Into the Tararua Ranges.

8 April

Whanganui to Waikanae / Waikanae to unnamed campsite

KM 1604

Distance: 18.6km

Elevation: ascent 1070m, descent 420m

Steps: 32,400

Time: 11:40am - 5:20pm

Looking at the weather, we decided now is our chance for the Tararua Ranges. There will be some wind and rain for us to deal with, so we may hunker down in a hut for a day or so - we'll see.

We woke early to finish packing - last night we were quite tired and left all of the food de-packaging and putting into the food bags for this morning. That and packing the rest of our bags took less than an hour, so we were out the door looking for a cafe for coffee and breakfast. 

We found a cute, basic cafe quickly, and better yet it was on the way to the Intercity Bus stopping point. Because that was the next phase of our journey - all the way back to Waikanae, which we had left nearly a week ago!

On arrival, we quickly made our way to Relish cafe in Waikanae that we had visited before, to pick up some lunch-on-the-go. What we found was both delicious and nourishing. Salmon roulade and feta and pumpkin quiche.

All of this travel meant we didn't actually start the section until midday. Trail notes indicate the section is 6-7 hours long, so we will need to walk quickly. Good thing the first 10km or so is on road, which we are now very practiced on! The road is local and very small and windy - there were multiple signs telling any large/long vehicles not to chance this road. 

It was nearly 2pm when we actually got to the trailhead. And were disheartened to see that the sign indicated that the 6-7 hour estimate is for this trail, not including all of the work we'd done already. But we took a look at the topographic maps we have and decided to go into the forest anyway. There would surely be places for us to set up a tent if we couldn't make it all the way to the campsite, and we could just carry extra water in case we could not camp by a stream. So that is exactly what we did - here is Eliza filtering some water; Vaughan also carried a liter of unfiltered water that we could filter later, at the campsite.

The signs at the trailhead also indicated there was logging activity along the other track that left from the same carpark. But a couple hundred metres up our track, we came to some signage about logging. Also, many trees down across our path. Thinking they had moved to the other track, we carried on through. Only when we got to some yellow tape and orange sign along with a walkie-talkie to communicate... in case you needed to pass through the last 300m... that we had just travelled... did we realise that we'd just walked under an active logging area. Wow were we lucky!

We quickly put that behind us, and entered into some beautiful native forest, dominated by Northern rata, Porokaiwhiri (Pigeonwood), kahikatea, and a few hard beech. It made for lovely walking, even in the steep areas.

We made it to the summit with still a couple hours to go until sunset, and got some lovely views back over Waikanae and out to the ocean.

An hour or so later, about 30 minutes before sunset, we found the perfect place to camp... okay, not a perfect place but it was wide and flat enough to set up our tent so it is home for the night. We're getting pretty good at setting this tent up now! Here's a shot of it when there was still daylight, as Vaughan was cooking our dinner:

And about an hour later after the sun had truly set, after a morepork / ruru had come to check us out as we ate dinner:

Still working on those nighttime shots - stay tuned for more adventures with this tent!

Remember Nigel, one of our trail companions in the South Island? Well, he made it safely to the top and is now settling into 'real' life in his new house in a new town. I think he has plans to tackle the North Island later. If you're reading this Nigel, all the best!