The Tararua Tops

The first obstacle heading into the Tararuas was a mudhole pretending to be a paddock full of overly curious beasties who kept nudging and licking my pack! Luckily, they couldn’t climb the stile, so we eventually escaped them and headed on up the Gable End Ridge Track. Rob thought it would be a good idea to bypass the first hut, a mere 5 hour climb, and head straight for Te Matawai. So we climbed up and up. We kept thinking we must have reached the junction, but up we would go again over yet more mini peaks which Rob named The Annoyances. From the junction it was the exact opposite – we had to descend to Butcher Saddle, and we kept thinking we must have reached it, when down we would go again. We renamed the saddle Deep Depression.

Then of course came another climb to the hut, which I literally collapsed into. The tracks were wet, slippery and muddy all day long and to add to the cheeriness of the whole endeavour it started to rain. Brilliant.

I woke on my birthday to a cold southerly, swirling mist and an encouraging cup of tea. Rob even gave me a present which he had carried with him the whole time, a lovely butterfly brooch. He definitely earned brownie points for that surprise. It was a wonderful way to spend my day, slogging up over Pukematawai and up and up, scrambling over various rocky bumps.

The beautiful Park Valley

At least the sun came out and the mist slowly cleared revealing wonderful mountains all around, and affording us views down into the magnificent Park Valley. Lunch at the tiny, somewhat cheerless Dracaphyllum Hut, after which we had to climb down a steep, tricky face on to and over a slip near Kelliher – ugh. Some wonderful goblin forest made a nice change, but the afternoon was just as tough; the total ascent for the day was something like 1750 metres.

Rob was patient with me all day – but I did take exception to his suggestion that I lengthen my stride over the easy stuff. What easy stuff? And we haven’t all got giraffe legs. Or spent an earlier life as a mountain goat…

Late that afternoon we climbed up through tussock on Nichols and there below us like a little dot was the hut. It looked like heaven to me. Just as well there were 6 bunks, as a family of 4 were there before us. They were wonderful, couldn’t have been more welcoming, reshuffled all their gear and gave us space on the bottom bunk – we must have looked old and tired (we were old and tired). They then fed us delicious falafel and timtams. This family was amazing – Grandma Mary, her daughter and two grandchildren, and they were doing an intrepid route-finding trip up to Dorset Ridge. Wow, we were totally impressed.

Going over the tops next day we had a very relaxed approach – the weather was good and the panoramic views of the surrounding peaks outstanding. There was a bit of a chilly breeze chasing us up Mt Crawford but we were soon joyfully bounding down the other side to Junction Knob, being careful not to tread on little fluffy black caterpillars on the track.




We spent a ridiculous amount of time lying in the sun at lunchtime – somehow that made the long, slippery, steep descent to the Otaki River seem never-ending. The river was really beautiful, clear clean water and deep emerald pools which would be a delight to swim in during the summer months.



Waitawaewae hut was a welcome sight, and we were just settling in when the Band of Brothers arrived – Mike, Rob, Rene and their friend Greg. Rene leapt forward and shook our hands and pronounced us legends when he found out we were doing the Trail, then proceeded to keep us heartily entertained. I love sharing huts with folks that make us laugh and share their prime rations – gingernuts and sultana pasties were such treats. They even conjured up a Strepsil for my cold!

Otaki River

We fair bounded along next day, even though it was the usual slippery, wet, boggy, tree-rooty Tararua track, and because we wear light-weight shoes we have to take a little more care with our foot placement. Rob reckons that all the tracks were as wet as he had ever seen them.

The plan was to stay at Parawai Hut, but we found the place taken over by 4 adults and 7 children, and we got the distinct impression they really didn’t want any smelly old trampers like us sharing the last bunk. So we opted to carry on down to Schoolhouse Flat and camp in our lovely, friendly little tent. We discovered we can cook dinner in the rain. We can eat breakfast in the rain. We can pack up in the rain. And we already know we can walk in the rain.

We were eager to discover the scenic delights of the new Pukeatua track from Otaki Forks through to Waikanae, and we really would have loved it only it rained or drizzled the whole time, and we never saw the scenery. We did see some wonderful big rimus and ratas though, and we enjoyed the section through pine forest.

We arrived at Riverwood, the home of our great friends Linda and Kevin Milne and their daughter Tommie, just 1 minute past our ETA – to find Kev at the end of their drive with his head and shoulders in a wheelie bin. Hmmm – Kev has some great stories about wheelie bins and we imagined all sorts of scenarios for this. Turns out he was retrieving a self-heating chocolate drink carton for a story he was writing. Takes all sorts. 

We were soon washed, fed, watered and entertained in fantastic style. It was the night of the big Rugby World Cup final between France and New Zealand, and even Freddie the dog joined us round the TV. Tommie made us all flags and there was much leaping up, shouting, screaming, waving and general hysteria when we won - by 1 point. What a night! What a way to end our jaunt through the Tararuas.

Day 16: Poads Rd to Te Matawai hut. 13.8 km
Day 17: Te Matawai to Nichols Hut. 14.7 km
Day 18: Nichols to Waitewaewae Hut. 10.1 km
Day 19: Waitewaewae to Schoolhouse Flat camp. 16.4 km
Day 20: Schoolhouse Flat to Reikorangi Road. 22.4 km