Adventure in Taranaki

Just came back from a tramping trip with Jack and Harold from the Pouakai Circuit in Taranaki, "leaving nothing but footprints and bringing back nothing but memories". Here are some photos to do the story-telling.

We started off at 3am in the morning, driving for five hours at SH3 to New Plymouth, had pies and coffee at a cafe nearby (which is surprisingly run by a Thai Chinese in the remoteness of NZ). Then we rushed to the North Egmont Visitor's Centre to start the track as early as possible.

We then head off the Holly Hut track about 11am. It was quite a challenge to climb up the stairway as we took a lot of time stopping to catch some breath. But once we've climbed beyond the bushline, the views of the Razorback is just amazing, as we tread along the ridge. Some of the path is covered with snow, and it was misty.

It was quite a challenging walk for Harold and Jack. Its the first time Jack's tramping and Harold being a paranoid person, was sometimes overwhelm with fear especially crossing some rocky terrains and the notoriously loose sandy slip, named Boomerang Slip. The slip is a result of erosion from the previous volcanic lava flow.

I was glad that I bought the $40 walking pole which helped me balance and tread challenging terrains, besides protecting my knees from too much impact.

Instead of the three hour walk estimated by the Department of Conservation, we took about 5.5 hours to reach Holly Hut. The hut is a simple 32-bunk hut with solar powered lighting and fireplace heating. There was no one there so we got the whole place to ourselves. We couldn't start the fire despite frail attempts by Jack.(Hover mouse on the pics for descriptions)

The next day, we continued the journey to Pouakai Hut in the Pouakai Ranges. This time it only took us 3 hours to reach the hut, crossing the wet Ahukawakawa swamp, with lovely yellow tussocks

We reached Pouakai Hut by 3 hours. Its a much smaller hut but nicely located to have a gorgeous view of the Pouakai Range and a spectacular view of the Taranaki.

After putting our bags down, we rested for a while before heading up to the Pouakai Peak another good three hours away as a side trip, having a good hot cup of tea on the peak, 1400m elevation from sea level. Unfortunately the views at the peak was disappointing due to the thick clouds. What a stark comparison between the artist's impression and the real thing!

Much to our delight, there's a pile of newspaper in the hut which we used as fuel to start burning the wood and coal at the fireplace. The luxury of heat is much welcomed in the coldness of the highlands, but the heat did not last long beyond few hours after we went to bed. All of us couldn't sleep after the last coal turned into ash, due to the piercing coldness of the Taranaki air.

The final day has come. We were told that if it rains heavily the streams of the Kaiauai track may be flooded making them impossible to pass. We were told to be ready to stay for another night or to turn back the way we come from (which is 8-10 hours long!) should the streams be flooded.

When leaving the hut, we managed to took some lovely last snaps of the Taranaki.

The Kaiauai track involves climbing 2 peaks, Maude and Henry and a sharp descent down into the forest before crossing four streams and a swingbridge before ending the whole track. Before the upgrading of the track few years ago, it was described by an earlier tramper

"Descending 460m in only 1.3 km, the first 60m lures you into a false sense of security as the wooden steps continue - then they end and, for 400m descent, the track becomes a rutted, twisted muddy erosion gully, at times more than waste deep and ony one footwidth wide at the base as it plunges through the dense leatherwood scrub, then the moss- and fern-covered twisted tree trunks of the "goblin" forest zone, and finally into taller fern-filled cloud forest of kamahi and totara."

We are glad that the track was upgraded thanks to the Taranaki Savings Bank (TSB) Community Trust for donating $150 000 to lay down boardways along the way as part of the upgrading program, sparing us from the mud hell.

The descent then led us to the subalpine "goblin" forest with some kamahis. Looks quite Narnia-ish, says Harold.

Apparently we were told that the forest has some evil carnivorous flesh eating giant snails, Powelliphanta annectens that can eat up cows and even elephants! They might be cousins with the Malaysian leeches.

The ubiquitous trees all around reminded me of the Malaysian rainforest, boring us. Thus sights like this uprooted tree is a unusual variety. Some of the river crossings are evil, going down the steep river banks and climbing them up again, through the tree roots and many ladders. At least when we get arthritis at older age, we know where to blame. The swing bridge at the end of the track finally was kinda the finale, ending our 7 hour long ordeal, despite another 40 minute walk up to the carpark.

Tired, aching yet satisfied, we left Taranaki without a full view of the peak due to the constant clouds surrounding it. Thus I guess we had to be make do with a postcard photo. But at least we had done pretty well by finishing the overnight tramp, earning some bragging points and certainly a NZ tramping experience worth dying for.