By Sean Thomson (AUTC Guest Star), 13 January 2023
Destination: Eastern Hutt Hut
Trampers: Kathleen Griffin (Leader), Daniel Hunsche, Chris Russell, Kevin de Lange, and Sean Thomson (AUTC)
My summer travels took me far from the storms of muggy Auckland, and while I spent much of my time hitchhiking between Fjordland and Southland’s lesser-known Takitimu Ranges, I also made a pit-stop in the capital on my reluctant voyage home. Little did I know that during my stay I was in for an adventure featuring VUWTC’s best (arguable), in the finest catchment that the Tararuas have to offer (definitely not, but your governing water body seems to think so!).
After we met up and claimed a beacon from the gear pen (remember folks, safety first), we hit the roads and were off! While I certainly laud the visibility of Pōneke’s cycling infrastructure, I personally think your drivers are worse on average compared to those in Tāmaki… although that’s certainly both a hot take and low bar indeed. After surviving the treacherous voyage up to Kaitoke, we laced our trail runners and set off up what can only be described as a Tararua classic on the ‘grind scale’, as we gradually woke ourselves up on the Norbert Creek climb. Once we reached the 4WD track on the top, the group was awake, warm and only mildly injured. Slowed but not deterred, we ploughed on down into the Eastern Hutt catchment, our objective to simply to enjoy ourselves rather than to make it to the hut and back (now an over-ambitious plan, given we all had appointments back in town that night!).
And so our plans changed. We enjoyed a wonderful womble in the waterfall-filled Eastern Hutt bush… until the worst of our wandering walloped into to wincing wheezes as woeful wasps wantonly wounded the walkers on our weary way over. 🐝🐝🐝
After we changed our sudden trail-run back into a trail-walk, we found ourselves staring down some numerous treefalls and slips; all easily navigable, but the day was passing fast. By now we were hungry, and decided to have lunch by the river before turning back. We dove into the water supply, practised some river crossings, feasted on Shapes and took pictures before backtracking.
After we successfully survived our second wasp encounter on the way back, we noticed on the map that there’s an old “Hydrology Tower” advertised nearby. Many of us had never seen a Hydrology Tower before, and we wondered what they look like. Let us know if you ever go to the Eastern Hutt catchment and find an old Hydrology Tower, because we certainly didn’t.
And so we made good our exit! On our way back to the Kaitoke campground, we came across a 4WD ford for accessing the catchment, currently occupied by a couple of dads and their very disinterested children. The kiddies were trying very hard to keep themselves entertained, while the dads were having a blast building rock dams… right in the middle of the road. We said nothing; all I ask is that you dear readers don’t decide in your middle age that you need an outlet in the building of bridges and dams in obstructive places (unless it’s part of an organised civil disruption, of course).
We eventually found our way out of the campground’s dispersion field, and back to our cars. After an uneventful drive back to town, I walked halfway across Wellington with all my travelling kit, and continued my summer wandering journey in earnest. Thanks VUWTC for an enjoyable- if comfortably forgettable- experience!
