31 October to 1 November 2020

Leader: Pam Glover

A team of 7 set off from Paraparaumu - destination Trains Hut in the Waitotara valley, but not without the obligatory café stop which was at Mint Café in Bulls. The café food and coffee was mouth-watering and once refuelled, we set off to keep our date with Marian and Owen at our prearranged meeting point beside the turnoff from SH3 in the direction of Waitotara.

The distance from Paraparaumu to the beginning of the track is approximately 240km. Following a four wheel drive track, 9 of us began walking and after about 1 hour 20 mins reached a clearing where we sat under stately trees to eat our lunch. In farming days gone by, these trees encircled a homestead.

The further we progressed, the muddier the track became and we were glad of our walking poles for support. In some places there was a steep drop to the river beside the track and we had to take extra care that we didn't slip over the side. The titles of two songs came to mind as we were walking through the mud; "Mud, mud, glorious mud", and "Slip, sliding away". Interspersed with the mud were irregular rain showers and it was difficult to know whether to leave our raincoats on or off.

However the native bush on the hills was beautiful and looked like virgin forest. Further on we reached a place where a tunnel had been dug to allow a side stream to flow under the track. After a short stop there for a snack, we trudged on and reached Trains Hut after about 6 hours of tramping. The hut was cosy with only 6 wide mattresses. At a pinch, 9 of us could have cosied up for the night, but 3 elected to pitch their tents even though it was still raining a little.

After cooking our meals in relays, we settled down for the night. The next day the rain had stopped, but we still had to take extra care through the muddy areas. Some of us elected to take the short side trip to view the waterfall only 10 minutes from the hut before walking back to the carpark which took about 5 and a half hours. This also included a lunch break.

On our drive home we stopped again at Bulls where we had a delicious meal at a pub called "The Rathole".

Those on the trip were:

Marian Cox, Owen Cox, Yingjun Shelton, Jing Zhou, Paula Richardson, Sue Sparkes, Niamh Dunne, Pam Glover, John Glover