18-20 February 2022

Leader: Tony Quayle

Under the cloud of a less-than-perfect forecast, but with boundless enthusiasm, 11 Parawais made their way to Stratford on the Friday, hoping to summit Taranaki on the weekend’s best weather day.

The mountain looked great that evening, as we each hunted out our preferred takeaways. Nisa ventured into the Thai-that-wasn’t; the signage definitely needs updating, the front-of-house person knew it.

Saturday’s forecast gave us some hope, so we departed our backpacker accommodation early, getting to the North Egmont carpark around 8am - in the rain. With undampened enthusiasm we set off up The Puffer to Tahurangi Lodge, meeting our first group of turned-back trampers just as we arrived. Optimism was still the order of the day, however, so we carried on, telling ourselves this morning cloud and drizzle would clear. Up the valley, up the stairs and up the scree we went, passing a few more retreating climbers on the way.

Eventually though, just below the 2000 metre contour, the wind and rain (and more down-bound and defeated climbers) convinced us that it would be too unpleasant, and possibly dangerous, to continue. Disappointing, but everyone agreed it was the right call.

Rather than heading straight back to the carpark, we detoured to Maketawa Hut for lunch. Frustratingly, the weather cleared enough for us to see the summit, but fast-moving clouds indicated it was still very windy.

I was tail end Charlie on the walk out to the carpark, but learned afterwards that my granddaughter Lucy - on her first real tramp, in her brand new boots - took the lead, bounding down the trail with Yingjun. A proud grandfather moment for me, but Lucy paid for enthusiasm with sore knees for the next few days.

We had hopes that Sunday might offer better walking opportunities and (except Kylie, who headed straight home to Pukeokahu) drove around to Dawson Falls to see what conditions were like. We started out with a walk to the falls (into the falls for some) and a look at Konini Lodge, then divided into two groups. Matt, Paula, Rob, Sue and Yingjun did a loop walk that took in Waingongoro Hut and Wilkies Pools, seeing some interesting ‘scenery’ along the way, while Carolyn, Lucy, Nisa, Penny and I headed straight home via a coffee stop and guided tour of an Asian grocery store (thanks Nisa!) in Whanganui.

Those on the trip were:

Kylie Gilbert, Matt Freeland, Nisa Promchot, Paula Richardson, Penny Currier, Rob Dey, Sue Sparkes, Tony Quayle, Yingjun Shelton, Carolyn Knight, Lucy Quayle