Mangatainoka Hot Springs, Kaweka FP

The grey skies gave creedence to the iffy weather report. Whizzing along SH2 in Kay’s Subaru, I enjoyed being able to look out the window at the thin beams of sunlight trying hard to poke through. We were off to the Mangatainoka Hotsprings for a final weekend together before I shipped out to Timor.

The further we cruised north, the thinner the clouds became and by the time we were near Napier, they were scattered and hardly menacing at all J We drove inland as the sun set to reach the road end not long after dusk.

Our plan was to start out with a dip in the Mangaturutu hotsprings at the Road end, but the number of cars we’d seen both driving and parked on the road gave us the impression it wouldn’t be uncrowded. However, as we arrived at the Mangaturutu carpark, we found it deserted! Great success!!

Once at the springs, I unvieled my box of goodies. Fresh Orange Juice, Camenbert, Crackers, Basil and Pesto hummus, Sundried Tomato, Capsicum and Riccotta dip… Mmmmmm delicious!! After our nibbles feast filled us up, we had a lovely dip in the dark as the moon began to rise.. All the clouds had dissapeared, it was still and crisp and we were the only ones there!!

19 Apr 08

Again the weather looked conducive to a pleasant walk. Though it wasn’t that warm, it wasn’t too cold either. I’d packed my Spin fishing rod, so when we first reached the Mohaka River, I set it up and began fishing my way upstream.

On only my 3^rd cast, I hooked up in the shallows only a few meters in front of me. A large Brown Trout had scoffed my Black and Gold Toby spinner. “I got one!!” I called out excitedly..

The fight lasted about 5 mins and Kay scrambled around the rocks trying to get good photos of me and the fish.

We had more than enough food for the trip, so we made the decision to release the nice Jack Fish.

He took a little coaxing to recover. I held him gently underwater facing upstream for several minutes as he gasped for oxygen. Eventually, he slithered out of my hand and disappeared into the stream. Kay was most impressed…

For the rest of the morning, we chatted, hiked and occasionally fished our way up the beautiful lower Mohaka. I hooked a couple of tiny rainbow trout, but they all got away. The sun shone over gravel beaches, encouraging plenty of rest and fishing stops.

Once at Te Puia Lodge, a yummy lunch of fresh rolls, ham, cheese and lettuce was eagerly consumed. Not too long after arriving, a group of 5 in their early 20’s rocked up. They were also on their way to the hotsprings, so we just crossed our fingers hoping that there weren’t too many others up there already.

As we readied to leave, a light rain began to fall. As we left however, it rescinded to patchy drizzle before clearing up altogether. Another 40 minutes and we arrived at our destination. Turns out the only other occupants of the campsite was another couple, so there was plenty of campsite to choose from.

We set up our tent then made a bee-line for the hot tub. It still threatened rain and no sooner than we’d hopped in the pool than it began to precipitate. Was magical sitting in the hot spring with cool rain dripping down your face..

As the afternoon and evening wore on, we hot pooled, fished and cooked dinner. Supreme Pizza was on the menu tonight and was well received by the chief food appraiser. We were so full of Pizza that the chocolate Brownie dessert wasn’t even an option. After another dip we called it a night.

20 Apr 08

Having the hot pools just there was fantastic. Any time that we got just a little too cold during the chilly morning, we’d nip over for a quick dip. Was quite invigorating going from Down Jackets and fleece pants to swimsuits and back.

Breakfast was Bacon, Banana and Maple Syrup pancakes… It’s the small things in life..

The hike home was just as pleasant and took a fair bit less time since I was less distracted by fishing.. A wonderful luxurious weekend away.. Great success.

Tephra Canyon, Tongariro NP

Gerard and I yarned away as we descended from Delta Ridge Hut back towards the Top ‘O the Bruce. As Amanda and Joanne arrived at the car park, there was some mention of ‘second breakfast’ and in an instant all four of us disappeared down the mountain towards Whakapapa Village.

