Weekend Trip - Friday 27th to Sunday 29th August 2010
A trip to the Hauhungaroa Range, Southern Pureora region west of Lake Taupo
The Omens Were we going to get away?
This weekend trip almost did not happen as there were minimum numbers but get away we did, anticipating rain and mud.
We arrived at the Mangakahu Road-end 20 km off SH4 to Taumarunui at 1.00am, after an uneventful trip with Craig and Athol sharing the driving. We all slept in the bus - with small numbers it was very comfortable.
Easy-Medium
Day 1 To Hauhungaroa Hut
Saturday morning was cold and bleak but not raining, and after breakfast the fit party, led by Martin Woodhead, was away by 8.00am.
The easy-medium party left at 8.15. The first part was along a private road and we were soon greeted by five well cared-for pig dogs (on chains ) who signalled our arrival to their friendly owner who greeted us over the fence. After half-an-hour on farm roads we were into the bush. It was a coats-on, coats-off morning but after two hours the rain stayed away and that was a relief since there were some steep hills ahead which had us taking off layers of clothes. The track was well marked and there was some bird life.
Our destination was Hauhungaroa Hut where we arrived at 12 noon. The hut was quite 
new (2007) and well appointed, marred only by the amount of rubbish and bottles left in the hut by other users (not trampers, surely). We quickly lit the fire and had lunch. The rain became worse. At 2.00pm as Craig and Vicki were erecting the mountain radio aerial, two members of the fit party, Tina Jacques and Claudia Edwards, arrived at the hut having turned back because of worsening weather and track conditions.
Day 2 The temptation of Hut Comforts
We were becoming less keen to head to the Hauhungaroa Range and decided to stay put as the weather became worse. We found a part bottle of Gurgenmeister in the hut, which Tina and Craig took a liking to. Meanwhile Claudia helped Athol polish off his gin and tonic. We played charades as darkness fell - very enjoyable. It rained all night.
We were: Athol Berry (leader and scribe), Craig Starr, Vicki King, Hamish & Michelle Dublon, later joined by fit-party migrants, Tina Jacques and Claudia Edwards.
Medium-Fit
Day 1 To Waihaha Hut
6.30am rise and the forecast rain had not yet arrived - the medium-fit (or rather slow and long) trip was away by 7.45am. A half-hour walk along a permissive right-of-way brought us to the edge of the forest park. Two signs caught our attention:
a) Track muddy -- proceed with caution.
b) Waihaha Hut (our destination) 10 hours.
The first sign proved to be true. No sooner had we started to climb up to the ridge that led to Hauhungaroa Hut, than light rain began to fall and conditions underfoot became slippery and muddy.
Up on the barely perceptible ridge, conditions did not improve and we sloshed our way along to the hut, arriving at 11.00am, to see another welcoming sign - ‘Waihaha Hut 7 hours’. We decided not to take an early lunch within the luxurious confines of the hut but proceeded along the ridge through moss-festooned bush and stopped for lunch around 12, just before dropping down towards the Waihaha River. The rain picked up as we ate and Tina, not feeling too well, decided that another six hours in the mud and the rain was not something she was looking forward to. She decided to head back to the hut and meet up with the easy party. Claudia decided to join her and so the remaining four in the party carried on with the planned route.
Within half-an-hour of lunch, the day had changed completely. We were following a well-defined ridge down to the river. The bush had opened up. The track was flanked by luxuriant carpets of kidney fern, and underfoot the track was cover in leaves rather than mud. The rain stopped. We even had sunshine and as we walked we disturbed kereru and kaka.
By 2.30 we were beside the Waihaha River watching a pair of whio ply the riffles. It was easy going by the river at first, passing from one grassy area to another. But this area had been buried deep in pumice after the Taupo eruption and soon we were scrambling down and up steep gullies cut by side streams in the pumice banks. The valley started to open up - a sign of a confluence of two major streams - and nestled close to this junction was Waihaha Hut. We had taken just 5½ hours at a leisurely pace to get from the last hut, rather than the advised 7 hours.
We had plenty of time to light a fire, but with Graeme claiming only a Cub badge in fire-lighting, our efforts with the few bits of damp coal and twigs we had managed to forage were woeful.
Day 2
It rained heavily during the night but, come morning, the sun was shining again as we set off up the stream to the north. Pureora Forest was to have been milled in the 70s and 80s and was subject to treetop protests which led to the cessation of logging. The area just north of Waihaha Hut contained many impressive, old, tall trees. A steep descent to the Mangatu Stream was followed by a steep climb out and part way up, a change in the weather brought light rain and a drop in temperature. At the next track junction we left the main Pureora track and after a short while hit an old logging track which took us down to the lagoon carpark at Waihora Road-end. Lunch was followed by a walk to the lagoon and back - a fair expanse of water after the recent rain, accessible across a submerged board walk. Then rather than wait in the cold at the road-end for the bus, we donned packs and walked down the road to the bushline to meet the bus with the members of the easy party.
We were: Graeme McGowan, Tony Walton, Dennis Brown and Martin Woodhead (leader and scribe)