After 5 reschedules over 3 summers I finally covered the small section of the Southern Crossing I hadn’t competed. It was certainly worth the wait – we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.
We were collected from Waikanae Train station at 3.15pm and dropped at Otaki Forks by Kapiti coast shuttles ($100 for a car or 150 for a van as at Jan 2020).
We arrived at Kime Hut just in time for sunset. It always surprises me how much quicker you travel with a small group (2!). It was cold on Bridge Peak so the down jackets got used day 1.
Sunset from bridge peak
There were only 2 others in hut, they were doing the TA – taking the more exciting route as they put it (I agree).
Kime Hut
Saturday we awoke early for sunrise and watched from field peak. We returned to kime and had a leisurely breakfast. Another stunning day with little wind.
Sunrise from field peak
After a day of perfect 360° views, we arrived at alpha hut early afternoon and chatted to those passing through (including runners training for the southern crossing run) and some familiar faces camping and staying in the hut.
mt hector
We waited for friends to arrive realising we didnt know what time they left Kaitoke or when to expect them (lesson learnt). They arrived grateful for a full water tank, it had been a sweltering day on Marchant.
We had a peaceful night other than an earthquake! There is service in one corner of the balcony so we were able to find info on geonet before returning to civilization.
Down Marchant Ridge always takes far longer than I remember, this day was no different. We took a 2 min detour towards bull mound where the track opens up and you get views of ridges all around you.
View from a short detour towards Bull Mound
Once back at the car the consensus was to stop at Brewtown for a pint.
Note no times listed as we had perfect conditions and a small fit group.
I highly recommend kapiti coast shuttles for transportation on the Western side of Tararuas.
For the second time we successfully booked the entire 32 bunk Powell Hut. The plan was to complete the Jumbo Holdsworth loop, however the weather wasn’t playing ball. We wound up with 3 groups, 3 hardly souls tackling the circuit, 18 East Holdsworth, and 5 Gentle Annie. The remainder had dropped out earlier in the week.
Huge thanks to Cliff, Bang and Vignesh for the blog posts on Gentle Annie, the circuit and East Holdsworth.
So Marty says I’ve booked you a bed in the hut, don’t worry we are doing the easy route and can take our time, and girlfriend coming with us. Thought I was reasonably fit despite covid blocking my gym work in UK and I have put on a few kilos. I did Atiwhakatu walk last August no issues, apart from no lights and a nasty long drop, and Marty said this hut is awesome.
Got woken up at 6 am Saturday morning and rushed out. Picked up Teresa who seemed to believe I had had a leg blown off by a landmine in Vietnam.
Got to Tararuas where Laressa pretended to do a count. 5 of us went on Gentle Annie, wouldn’t want to meet her big sister Hard as Annie.
Got to Rocky Lookout, just, Marty said look at view and I went I need water. He took my pack as well as his and we made it to Mountain House Shelter.
Marty said no way he could do 2 packs up the steps so I manned up, I have never so felt so close to death, my heart beating through my chest, I had to stop every 5 metres, but I would not let it beat me.
We turned a corner and Marty said not far now, but I didn’t believe him, worst was the 3 sets of steps.
Got there and Marty said lets do 1 hour to summit, my reply is unprintable.
Went to bunk to recover, couldn’t / didn’t sleep due to chatter, didn’t want to sleep as I would have woken at silly oclock.
Great meal even though rice gate scandal and extra votes/ meals found.
Walked out in rain , not as bad as forecast. Marty said don’t walk on clay but it seemed easiest. I slipped and turtled, couldn’t even get up!
Over a week later and I still cant walk down stairs.
Photo credit: Maj-Britt
Team Circuit, by Bang
Despite the unpromising weather, five of us (Julian, Alex, Byrus – the Shit Weasel, Mr Grey and me) still decided to do the Mt Holdsworth – Jumbo Circuit counter clockwise. We departed right after the big group gathering.
Laressa’s kick-off speech
The walk from Holdsworth carpark to Atiwhakatu Hut was fairly smooth and easy, and it was good to have a warm up along with some “Adult Jokes”. It took us 1.5 hours to reach Atiwhakatu Hut, where we had a short snack break and I introduced the team to some dried olives. Alex and Julian seemed to like them, but they disagreed with my idea that the olive is a type of fruit. The next 750m of climbing from Atiwhakatu Hut to Jumbo Hut (the Raingauge Spur Track) was a typical Tararua climb, quite steep but lots of fun.