Over Pies and coffee’s the other three agreed to tag along with me on a bit of a mystery walk/canyon scouting trip. I’d flown over a likely looking Canyon thingo a week earlier and wanted to try and find it. Although it would probably be mostly loose Tephra, It was worth finding out. Besides, it gave us a goal besides doing a simple walk on a well worn trail. I don’t think any of my northern hemisphere accomplices had any idea what they were getting themselves into, but they trundled along just the same.

First stop was Taranaki Falls. We all scrambled about the top of the falls and marveled at the fantastic demi-canyon chutes that lead to the wonderful waterfall... If only there was more rock of this quality around; there would be canyons all over!

We investigated the bottom of the falls (and behind them) along with a dozen or so other foreign tourists. Wandering downstream aways, I chose to check out another canyoniferous looking spot whilst the others began cross country out to the west.

The reward for my curiosity was a single drop canyon beneath a bridge. Though only 50-70m in length, the fall was quite beautiful and canyon rather impressive. Too bad it petered out so quickly though.

Racing off over the volcanic scrub, I linked up again with my three mates at the base of the ridge we had to climb over. There were a couple of fun ditches to leap over along the way.

Once at the top I scratched my head and began to think of excuses when I spied the entrance.

“Is that it?” Amanda queried.

“It’s a very nice muddy hole Chucky” comforted Joanne.

But I didn’t care… As they rested on rocks near the mouth of the canyon, I raced further on to examine where it began to slot up. My hunch was right, it was only Tephra, but it was hard enough to be down climbable and not dangerously loose...

“Well, are you guys coming or not?” I shouted back...

“I thought we were just here to have a look” was the collective reply...

And so began our impromptu Canyoning trip. No ropes, No harnesses, No helmets, No idea…. Each twist and turn impressed me more and more. Starting only with shallow walls, the canyon deepened slowly and began to unveil the beautiful sinuous walls that I just love canyons for. There was a bit of scrub here and there, but not enough to take away from the fun.

Soon the first of several short down climbs presented itself. Though the Tephra was solid enough to not collapse on us, down climbing required subtlety. My preferred technique encompassed plenty of stemming and butt-sliding, so before long I was covered in Tephra sludge and looking like I was having fun.

My companions were doing well, and with a little spotting from below, were making short work of the canyon. Occasionally I’d hear a startled cry or ‘uh oh’ from ahead. Thinking each time that we’d come to an impasse, I quickly squeezed forward to see only another fun down climb to solve.

There were a couple of really beautiful sections but not long after one such section, the canyon began to get very narrow.

I tried to continue forward, by stemming high and using all manner of dry vegetation at the lip to wiggle my way along. I wiggled to the edge of a drop that just looked a little big to try and down climb without a rope... My buddies had already decided they’d had enough and had scrambled out on the true left and began hollering all kinds of abuse/advice my way.

Though I could see the watercourse had a couple of hundred more meters to go before it joined a regular looking stream, I sensed it was time to call it a day.

We scrambled and struggled our way up the thick scrub covered hillside onto the main ridge. From there it was straightforward to follow the ridge till it met the track back to the Chateau.

I got bundled up by the Poms and convinced that I needed to go to the Pub, so we repositioned to National Park (picking up a tramper hitchhiker along the way). Here we had a couple of Ginger Beers and some yummy Nachos. Dion, Rom et al turned up about 30mins later with the same plan!

A great impromptu adventure with some great new friends!

Ruapehu Photography Course

After a fun bit of climbing at Whakapapa, the course members began assembling. First we joined Amanda and Catherine. Soon Dion and Rom arrived, closely followed by Marty Blumen and his partner Shiva Nami. The final participants Gerard and Joanne turned up just before we were all about to leave.

Marty began by giving us a general course outline and generic tips. Soon we were wandering up the skifield in the decaying light. Every now and again Marty would stop and make comments about lighting, composition and settings then we would snap away merrily trying to take his comments into consideration.

As night fell, the headlamps came out and there was a little bit of confusion about which way to the hut, but eventually we all found our way.

As we cooked dinner, Marty made some more comments and observations before retiring outside to his tent to await the pre-dawn photo session.

Next morning after the sunrise photo shoot, we strolled down to Whakapapa village for breaky.

