Sunrise Hut (2019.09.27 – 2019.09.29)

Ruahinies,
Meetup trip details can be found here…

The Plan 计划

Original Plan 初始计划

Our original plan was to do the Dorest Ridge Loop, but with the forcast 90km gales and rain over Tararua Forest Park on Saturday and Sunday, we decided to postpone that trip and try another time.

我们这次的初始计划是徒步走Dorest Ridge环线，但由于天气预报Tararua森林公园周六以及周日将遭遇90km/h的强风以及暴雨，我们决定推迟Dorest Ridge环线计划。

Plan B B计划

Regarding the bad weather, Julian made a plan B for us: drive further to Ruahine Forest Park and walk up at night to Sunrise Hut on Friday, hike a decent loop spend the Saturday night at Waipawa Hut and return to carpark and drive back to Wellington on Sunday.

鉴于糟糕的天气，Julian另外制定了B行程：我们开车到更远的Ruahine森林公园去徒步，周五夜爬后住宿Sunrise小屋， 周六再走一个大循环到Waipawa小屋，周日徒步回停车场然后开车返回Wellington。

The Trip 旅程

We had a big group: Julian, Laressa, Alex, Emma, Yadgar, The Shit Weasel, Mr Grey and myself. Julian and Laressa co-hosted the trip.

Julian, Laressa是本次的徒步的组织者，本次团队共有八名成员：Julian，Laressa，Alex，Emma，Yadgar，黄鼠狼，Grey先生 还有我。

The Tramping Itinerary
行程图

Day 1 第一天

We were driving two cars, and it’s around 280 km from Wellington to Tikokino. We departed at about 4:30 pm and stopped for dinner on the way. We parked, geared ourselves up and started climbing at 10:30 pm.

It was nice to stretch a bit after long hours in the car, and we saw piled snow only after climbing for half an hour, which was unexpected. It took us 1 hr 45 mins to get to Sunrise Hut.

我们这次共开了两辆车。从Wellington到Tikokino大约280公里， 我们大约下午4:30出发，随后在路上停车吃了晚餐，到达停车场后穿好装备，然后在晚上10:30左右开始徒步。

大概是因为开长途车身体得不到舒展，徒步开始后我觉得全身特别的舒适。我们大约爬了半小时就见到积雪了，这点还挺意外的。大约爬了1小时45分钟后，我们到达了Sunrise小屋。

Walking on snow at night
雪地夜爬

Day 2 第二天

We woke up or were wakened by the happiness cheers & eye-filling violet and orange at around 5:30 in the morning. The sunrise was stunning!

也不知道是自然醒还是被欢呼声或是满眼的彩霞所唤醒，五点半左右我们就都起来看日出了，山上的日出真是太震撼了！

The Shit Weasel loves sunrise
黄鼠狼也爱日出
The frozen pond in front of Sunrise Hut
Sunrise小屋前结冰的小水塘

We woke up again at around 8:00 am, then we sat around, had breakfast and planned for the new day. As the gale was notably crazy and the tracks were with low visibility, we decided to give up the loop trip and visit the Top Maropea Hut instead.

回笼觉醒来已经是早上8点了，我们坐在一起吃了早餐，顺便重新计划了行程。因为早上风实在太强，再加上能见度极低，我们决定放弃走大循环的计划，改为徒步到Top Maropea小屋。

Where we got “lost”
我们“迷路”了
The Shit Weasel Climbing with Julian
黄鼠狼陪着Julian爬山

It was a free-of-burden hike because we left most gears in the hut, we climbed up to the saddle and then down to the Top Maropea Hut, where we had our lunch.

因为我们把沉重的装备都留在了sunrise小屋，所以这段路走起来特别“轻松”，我们先爬到了山脊然后沿着山路下山到了Top Maropea小屋，并在小屋里吃了午餐。

The Top Maropea Hut
Top Maropea小屋

The returning went smoothly as the sky started clearing and we could feel the sunshine from time to time.