Raingauge Spur Track
Alex and Julian were ahead of me, and I spent 1 hr 50 mins to get to Jumbo Hut. When I arrived they had already managed to get Byrus drunk, somehow.
A very drunk Byrus
The weather was getting worse after lunch, and we had a quick gear up before heading off to Powell Hut. As we walked on the ridge, the wind was getting stronger too, I had to stop and wipe the raindrops off my glasses now and then to see the track.
Julian and Alex tried not to walk too fast all the way to give me some company, how nice they are! After walking for about 1.5 hours we met part of Team East Holdsworth somewhere close to the Mt Holdsworth Summit. The rain stopped for the last part of our walk, and we made it to Powell Hut at about 4pm. The trip from Jumbo to Powell took me 2 hrs 30 mins.
In the mist
Brief summary of East Holdsworth: The large group (18) naturally split in to smaller groups with the lead group arriving at Powell Hut in 5 hours, the last group arriving after 7 hours.
Photo credit: Jude
East Holdsworth – contribution by Vignesh
Nostalgia is how I would describe the rationale for doing this hike. If my memory serves correctly, it was two years ago when Laressa organised the Powell hut round trip last time. It was a long trip going up and down yet it was such a lovely trip. I remember meeting Marty and Peter in that trip.
The previous day, I was packing my bag. I knew that I don’t have to carry too much as our trip lead was offering dinner as part of this trip. Nevertheless, I packed my bag with extra food, gas canister and the rest of it.
Saturday began early for me as I was picked up right in front of my house at around 6.30 am by Alex and Sarah, which was a bit of luxury, Thanks Alex :-). It gets even better as the people mover was comfy like a first class trip with inflight serving of fresh strawberries (thanks Sarah). Sarah and I started chit chatting about our daily lives and the talk veered off to work and somehow ended up talking about doing research, insightful conversations. Throughout the drive Alex was a silent spectator, may be cursing himself for giving me a ride 😦
Our first decent stop was at a café in Featherston where we met some of our fellow hikers Maj-britt, Tiffany and Deborah. After the customary hugs, I went to the lovely bakery and got an almond croissant, which was delicious. Alex got his coffee and brekkie and then we drove off without spending too much time. We reached the Holdsworth car park just before 8.30 am to keep up the word to our esteemed trip leader. As we caught up with the group, our trip lead started dishing out the dinner packs to carry to the hut, which she prepared for the whole group. I need another blog to elaborate on Laressa’s cooking skills.
There are three popular tracks leading to Powell hut and few people interested in taking each of the tracks. Since I have walked two of the tracks before, I decided to take east Holdsworth walk this time. I did not realise our trip lead would also be going with us on this track as I assumed she would take the long Jumbo hut track. This made my walk much easier as a day or two prior to the trip, I was shoulder tapped to lead the east Holdsworth track. Given our trip lead was with us I was not expected to do much, which was quite nice.
Anyway, a small group decided to head straight to the hut through the Gentle Annie track and three of the hard-core trampers decided to do the hard way by taking the Jumbo hut track. But a large (loud) group of us chose to do the east Holdsworth track.
We started at around 9 am from the car park heading towards Atiwhakatu hut. I decided that I should lead from the front at least when the track the flat (heehee). Just before the last swing bridge we met a couple of hikers coming in the opposite direction. One of the hikers resembled an Allblack, but we sort of concluded before they came near us that it wasn’t him. Me being me, I started a conversation with the folks who came across. They said that the east Holdsworth track was closed so they decided to return. Luckily, our own navigator Shayne was with us, who with authority pronounced that it is not a problem and an alternate track is not too far from the sign board. Sure, enough when we reached the east Holdsworth junction, we found the diversion sign to the track.
