Sunday 23 February 2025

Leader: Glen Cattermole

I was very excited to see this trip on the trip list, as I have wanted to do this trip for some time but have been reluctant to undertake it alone. So on the morning of 23 February, two of the most intrepid and keen members of the club (though not necessarily the fittest) met to set off on our wonderful and long-anticipated adventure!

There was a little confusion as to the exact point of departure, how many of us would be coming and the exact meeting time. However the adventurers (minus the pikers) set off just before 9am. The entrance is Waterworks Rd, Kaitoke, approximately 3 km down that road. We departed up from the Norbert Creek entrance, and almost immediately began a climb that had us short of breath and set our hearts racing; in spite of this we managed the summit of the first hill approximately 1 hr after leaving, including stopping to chat with a day walker for a few minutes. Glen also stopped to let the joint chief guide know that we had indeed departed. We were then on a fairly well maintained road to the bottom of the hill. That road also starts from Waterworks Rd, approximately 1.3 km from Highway 2, and I surmise that it is for maintenance of the Wellington water supply. A bit under ¾ hr saw us at the bottom of the hill, and we had a few minutes rest and a bite of trail food. Off again over a swing bridge and up a well marked track, summiting the second hill after a further hour (give or take) and down the other side meeting the river, almost exactly 3 hours after departing. As it was midday we decided lunch was in order!

There was slight confusion about the best access to the river but we followed the orange markers until they ran out ~ 1 minute from the bottom, and then got into the river, ~2 m down a steepish bank. From there it was fairly easy river travel all the way to the hut. We joked about the possibility of finding a particularly rough patch of water for a dramatic photo, but we were unable to find one! We met two parties of 2 people along the way, a pair of young ladies coming down from Alpha Hut on their way out, and a pair of old codgers like us going in for a day trip who had left perhaps an hour before we did. We reached the hut a little over 2 hours after leaving our delightful lunch spot, including a brief break, and stopping to put coats on when the rain had the audacity to start falling on us. The hut is easy to find, there is a fairly obvious flat on the true left of the river with plenty of room for tents (probably prohibited), and a well-beaten track to the hut itself.

A very nicely done hut indeed, 6 bunks with beautiful new mattresses, a fancy wood burner, and some readily accessed dry firewood. Recently repainted, and clean and tidy. It seemed to us that the intended users of this hut would be people forced off the tops, who were struggling to get out to Kaitoke due to lack of light or exhaustion, probably in the middle of winter. Those people will find this a wonderful safe haven.

Back down the river after a brief break to appreciate the hut, we got back to our lunch spot, in a little under 2 hours. While the downstream travel is slightly faster, you still need to pay careful attention to where you place your feet, and despite our tramping prowess we were beginning to tire just a little. We had had some discussion during the day about possibly going down the gorge, instead of over the hill, however the day was cooling down and after 4 hours in the river, we decided we had had sufficient pleasure from the river for the day. Approximately 1 hour saw us over the smaller hill and back at the swing bridge. We had a small delay searching for the supposedly-present hydrology tower but were unable to find the feature marked on the map - we suspect its location might be deliberately misleading in order to defer would be ‘fiddlers’ with their precious technology.

It again took us just under an hour to get to the top of the hill and just under an hour to get down, and back to the cars. So we spent a total of just under 11 hours for the day, perhaps a total of 1 hr 20 of rests all up, about 4 hours of ecstatic river travel, and 5 hours 40 minutes of slogging up and down hills.

Both of us had a wonderful day, with sparkling and insightful conversation, similar levels of fitness to each other, and good spells of bathing in the joy of the trees, the songs of the birds, the lyrical burbling of the river, and the magic that is the Tararua.

Many thanks Glen for organising and leading one of the most enjoyable days so far this year!

Those on the trip were:

Glen Cattermole, Viv Roberts

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.