We left Hamilton early the next morning with the intent to start our long day as soon as possible. It turned out that we would need to buy maps and hut passes from the info center in the town of Te Aroha, which didn't open until 9:30. Our early start was shot, but there was an upside. We found it! A place in New Zealand with reasonably priced drip coffee! Here in NZ they have a lot of espresso based coffee drinks, and they have a lot of instant coffee. This place was the first I've seen that has drip coffee for sale. The next closest thing on most cafe menus is a 'long black', which is just espresso and hot water. Many places will charge 50 cents more for a long black than a short black (espresso). I'm pretty sure they do this as a punishment for watering down a perfectly delicious espresso, not because they actually put 50 cents worth of hot water into your drink.
Once the info center opened, we bought our maps and hut passes. I also got a book called 'Weekend Tramps in the Kaimai Range', which I hope to use often! It turned out that we could leave the car parked right where it was, on the street in the middle of town, for free and that the trailhead was right behind the building. This is something that definitely takes some getting used to in NZ. In most parts of California, you have to drive to get out of the city, drive farther to get out of the suburbs and drive even farther to get to what you'd consider wilderness. In New Zealand, you walk through a parking lot and you're immediately on the trail.
I was on this tramp with three good friends: Kevin (Minnesota), Joe (Washington) and Rachel (Canada). Rachel and I have both been backpacking lots of times, Joe a couple and it was Kevin's first time. Congratulations! I had helped him buy a Gregory pack a while earlier and was happy to see it used. I guess my gear shop training actually is helpful!
The very first thing the trail did is climb nearly a kilometer in elevation to the top of Mt Te Aroha. It was less than 4 km of distance, so you can imagine the kind of angle that requires. There were parts of the 'trail' that were much more like a scramble, using hands and feet to push body and pack upwards.
It was an incredibly beautiful place. Tons of tree ferns and mosses and bushes. It's hard not knowing what they all are! I'm so used to being able to identify the flora in the deserts and forests at home, but this is all entirely different. The only thing immediately recognizable is the silver fern. While climbing the mountain, we passed by and were passed by all kinds of people, including a couple of men who looked like had grown up in these mountains, a woman who told us she had to close her eyes at the top because she's afraid of heights, and two boys who looked about 11 and were running to the top. It took us less than 3 hours to reach the summit, where we took a break for lunch. This is the highest point in the range.
From the summit, we followed the Mangakino pack track. The area used to be dominated by mines, and we found the remains of a few. The one that we really checked out was basically just a huge whole about 10 feet across, going farther down then we could see. Out of curiosity, we tied a stick to the end of my p-cord and lowered it down. It didn't reach the end. Excited and spooked, we continued to hike. As we went on, the trail got rougher and rougher. It was muddy and had slick exposed roots and the occasional stream or unbridged gap that we'd have to scramble across. We were having a great time, but Rachel and I started to worry about it getting dark before we made it to the hut. Here in NZ, the trail signs are all marked with times instead of distances, which makes it a little easier to estimate how much farther the destination will be. As the sun went down and it got dark in the underbrush, Rachel and I put on our headlamps and found out that neither of the boys had brought flashlights. I had a crappy little extra one (thanks, Dad), but we were still one short. After one mistaken sighting of the hut and an emergency cookie stop, we made it to Daly's Clearing Hut about an hour after dark. We ate dinner and went to bed after admiring the stars.
The next morning we got a much earlier start and expected to make it back to the car in a relatively short time. Our plan was to get the Waitawheta Hut for lunch and finish off the hike before dinner. On the map, the distance from Daly's Clearing to Waitawheta looked to be about half the total distance, so this seemed like a sound plan. It was a beautiful day and we were feeling good, albeit sore. We got to Waitawheta pretty quickly; it took us two hours and six river crossings (some bridged, some not). This part of the forest was once a major logging area, and the trail we were on was a historic railroad, so it was cool to see the ruins of the logging equipment. We got to stay along the river for pretty much the whole time, which was much different than the rainforest we had been in the day before. Waitawheta (pronouced 'wai-TA-feta') Hut was huge and seemed really luxurious, considering the location.
During lunch, we realized that we hadn't brought nearly enough food on the trip and that we had another 7.5 hours of trail between us Waiorongomai Road, which was an additional 5 km from the car. Slightly panicked, we got back on the trail and kept an aggressive pace with almost no talking. That was the most tense part of the trip, as the trail we were on was brand new and not on my map, and we were unsure of how accurate the time estimates are. Once we crested our biggest peak of the day, we relaxed a little bit, slowed down and started to have fun again. We started to see day hikers, we knew we were getting close. There were several old mining tunnels and really gorgeous bridges along the trail.
We powered through those 7.5 hours in just about 5, including water and snack breaks. As we got out of the forest, we were met with an incredible view of the township of Te Aroha and the surrounding area. It was all golden from the late afternoon sun and so very different from the dramatic mountains we had been in. From where we stood, it was really clear just how geologically active New Zealand is. The mountains seemed to just come from nowhere. Everything in front of us was almost entirely flat, pastures and towns. We could see for miles because it was so flat and clear. Everything behind us was thick bush and rocky, jutting mountains. We had gone from Vietnam to Scotland in a matter of minutes.
We celebrated, then realized we were still 5 km from the car. Thankfully we got out of the bush while it was still light, because there was almost no chance of us getting someone to pick us up if it was dark. I suggested that we split into two groups of two because there was no way anybody would stop for a group of four. Kevin and I started off, trying to look as approachable and harmless as possible. Within fifteen minutes of walking, a car stopped for us. It was a hot ride, a bright green metallic sports car. I expected it to be young funky people, but instead it was an older couple who lived on a farm nearby. There was a baby seat in the back.
We got to the car and felt that familiar rush of relief to see that it was still there, not towed or stolen. As I unlocked the door I saw a note from the info center on the windshield. It read:
"Bad news! You've left the lights on, when you left on Saturday. If you don't have AA [insurance], call [automotive company], this is their 24 hour service line.
Good luck! -Anita'
I was simultaneously overwhelmed with disappointment in my dumb self for leaving the lights on and overwhelmed with gratitude and surprise that Anita would go through the extra effort of making sure we wouldn't be caught in a tight spot. I called the phone number she left and they said they would change 60$ for a jump. Relying once again on the kindness of Kiwi strangers, we opened the hood and started waving at people on the road and asking if they had jumper cables. Within ten minutes my car had been jumped and was running like a champ.
Right now, I'm going to recap what had happened since getting out of the bush.
1. We were picked up and given a ride within fifteen minutes of stepping on the road and sticking out our thumbs.
2. We had been given information that we would need, before we knew we would need it, without asking for it, by a different stranger who would never be thanked.
3. We had our car troubles (which were entirely my own fault) taken care of for us by another two kind strangers who had no actual responsibility to do so.
THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE HERE.
People are actually this kind and thoughtful and helpful. Within a half hour, four different strangers went out of their way to help two smelly dirty young adults.
Kevin and I drove back towards the trail with smiles on our faces and picked up Joe and Rachel. We drove back to Hamilton, listening to Eddie Vedder and feeling more content than we had in a long while. In total, we had hiked about 25 miles with nearly 5000 foot elevation.
Thanks guys! (Idiots in a tunnel)