As we were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, Tiffany suggested that we should go ahead and she could wait there with few others. I happily took on board her suggestion and started walking up the hill. As Shayne was walking just behind me, I thought it was the right time to let Shayne take the lead and generously let him along with Nikolo and Cara to go past. In the next 5 minutes or so they all disappeared and was walking with Carla till I reached the open. Along the way Jude, Tiffany, Talia and Paul overtook us and disappeared into the forest. As we were going up, it was getting windier and still had a nicer feel to the walk. Carla took all the time in the world to fill up her smartphone with lovely pictures including me 🙂 ( I am sure she would have discarded most of the snaps with my face :-(). We decided to take a break and have lunch around 12.30 that was just before reaching the tops. As we were having our lunch, Scott, Linda, Bharat and a couple of newbies caught up with us. Once we finished our lunch, Carla and I started walking up slowly (what do you expect after a lunch), we caught up with Scott & Linda who were taking their lunch. As we reached the tops, we could see a couple sitting next to a big rock. We thought they were taking their break and enjoying the scenery. As we closed in, I realised it was Paul and Talia who decided to return and wait for others as they thought it was too windy to go further.
I was scanning the place and started examining the weather. I could feel the heavy winds and the thick clouds coming towards us. But I still did not find that to be that bad to go up. I said to them that I will go up further and check the condition. As I went up, it was getting windier and visibility was only up to 8 meters or so but not too bad to halt. I could still see Carla a bit far behind me taking snaps. I thought perhaps I could go up a bit and get Carla to come to me. After reaching the next top, I couldn’t see Carla from there. I waited for another 10 minutes for Carla to arrive unfortunately I couldn’t see or hear from her. I decided to wait rather than go up as I knew it wouldn’t be wise to move leaving people behind. In the next 5 minutes, for a split second the clouds cleared, and I could see our group walking like a bee line. It gave me the signal to start walking. The track was getting narrower, but I did not find it to be dangerous to walk. In the next 15 minutes or so I reached the T-junction and the signage to Holdsworth trig and the Powell.
I could feel the strong winds in the open and it picked up strength well and truly. It was pushing me towards the edge of the spear. I skilfully managed to navigate with the double confirmation of the track as well the poles. All along I could hear people talking behind me but couldn’t see a thing. As I reached the next T-junction to the Holdsworth trig and the Powell Hut, I decided it wasn’t the day for photo-op and decided to go straight to the hut. As I was halfway through, I could see someone coming up the opposite direction. As the distance the lessened, I noticed it was Sarah the brave heart going up to the trig. We confirmed our intentions and went the opposite direction. I reached the hut around 3 pm, I could see our group well settled in. As time went by the rest of the group trickled in and the atmosphere changed for good. Most of them were busy sorting out the rooms, having a snack, drying their cloths and sitting next to the heater. I opened my pack and grabbed the soup pack. I felt so good sipping the hot soup after the long walk. Just after 6 pm, the dinner packs were out, and the preparation was well underway to cook the dinner. We all had a hearty meal and a mouthful of dessert. You don’t go hungry when Laressa is around 🙂
Next day, I got up early and sat down having the hot readymade coffee. I bumped into Alex, who hinted at leaving the hut early. I obediently took note of the hint and packed up quickly after my breakfast. We were the first to leave the hut after hesitantly saying good bye to the rest of group. We pushed on briskly and in no time reached the mountain shelter. At the shelter I took a few minutes to pull the water tube that was stuck in the bag. Once I managed to organise my bag, we started walking down the hill. It was a bit drizzly, which didn’t both us much. In the next couple of hours we were back in the carpark. I got changed and we happily drove back to Wellington and reached home just after 12 noon.
I’m always curious about how people rate themselves when signing up to the group. Most people are realistic, but it often sets alarm bells ringing when someone claims to be a grade 4 or 5 without giving any recent examples to back this up.
Now I’m not having a pop at anyone, but it is important to be realistic. As an event host I need these grades to be honest, otherwise I’m either going to end up babysitting for the weekend or worse, get put in a dangerous situation.
The question is: “What is the highest grade trip you are comfortable with?”
It is not, “what do you aspire to be, or used to be when you were still fit?”
List Your Skills
You need the total package, it’s more then just fitness. Bush-craft skills such as navigation and first aid are also required. If you are doing hard trips then you should be concerned with the safety of yourself and others.
