wonders of a Southern Crossing in detail and with photographs. The second part was titled Beautiful Otaki, and describes a history of the Otaki district. The complete book was designed as a marketing tool to entice tourists to visit the district, then to take advantage of the excellent railway transport on both sides of the range by walking the amazing route across the range between them. Scattered throughout the booklet, especially during the latter section, are a variety of enthusiastic advertisements for local holiday businesses and the New Zealand Government (“a holiday once a year is a good investment!”) Tourist Bureau.

    Across The Tararuas, the first half which I’ve reproduced below, is one of the very early comprehensive descriptions of a typical Tararua Southern Crossing in existence. The text is clearly written with a marketing intent, from the perspective of an anonymous protagonist being guided in a group by an anonymous guide. The wonder and glory of the Tararuas is expressed repeatedly, albeit with caution regarding how to react in situations of potential bad weather. It’s likely that the photos and descriptions are collected from several experiences. The remainder of the book, although not reproduced here in text, can be read via scanned pages in the gallery below. My personal favourite feature is the one digit phone number in the advertisement for the local Motor Garage and Livery Stables, on page 36. (Phone 7—Otaki.)
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  • Tararua Southern Crossing Track Centenary, March 2012

    March of 2012 will be a quiet 100th anniversary in the Tararuas, in a sense. It might as easily be very windy and rainy. This March, if you’re attempting a Tararua Southern Crossing, or maybe if you’re competing in the Tararua Mountain Race which could be about that time (Edit 6-Feb-12: actually the next race won’t be ’til March 2013), consider taking a moment to remember that 100 years previously, the Tararua Southern Crossing track had just barely been completed and followed from end to end for the first time. (It’s only arbitrarily significant if you like counting in base 10, of course.)

    Between the 30th and 31st of March 1912, Messrs W. H. Field (local MP for Otaki), B.C. Aston, E. Atkinson, and Frank Penn successfully crossed the range on foot between Otaki and Greytown, walking from the Taungata bridge to Bassett’s hut in two days. It involved “21 hours 20 minutes actual walking”, just in case you were wondering. They were all members of the track committee, which had just completed building of the Tararua Southern Crossing Track intended to make the route feasible for regular people. They were the first to use it, and it’s what made all the difference. Their time over two days was a record for the day. They were the first people recorded to cross the range at all since investigations for a stock route in the mid 1890s.

    The initial success was buried as part of the Local and General News on Page 4 of the Wairarapa Daily Times. There was no headline, and the section had begun with a paragraph noting that the local carpenter’s daughter had broken an arm having fallen from a swing. Publication had come nearly a week after the event:
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  • Keep an eye on the Tararua hut books

    Don’t be too surprised if you get pushed over from behind by a few hut-baggers racing through the Tararuas during the next couple of months. Lower North Island LandSAR is running a Tararua hut-bagging contest for its members. (Specifically with entry being open to lower North Island LandSAR, the Police SAR Squad, and Airforce BCF.) Until 7th December 2011, entered teams will be allowed three 48 hour “trips” to clock up as many points as possible. This will probably encourage some non-stop no-sleep rogaining techniques by the more committed teams.

    The competition’s only open to people associated with LandSAR, but the rules and points table are amusing to read all the same. As well as bagging huts and points of interest, points are being awarded for providing GPS tracks, and for logging in Mountain Radio Skeds. There seems to be nothing in the rules to prevent a team from calling into all three of the Wellington, Central North Island and Hawkes Bay skeds in an evening, but I guess they might also need to decide if it’s worth another 10 points to stop moving for another 30 minutes, given how long it can take to properly get a mountain radio aerial up and down.
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