因为天气转好，我们的返程就更加顺利了。路上太阳光时不时的打在身上，觉得特别温暖。

An easy slide down
滑滑梯啦
The clear blue sky at 2:00 pm
下午2点的蓝天

Day 3 第三天

We slept early at night in order to get up early, and we caught another wonderful morning glow, we were so lucky!

由于前一天晚上早睡，我们礼拜天很早就起来了，又是了一场壮观的日出。

Another nice day ‘s coming
另一场日出

The plan was to visit Waipawa Hut and then double back to the car park, but these characters decided we should try something off-track in water – walking along the Waipawa River to the car park. The crossing was fun and it was refreshing to get both feet wet. We stopped counting how many times we made it crossing the river because there were so many.

今天的计划是拜访Waipawa小屋，然后沿着礼拜五的步道走回停车场。然而在到达Waipawa小屋后，徒步狂人们临时决定要尝试下沿着Waipawa河走水路回去。淌水过河对我来说也是件特别有趣的事情，也不知道淌了多少水，过了多少次河，最后我们的鞋袜全都湿透了。

Walking along the Waipawa River
沿着Waipawa河徒步
Climbing over rocks
翻过岩石
Enjoying the water
Julian戏水中

We made it from the Waipawa River onto the Swamp Track, and at last, we visited the Triplex Hut.

最后，我们顺利的从Waipawa河走到了Swamp步道，随后我们沿着步道到达了Triplex小屋。

To Wrap Up 总结

We had a wonderful weekend! We stayed at Sunrise Hut for two nights, we hit the snow, did the river crossing and visited four huts (Sunrise Hut, Top Maropea Hut, Waipawa Hut, Triplex Hut) in total.

Retrospect to be better. Julian asked for some feedback on Saturday night for this trip, we talked about what we learnt from this trip and which part we can improve so we could get better next time. For me, I should never forget to bring my rain jacket again.

Alway have a Plan B. Another good strategy to follow from this tramp is always having an alternative plan: an Itinerary B for the trip, a Plan B when someone chooses to stop and head back on the track, you will find them useful.

It is unique to tramp in New Zealand in the winter, and if you are well-prepared, you get to see a lot. Looking forward to see you on the mountains!

这个周末特别的完美，我们在Sunrise小屋呆了两晚，玩雪，涉水，还拜访了四个小屋：Sunrise小屋, Top Maropea小屋, Waipawa小屋，以及Triplex小屋。

复盘才能进步。礼拜六晚上，团队开了个“严肃的”复盘座谈会，讨论了通过本次徒步大家都学习到了什么以及还有什么地方可以改进和加强的地方。我嘛，再也不能忘带冲锋衣了。

做好备份计划。做好备份行程应对恶劣天气，做好备份计划应对队友中途不适或发生意外。

在新西兰冬季徒步有着独一无二的体验，做好充分准备，就能经历更多美好！欢迎各位都来徒步，我们路上见！

Updating your Profile

Meetup Website help

It’s a good idea to keep your profile up to date. This helps event hosts to have a better idea what experience you have, what skills you possess, along with what tramping level you are currently at.

It simply makes organising trips much easier so there is more time to do the fun stuff.

We’ve recently updated the questions so it’d be really helpful if you made the effort and updated the answers on your profile page.

How do you update them?

First off you’ll need to access the site from a PC. (The smartphone APP version of site is even more hopeless than the PC version so don’t bother trying!)

Go to the Wellington Tramping Group page. Make sure you are logged in and click on “You’re a member“.

This will open a drop down menu with “Your member profile” as shown below:

Click on “Your member profile“.

This opens up the old version of Meetup (was it mentioned that the Meetup website is designed by imbeciles?)

You can then click on “Edit profile” to update your answers.

Check your Profile photo

You can also change your profile picture from this page.

Please have a photo of your face that others can recognise. Some hosts will not allow you to attend trips otherwise.

If we’ve missed anything then let us know in the comment sections. Thanks 😀

Cracking down on “No Shows”

Etiquette

Having people drop out of a trip at the last minute can be a logistical nightmare. It’s the bane of every event organizers life. It’s also bloody rude as it shows a lack of respect for other peoples time!