Check out Marty's Photos and Catherine's Photos from the same workshop.

Whakapapa Gorge Climbing, Mt Ruapehu

I was booked in to attend a NZAC Mountain Photography workshop run by Marty Blumen, but it didn’t start till 5pm on Saturday evening. So even with a lazy start, I needed something to fill the gap during the day.

Romaric and Dion were also attending the course and planned to do a little climbing at Whakapapa before hand, so I eagerly arranged to meet up with them. Claydon, Julien Cornel and entourage were at hand too, making about 15 MUAC related peoples clambering all over the crag. Despite being generally clear, a fresh wind kept us all very cool. Infact, I was rueing all the deliciously warm clothes back in the car..

I top roped a couple of climbs with Dion, did some photography then lead ‘Serial Pillar (18)’ before retreating back to the carpark to change and ready for the course.

Penny Stove Geocache, Ruahine FP

I’d just been away for an interesting week’s flying up in Auckland and was looking forward to a bit of a rest, but the weather for Saturday just looked too good to pass up. Given that I decided this late on Friday afternoon, I was expecting to be going tramping by myself. However on the off chance, I gave Scotty McIntyre a ring. He didn’t take much arm twisting, so I had a buddy to tramp with. I’d been wanting to place a GeoCache for some time now and thought tommorrow would be a great chance..

Scotty rocked up in the dark as advertised. I’d been toying with a few different routes for our trip and upon consultation with Scotty, we agreed to do a thru-loop with a car shuttle. We’d start up the Oruakiritaki Stream, go up over the ridge to the north and descend the Kumeti Stream to the other waiting car. Some where along the way we’d place the Geocache..

We enjoyed a great sunrise lighting up the Te Apiti windfarm as we drove east in the light of a new day. Pausing briefly in Woodville for some fuel and a notebook for the Geo Cache, Scotty and I made it to the Kumeti Rd end with little fuss. Loading my stuff into Scotty’s Smurf, we bounced our way back to the Oruakiritaki and began hiking.

As I’d remembered it, the Oruakiritaki was a delightfully little stream with a number of fun rugged sections to overcome. Infact, as we continued past the hunters access to Kiritaki Hut, the stream became rather gorgey, with some neat waterfalls and chutes to climb up, around and through. It was looking very canyoniferous, but sadly returned to normal near the uphill turnoff to the north.

Though the weather was forecast to be clear, it was rather overcast and a little nippy. Scott and I paused for a quick nibble and change of clothes before the uphill push. The track ascended very steeply up a thin spur through the sub-alpine scrub. Occasionally we would pop out in a clearing and get to examine our progress.

Scotty was fresh from the Kaweka Challenge and I was feeling rather unfit, so every ‘progress examining’ stop was gratefully received. On the far side of the valley, the bright orange roof of Kiritaki Hut gleamed in the distance. Once up the side spur, the angle of ascent diminished and we were afforded our first views out to the north east. The once overcast sky had begun to break up and before long we were slogging uphill beneath intense sunlight.

The track was now the typical ‘Leatherwood Corridoor’ of the southern Ruahines. Arriving at the crest of the main range, we arrived at a track junction with good views and some shelter.

Time for lunch it seems!! As we munched on yummy sandwiches, I brought out my little ultralight Penny Stove to show Scotty and brew up. He was most intrigued with the little can stove and rather impressed when I fired it up! Sipping piping hot berry Tea, we scouted the local area for a suitable spot to place our Geo Cache. Not far away a good location was found and the Cache duly hidden..

Glancing at our watches, we packed our bags and began our long descent of the gentle ridge towards Kumeti Rd. Under the hot sun we chatted about Scotty’s Vietnam trip whilst walking past beautiful views. At one stage we even heard a deer stag roar!

The track lead us steeply off to the north of the ridge and quickly down to the Kumeti Stream. From there, it was a simple walk through the dry gravel stream bed and back to our cars… Adventure complete!!

Track Times

Oruakiritaki Stream to Kiritaki Hut Turn off 2hrs

Hut Turn Off to tops intersection 1.5hrs

Tops intersection to Kumeti Rd End 1.5hrs