Today's route continues up Old Forest Rd for 3km before apparently diverting through a farm gate (unsignposted) to follow a farm track. On the way I passed a couple of guys striding through a paddock each carrying something that sounded like (and seemed to function similar to) a leaf blower,but that had a smaller nozzle and fired pink spray all over the targeted thistle plants. I waved and continued on. Unsure about the gate, which had a non-official TA marker on it, I dumped my pack and continued up the road, GPS in hand, for at least half a K just to make sure there wasn't some other route we were supposed to take. I couldn't find one so went back to my pack, climbed over the gate and followed the farm track...up which the thistle-poisoners had just disappeared in their ute.
The route leads through the Kapamahunga Range, traversing hilly farmland (sometimes on tracks and sometimes not), passed numerous outcrops of cream-grey limestone. Some if the outcrops have cool wavy fracture patterns; looking at the fracture surface exposed on a fallen boulder it became apparent these are the preserved ripples in the rock that was once sand on the seafloor (at a rough guess, around 30 million years ago). I couldn't help but have a quick look for fossils in some if the rock as I went past, and I found then too! Knobbly gastropods, long spine-like fusilinuds, bivalve shells and a fragment of coral. Happily I was able to tear myself away (otherwise I might have ended up having to camp there...).
Climbing up to a narrow ridge I sat and looked out over the farmland below to the small patch if forest beyond, into which I could see the trail headed, via a stile with the characteristic white-capped post. While munching a museli bar I became aware of an odd squeaking comeing from the ridge behind me and presently first one and then another little red-brown shape came darting over the ridge and tearing around the hillside below my feet. The first little brown something screeched to a halt about a meter from me, took a second to access the situation, then darted off back over the ridge. This was closely repeated by the second, who seemed to be following the scent of the first. They were stoats, of course, and now I noticed for the first time what had been odd about this farm: the complete lack of pukekos. They have been absolutely everywhere in rural settings all trip, but not hear. Come to think of it, the only birds I'd seen all day were a pair of magpies and the odd paradise duck. And no wonder, with a happy and healthy population of stoats around the birds wouldn't stand a chance. Pity they are so incredibly cute! (Just in the wrong country...). I had tried to get a photo of the little furry red face with white flecks and beady brown eyes that had stopped to stare at me for a beat, but I wasn't quick enough. As I made off down the steep hill the pair of stoats came tearing back over the ridge and darted all over the hillside, apparently in a game of chase. They covered more ground in ten seconds than I could in ten minutes, pausing only when the one caught the other and there was a moment's frantic squeaking as they rough and tumbled until one or other got free and took off again. I enjoyed watching them, but couldn't help thinking now would be a good time for a hawk or a falcon to come sailing along the ridge.
Down one hill and another, lower one I squeezed through the broken gate leading to the forest beyond. It was a nice patch of native bush and would have been the only alternative place to camp if I'd been willing to pull a very long day yesterday. Popping out on the downhill side of the bush the trail emerges onto a moderately steep farm track the zigzags down the hillside. The paddock was full of sheep; the trail notes say to give way to stock, but it's sort of a moot point with sheep as they run away when they see you coming.
At the bottom the track flattens out and leaves the paddock and I sat in the shade of a tree to one side of the track to have lunch. A mechanical hum was coming from beyond the next corner and I supposed that was the limeworks up ahead. Sure enough the track rounded the bend and then led up round the back of the limeworks before making its way out to the road.
A short 3km road walk (made longer by a stop to look for fossils in a road cutting; found a nice turret shell) brings you to a carpark (with compost loo) and the start of DOC's Nikau Walk. The carpark was fairly full and a family were watching their kids have a slash about in the neighbouring river. I used the facilities and set off along the walk, which is any easy traverse down a gravel vehicle track which follows the river all the way to the Kaniwhaniwha Campsite at the base of Mt Pirongia. The hardest part was finding somewhere to dodge out of the way of the ranger's ute as it came trundling out.
Mt Pirongia is a large, broad mountain with a many-peaked top. I first sighted it coming up Tills lookout the other day and as it slowly drew closer it's great width and gentle slopes disguise the fact that it rises to nearly 1000m above sea level. It's slopes are forested dark green in contrast to the light green of the surrounding farmland, and it's many-pointed summit makes it hard to discern from a distance which point is the actual summit--for which I was headed.
I couldn't see any of that now from the campsite at the base. All I knew was that it was supposed to be a 4-5 hr hike up to the top from here, and it was nearly 3pm already. I quickly dropped down into the stream to top up my hydration bladder to its full 3L capacity, dropped in the required treatment tablets, and put everything back into my pack again (most of it needs to go in after the bladder) before setting off at a good pace up the track to the summit. The first several kilometres rise gently and apart from the oddly muddy patch are a very easy and pleasant walk up through tawa forest. Then at about the halfway point the gradient begins to steepen and the track deteriorates. 4km in I had been making good time and thinking I'd be up this mountain inside of three hours...yeah right. With frequent breaks up the last and strenuous final 2km I finally emerged close to the top and set out on the ridge walk round to the large wooden lookout at the summit.
The bush is lower up here and I could see a pair of hikers on the trail ahead. They were still up the lookout when I made it, exhausted, to its base. Grabbing camera and cordial bottle I climbed up the ladder to the platform above and introduced myself to the pair before taking in the view.
The pair of hikers are a French couple: Marie and Eddy. They're enjoying the trail, but are trying to spend as much of their limited time in NZ seeing the natural and beautiful 'sights'...and consequently they have hitched the Auckland to Hamilton section of the trail. I had to admit, from their perspective and in comparison to the rest of the trail so far, they hadn't missed all that much.
The excitement of meeting new people aside the view from the summit of Pirongia on a clear day like this is fantastic--happily making up for the last exhausting second half of the hike to get up here. I took lots of photos before gingerly climbing back down the ladder after the French, trying bit to look down.
We all donned packs and I followed them the last kilometre to the hut. The going was slow in part because Narue seems determined not to get her trail shoes muddy if she can possibly avoid it. Give my boots another point: as long as I don't go in over the top of my ankle (and even then, with long trousers on) I can slog through mud and generally keep my feet (though obviously not my boots!) clean and dry. I didn't mind the slow pace though; it was a relaxing way to end what had proven to be a fun but tiring day.
On the final approach to the hut you pass kennels (used for housing permitted hunting dogs) before tent sites (square wooden edging filled with soft bark and palm fibre chips) and finally reaching the new and luxurious (for a hut) Pahautea Hut (right next to the much smaller old one which can still be used for overflow). Symi, Janosch and Celestino were already there. We all caught up for a bit, sitting out in the setting sunshine on the front deck, before heading inside and each seeing to our own dinners and various hiker evening chores. I didn't get to the lookout til around 6:30, so it was after 7 when I got to the hut and nigh on 8 by the time my pasta snack was ready. I was just about to eat when a face loomed out if the twighlight outside the window: it was John. I went to open the door and say hi; I felt for sure he'd have been ahead of me due to my rest day.
And so there were seven of us in the hut, all TA hikers. I would have loved to have stated up and enjoyed it but the conversations had separated into French and German groups over dinner and I was too knackered to try and initiate anything. Right after dinner, and long before anybody else, I went off to bed.
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