3 No shows and you get banned from the group!

We are making an effort to crack down on those who drop out of tramps at the last minute, or don’t show up at all.

Keep your RSVP up to date

It’s easy to do, simply click on that going or not going button and try to avoid last minute changes of heart. Otherwise you could deny someone else the chance of attending.

3 strikes and Out!

We have a 3 strikes and out rule. All event organizers are being encouraged to mark attendee records. Especially for Committed Day Walks and Overnight Trips

Only those listed as Organizer and Co-Organizers can view attendance records. But any hosts wishing to have a check carried out are welcome to contact one of us with a request.

For example, you may not wish to take someone who had a recent no show to give them a gentle kick up the butt, or reduce the chances of the trip being disrupted.

Last Minute RSVP change?

When you change your RSVP to “Not Going” you open up a spot for someone on the “Wait List”.

If you are on the Wait List you may wish to change your RSVP to not going should a last-minute spot become available. Unless of-course you are ready to attend.

Three days midweek in the Tararuas

Tararuas,

With an unexpected week off work I found out a friend also had the week off. We headed in to the Tararuas on a Wednesday planning to leave on Friday, before the crowds of the weekend.

We set off to Alpha Hut stopping at various points along Marchant Ridge to take in the views. The weather was great and we had stunning views of the Hutt Valley and the peaks further north.

View from Marchant Ridge

After a day of straight up we arrived at the hut in just over 6 hours – the benefit of a small group! We were the only ones at Alpha Hut, which is large, so it was cold. After flicking through all the magazines and reading material in the hut and dinner we turned in for an early night.

Day two we rose early and left most of our gear behind to head up to Mount Alpha. It was snowing and we had a lot less visibility than the day before. After crossing a few mounds and being sure one of them was Alpha we checked a GPS to confirm. We had gone too far so headed back to the hut, round trip about 1.5 hours.

Day 2 – Adam heading towards Alpha

We collected the rest of our gear from Alpha Hut and headed back the way we came the day before till we came to the Bull Mound turn off. We had been in goblin forest for a long time and to our surprise emerged to alpine grasslands and stunning wide spanning views. Whenever I return to Alpha now I will ensure I take a small detour to barren Bull Mound for the views.

Between Alpha Hut and Bull Mound turn off

We carried on down, entering forest again. It was rather steep, and I couldn’t help thinking I’d rather go down than up, although some may disagree! Eventually we arrived at a river that we needed to cross. After observing the river and assessing all options we crossed and not long after came to Cone Hut.

We arrived really early (around lunchtime) but decided to stay at historic Cone Hut as neither of us had before. All I can say is tie your food bag tight and store out of your pack, and keep a head torch handy to scare away the rats! It was a cosy, pleasant hut to stay in.

The last day of our journey we headed out along Tauherenikau River. We stopped in briefly at Tutuwai Hut and Smith’s Creek Shelter. After the shelter we encountered our first person since entering the bush.

Tauherenikau River

Although a hot day the clay on the Puffer Saddle was very slippery (it had rained in the afternoon of the day prior) and we heard the sound of chainsaws as some DOC workers were doing track maintenance. After encountering our second and third person we arrived at the carpark to find a group of teens setting off for Holdsworth as part of the Duke of Ed.

Overall an excellent, leisurely 3 day trip which could be done in 2 long days. This trip highlighted to me how few people tramp midweek. Of the 3 huts we stopped at there had been no hut book entries since the weekend prior.

Note: trip took place late Septmber 2018

Logistics
Park at Kiwi Ranch Road
Day 1 walk to Alpha Hut, 6 hours (expect 7-9 hours with a larger group).
Day 2 walk to Cone Hut via Bull Mound, 3 hours
Day 3 Walk back to carpark along the lower part of Dobsons Loop and Puffer Saddle 4 hours.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/tararua-forest-park/things-to-do/huts/alpha-hut/

Best laid plans

Tararuas,

Some trips or events become part of a groups legend and come up again and again around the campfire. One of my trips forms part of this among some members.