I always roll my eyes when I see a profile where someone is listed as a grade 4 or 5 yet they don’t list any skills. It makes it difficult to evaluate if you are realistic about your abilities, therefor you’ll probably be a liability!
Good past trip examples?
The examples are mainly based on the Tararua Ranges as it’s on our door step. If you’ve not spent much time there then be humble and modest. They can be extremely punishing compared to other places you may have walked.
Generally speaking I don’t rate “Great walks” as anything above a “Grade 3” they are all easy to navigate and most have manicured paths.
As for the Tongiriro crossing, just remember that it is only a day walk (light pack etc) and whilst spectacular it’s not the most challenging trip if you have nice conditions.
Personally I have myself down as a 4.5 because I do like to get out of my comfort zone and see how far I can push it. There is always room to improve.
I know a number of event hosts who are reluctant to host trips as they have had to deal with people who have signed up for trips that are beyond their current grade. It’s never much fun when you have to carry someones pack, or have a needlessly long day due to people not reading the description or being realistic.
Thanks for reading and for keeping your profile up-to-date.
I’d like to start with a big shout out to the team (Julian, Laressa, Alex, Yadgar, Katerina, Emma, The Shit Weasel, Mr Grey) for making the challenging but WONDERFUL weekend happen.
We did a loop from Mitre Flats Hut to Dorset Ridge Hut via Mitre Peak and Adkin, Middle King. Here is a chart made according to my timing:
Day
Route
Distance
Estimated Hours
Actual Hours
Friday
The Pines – Mitre Flats Hut
7 km
3-4 hours on Topo
2 hrs 40 mins
Saturday
Mitre Flats Hut – Mitre Peak – Dorset Ridge Hut
12 km
5-7 hours on Topo
10 hrs
Sunday
Dorset Ridge Hut – Adkin – Middle King – A bridge close to Mitre Flats Hut – The Pines
18 km
12 hours by Julian
13 hrs 30 mins
The walk to Mitre Flats Hut was easy, we had a couple of detours as it was dark, but generally, it was smooth.
Saturday was the hardest day for me as my stomach burns all the time due to bad sleep at night. Also, we had many long breaks which slowed us a lot down.
I did better on Sunday, we only had 3 5-10 mins breaks as I could remember. I could do better if I haven’t twisted my ankle.
Glad to be with the best trampers as there are always new adventures and I always have a lot new to learn and experience.
This is not a Great Walk
I always beat the DOC estimated times for NZ Great Walks and some other walks but not this time.
First thing I learn from this trip is: as we go deeper/higher into the forest park, the estimated times will be harder to be defeated, which somehow makes sense because only people with reasonable fitness can make it, but most travellers can do Great Walks.
Wish I could know that earlier and make this trip easier. I mistakenly defined this trip as a trip which could be slightly harder than my recent ones so I didn’t optimize my packing: as usual, I brought a 400ml bottle of sun cream, a container of sake, many snacks and a huge power bank etc.
It surprised me when I noticed that no one expect me brings alcohol for this trip, that barely happens on my other tramps with them.
Drink water wisely
I have a bigger fluid intake than most people and had never considered it as a problem except for a big belly.
On Saturday, my 3L hydration pack ran out quickly and I had to drink from a lake on Dorset Ridge while waiting for water supply from the others. I tried to reduce the drinking frequency, the amount of water taken each time on Sunday, but I ended up running out of water again. I’ll be trying to drink less next time.
Always apply sunscreen
UV rays here are intense, always have sunscreen on!
I only applied sun creams once as I didn’t want to slow the others down and I thought that would be ok and the sunburn will recover after a couple of days as usual. Wrong again as I still have them 10 days after the trip and it hurts.
First time to sleep outside the hut
It’s my first time to sleep on the deck outside instead of on the bunk bed in the hut. It’s breathtaking that the stars were filling my eyes, but I didn’t sleep well on Friday.
Special thanks to Laressa for carrying my pack and not giving up on me all the way, lucky to have a PM covering my ass.
Thanks to Julian for having me on board, you proved again that you could be a nice person and you did come back looking for us.
Thanks to Alex for carrying my stuffs too, btw you surely can cook.
Thanks to Yadgar, Katerina and Emma for the encouragement and good company, sorry for keeping you wait.
Wellington Tramping Group 