"Tramp" in New Zealand... fabulous but hard... and this was graded as "moderate to easy"... here are some of my thoughts as the days progressed...Day 1. The big day that we'd been waiting for... slight moment of anger by one of the merry team in the night, due to the pouring down rain falling on the van and dreams of waking in the pouring rain... well, morning came (after addition of earplugs) and it wasn't raining, so we made our way to the water taxi to onepoto to begin the "tramp"... and wow, it was hard!!!
And that was before the rain started... oh my god, the weather in this country is terrible!!! OK, i'm writing this now the day after in a nice hut and feeling all the more positive and happy (especially after a wonderful massage by my wonderful wife), just to say the 600 metres (much more i think) of ascent, descent and ascent with a 15 kg pack on your back in bad weather for 6.5 hours to arrive at a little hut full of young teenage girls, kiddies and general mayhem... followed by a delicious Uncle Ben's mushroom rissoto! BUT... the views are absolutely stunning!Day2.
Spirits alot better this evening, better days tramping (plenty of rain, of course, goes without saying), lovey sited hut just by the lakes edge, and only us and another family - the Wilkies staying and wood burner to cook food on... problem or slight worry of lack of camping gaz potentially solved, for this evening at least. Even managed a ducking in the lake (not quite brave enough for the full swim).Day 3.
Spirits higher still today as there's no rain! Lovely morning by the lake side and good porridge again! A hard days walking though, taking us up through the forest for just about 8 hours of up and down tramping (it was supposed to be 8 hours, but we did enjoy a few stops, even having lunch and a cup of tea at a campsite on the way). Visited the Korokoro falls which were pretty, but again, the lake walk is just about all through te forest. Met some hunters on the way who told us about pig hunting (and saw a deer hung up that they'd shot later). Arrived just before the rain started at about 5pm and exhausted at our hut, again thankfully only shared by our
new family friends - Heather, Nigel and their son Callum (and friend Lockey). Bright green hut on the inside, lovely decor and not as anywhere near as nice as the last, but we were in bed and asleep by 7.30 anyway, preparing for the long day (up to 5.15 hours as directed, expecting us to do it in about 7 hours, and waiting to be picked up at 3pm) and early start.Day 4.
Sunshine, warm AND a swim! A quick five hours walk today by the lake shore - just to make sure we got to the boat in time! Last day of the walk and the sun was shining, we took an extra long lunch break and even managed a swim! Picked up by the boat back to the main campsite and made a delicious evening meal of bacon, eggs, baked beans and mashed
potatoes - a fabulous walk all around, and overall a good impression of "tramping".A note of the following days....
We were invited to stay at the Wilkie's place in Havelock North (more later), which we gladly accepted... meanwhile in Lake Waikaremoana the weather changed first to lashing rain followed by snow the day after and hundreds of people
being stranded and having to be rescued throughout the North Island... such is NZ weather!!!See the rest of the pics by clicking here!
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