The plan
The idea was a winter dinner at Parawai Lodge in Otaki Forks. A very simple plan, have a good feed and some mulled wine and with it being only 5 minutes from the road end we could take in a few luxuries and not worry about the weight of our packs.

A few days before the event there were 20 people signed up, this quickly changed as the forecast called for heavy rain. In the end there was just two people and myself down for the trip. After some discussion about cancelling the trip, it was decided that it would go ahead with the three of us. One of the deciding factors is the wine had been bought for the mulled wine and the person wanted to try mulled wine before heading back to Australia.

Things don’t go to plan
Come the day of heading away my washing decided to fail and flood my flat (becomes important later) so spend much of the day drying out stuff, dealing with the Property Manager and tradespersons. About two hours before I was due to leave I started sorting out my gear and pack. We had decided that instead of sorting out food we would stop in Otaki and do a shop on the way up.

So off we headed in Otaki Forks, at the road end we got our packs out and I realised that due to my fizzled brain from dealing with the flooding etc I had left my boots on the car pad back in Wellington. Thankfully it was a short walk to the hut in sneakers.

We killed some time by doing a couple of short walks and sat on the deck of the hut solving all the worlds problems.

Solving the worlds problems

Winter dinner
As we lost light we decided it was time for pre-dinner nibbles including hummus, pate, crackers and bread along with our mulled wine out on the deck as it was still warm and the weather hadn’t set in.

Pre-dinner nibbles

The can opener
It wasn’t till it came to dessert that things came unstuck again. Dessert was a can of fruit, peaches from memory and we didn’t have a can opener. Not having packed food when I sorted out my gear I hadn’t made sure I put one in my pack. After checking with the others no-one had one on them and there wasn’t any in the lodge. Never fear we sorted it………


A great weekend was had by all.

Postscript
I was asked for the mulled wine recipe a few days later so went and dug it out. On the bottom of the recipe it said “serves 6-8 people” and we doubled it between the three of us.

Note the two empty wine bottles

Plan B (Waiopehu Hut)

Tararuas,

A small group of three planned to complete the Southern Crossing one March weekend. We were all set to catch a mid Friday arvo train from Wellington to Waikanae, meet Kapiti Coast Shuttles for a ride to Otaki Forks, and head to either Field or Kime Hut for the night. Early Friday morning a storm rolled in flooding areas of the Wellington region and the Southern Tararuas got hammered, forecast for worse, by both wind and rain. Regretfully mid afternoon the shuttle was cancelled.

Two of us decided we still wanted to get out for the weekend, we were already packed after all. We recruited a new third and after a quick bit of research set off to Levin Saturday morning, where the weather was better, and decided on Waiopehu Hut.

 We signed in the DoC book and saw a working bee was heading to the hut. We wondered if we should have bought tents (we had bedrolls), decided to risk it, and set off.

We knew this track was known for being a bit of a mud pit. We were pleasantly surprised there was not that much mud, it had been a dry summer, although where there was mud there was a lot – I can imagine it lives up to its rep in winter.

Views long Waiopheu track
 Image Credit to Marty

After a day of all uphill, on arrival at the hut we were treated to stunning views, including Mt Taranaki, several other trampers, and a working bee of only 2, to our surprise. We claimed beds, had some miso soup, cracked open the wine and asked for a paintbrush each. We got to work helping stain the exterior of the hut a deep green, while discussing the day, other trips, and the working bees tasks.

Kiwi Ingenuity – a new use for a walking pole
  • Mount Taranaki from the deck of Waiopehu Hut

The following day we set off uphill each carrying a couple of waratahs (track markers) about a kilometre from the hut to be set out by the working bee later on that day. Man they are heavy! I gained a new appreciation for those markers that day.

Finished product

 The way we headed – Waiopehu, Twin Peak, Richards Knob, Gable End – creates a loop back to the car park, the last section following the Ohau river. Overall a beautiful weekend loop trip with a lot of variety and very easy logistics.

Logistics

Day 1 Park at the end of Poads Road, Levin Walk anticlockwise to Waiopehu Hut, 4 hours

Day 2 Continue uphill to loop back down to the car at Poads Road, 4 hours.

