Where were you for the Rugby World Cup final? Intrepid tramper Hazel Phillips shuns the excitement in favour of a wander in the yonder
Where were you for the Rugby World Cup final? Intrepid tramper Hazel Phillips shuns the excitement in favour of a wander in the yonder
I’m a traitor to my country and I’m going to be attacked by vengeful possums. Or so I’m told by friends horrified that instead of staying in Auckland to watch the Rugby World Cup final, I’m going bush for the long weekend. But let’s face it, the All Blacks were always going to win, and I couldn’t pass up the chance of three days tramping in the wilderness. Rugby or no rugby.
We choose a track in the Kaweka Ranges, just north of Napier, with a distinct advantage: natural hot springs.
Stuffing a 65-litre pack with the essentials, including a good pinot noir and plenty of chocolate, we set out on an easy track that winds its way along the Mohaka River and into Te Puia Lodge. Although it’s called a lodge, it’s actually a DoC hut with mattresses, running water, gas cookers and long drop loos, but no showers, hot water or power. Although basic, it’s in a picturesque spot with the Mohaka roaring by.
The Mohaka is apparently one of only two wild, scenic rivers left in New Zealand where you can go rafting. I’m not sure which is the other river, and later, when we see three rafts full of dirty hunters flying by, they’re going too fast – and are too busy frantically bailing water out of the raft – to find out.
I’ve been into the Kawekas once before, in January, when the river levels were much lower. Then we did a loop track over five days, including a long, steep, hot slog up to Makino Hut, back down to the river bed, up to Mangaturutu Hut, along the ridge to Venison Tops Hut (aka Kelvinator Lodge, due to its plummeting temperature) and back to Te Puia. I later dubbed the walk up to Mangaturutu Hut the ‘losing the will to live’ track, an experience I wasn’t keen to repeat.
This time we took the easy option, staying two nights at Te Puia and doing a day walk up to Makino Hut, a cute six-bunk former Forest Service hut in regulation bright orange, cared for by dedicated hunters and still in pretty good nick. It’s steep, too – and part of the track is just a poled route and a scree slope that requires a Spiderman-like climbing approach.
We climb some 500 metres – Makino Hut is 1,000m above sea level – and although it’s only a four-hour tramp there and back, it’s a bit of a killer. That’s where the hot pools come in. They’re an easy walk from the hut and have to be in the top five list for the best wilderness setting of any country hot soak. The Mohaka roars past, the stars are bright against an inky black sky, and the DoC has kindly decked the area with two ex-Fisheries tubs where the piping hot water is flowed in. Pumice abounds in the area, and there are faces carved into individual rocks and arranged around the tubs.
My crazy companions alternate between dunking themselves in the freezing river and clambering, shivering, back into the hot tub. Personally, I prefer a more moderate approach that involves staying put and quaffing pinot noir. My method does lend itself to a dizzy head on the walk back though. Sunday night rolls around; it’s rugby time and the hut is divided. Someone’s brought in a mountain radio to keep up with the rugby play as it happens, and half the hut is happy about that. The other half is a bit grizzly – they’ve come into the wilderness precisely to
get away from it.
Our mountain radio punter yells out updates at regular intervals, including a time countdown that borders on hut hysteria. Later that night our mountain radio punter yells and swears in his sleep, his wife shushing him, presumably appalled at the four-letter words.
Monday’s an early start with most trampers trying to get a jump on the walk out and then the long drive back to wherever they came from. It’s just a three-hour walk out, but it’s good to allow an hour for a hot soak at the Mangatutu hot springs, handily nestled by the carpark and quietly calling your name.
Hazel Phillips is the editor of Idealog. This is her first contribution to Good.
The Kaweka Ranges are inland from the Hawke’s Bay and part of the mountain line from Wellington to East Cape:
• Track access is via Makahu Road, 82km from Napier
• Te Puia Lodge is three hours’ walk from the Makahu Road end, at the confluence of the Makino and Mohaka rivers. It’s $15 per night; book here
• The Mangatainoka hot springs are 45 minutes from Te Puia Lodge; the Mangatutu hot springs are at the Makahu Road end.