Note: the track conditions were good. Be prepared for this tramp to take significantly longer in muddy conditions.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/tararua-forest-park/things-to-do/huts/waiopehu-hut

Kepler Track October 2018

Great Walks, South Island

A solid group of 4 set off in October 2018 meeting in beautiful Queenstown. After picking up pre-purchased gas canisters at Torpedo 7 we walked around the lake, enjoyed a beer, purchased last minute items at 4Square (Backcountry meals are a bargain here) and stopped in at DoC. We were lucky the avalanche risk had reduced enough to open up the track – it had been closed – and that ice axes and crampons could be left behind.

The next morning we met early at Fergs Bakery, the only coffee shop open before 7am for takeaway breakfast and coffee before getting on the bus. Little did we know this bus is the tourist bus to Milford Sound so we were treated to educational commentary along the way. After arriving in Te Anau we were promptly greeted by Ally (Te Anau Transfers) who took us to the Kepler Carpark. Although this is a great walk, it was just out of season and a long weekend, so we were eager to get on the track. If you’re not in a hurry it is possible to walk to the track start from Te Anau – adding around an hour and a half to your day.

Day 1

We walked along beautiful bays under beech forest, each bay more beautiful than the last, then started climbing the hill. Although it was late October we were all glad it wasn’t mid summer as it got very hot under the canopy.

Out of nowhere the forest stopped and temperature plummeted, and we saw snow covered mountains ahead instead of a glistening sapphire lake.

On arrival at Luxmore Hut we claimed beds and after replenishing energy levels went to explore Luxmore Caves – a must do – before watching the sunset from the track to the caves.

View from above Luxmore Hut

Day 2

At the evening briefing at Luxmore Hut the year around wardens told us that chances of crossing the tops was going to be 50/50, and if you wanted to do it to leave early. So on day 2 we were those people who set alarms for 5.30am. We crossed no trouble but decided against summiting Mt Luxmore, the view and danger would not have been worth it and we still had a reasonable amount of snow to pass through.

A few kea followed us and showed off, and we saw Whio at Iris Burn Falls (including ducklings!) so a rather successful day.

Day 3

The last day of our trip was similar to the first, walking along the lakeshore under beautiful forest, but with more vegetation variety and a wetland. A cute DoC Hut is a short side trip away in Shallow Bay, a worthy trip if you have the time. We finished the trip a day early at Rainbow Reach, missing the last 9.5km, to enable one of our party to return to Queenstown early.

Contingency Day – Day 4

We had planned for a contingency hut day. Our day was well spent cycling the Lake 2 Lake Te Anau to Manapouri cycleway, which was well worth the trip. You cycle one way and get picked up at the other end. After the ride we were kindly dropped at Rainbow Reach so we could walk back to Te Anau and officially finish the Kepler Track. After a quick swim in the lake and shower at the holiday park we had stayed at the night before we caught the Intercity bus back to Queentown.

Notes:

Luxmore Hut, capacity 54, had 90 people turn up one night while we were on the track. Be prepared and take a bedroll out of season.

Logistics:

Day 1: After work fly WLG – ZQN, overnight in Queenstown (Tahuna Pod Hostel was a fantastic base, had a great sleep in the individual pod beds)

Day 2: Intercity Bus Queenstown to Te Anau. Shuttle to track start with Te Anau Transfers (Ally is fantastic – very flexible – we got picked up a day early no trouble at all). Overnight at Luxmore Hut. 14km.

Day 3: Overnight at Iris Burn Hut 15km.

Day 4: Finish at Rainbow Reach and were picked up a day early by Te Anau Transfers – there is cell phone reception at Moturau Hut, stunning location but watch out for the mosquitos! 22km.

Day 5: Contingency Day – 28km Cycle Lake to Lake Te Anau to Manapouri, Dropped at at Rainbow Reach and walked back to Te Anau. Intercity Bus back to Queenstown. 9.5km

Day 6: Fly back to Wellington (first flight may allow you to work this day if necessary).

Post courtesy of Laressa. Photos by Laressa & Shayne.