Curiously I woke up with the introductory song to The Lion King II playing in my head ("He lives in you...he lives in me...he watches over, everything we see..."). Just as curiously this switched to the suffragette song from Mary Poppins as I set about making breakfast and packing up ("Cast off the shackles of yesterday..."). Oh well, it made for well paced walking song...well, sort of.
It was the song but me that was slow this morning. Perhaps I overslept but it was a slow 1.5km to Blackwood Stream (aptly named after the numerous black beech growing along it's banks; the stream itself is actually the biggest of three you come across in quick succession). I refilled with water, having used my last 500mL for breakfast, and not expecting to see water again until late afternoon. The rest of day's walk would be ridge walk, but I couldn't be in a hurry. While my water treated I rinsed my sweat-soaked shirt in the stream and mended my map pocket, which is already coming apart t the seams despite being newly replaced whilst on my break! Grrr.
When I finally set of I was pleasantly surprised when the climb up to the top of the ridge was steady but not steep. All the while you pass through nice native bush that is diverse a but varies in which species of tree dominates in different areas (beech, rimu, some tawa-like tree...). There were tree ferns throughout (one of my favourites!) and numerous ground ferns in places. The only reall downside of the vegetation is the track being lined with some kind of sturdy-leafed grass-like plant. It's a nice bright green and on their own the leaves are quite pretty (if you like ornamental grasses, which I do), but at this time if year every patch has thrown up numerous seed-laden stalks that are all but unavoidable and coat you in seeds as you walk past. Trying not to perpetuate the problem along te trail for future seasons I at first tried to keep up with pulling them all off, but had to give the task up as impossible, and fairly pointless as within a few steps they usually fall of again anyway. The only seeds I now stop to ensure I pull off are those belonging to a little green-red ground cover bush which again, has nice leaves, but also has these horrid pom-pom clusters of hooked brown seeds, which initially stick to you in a nice little ball but this soon falls apart as you move, dispersing vicious little tailed seeds all up your trouser legs, through your shoes or anywhere they can get a grip. If you're unfortunate enough to stand in a patch of these pom-poms (such as when nature calls you to the bushes off trail) you are likely to emerge with trouser legs matted in disintegrating pom-poms. In one such incident at Scott's Rd it took a full fifteen minutes to de-seed! Fortunately the nasty little weed doesn't seem to grow well in established native bush and today there was comparatively little of it on the trail.
Somewhere along the undulating ridge I stopped for a rest break and ate a muesli bar. Unfortunately I hadn't gone on another 1km before my stomach said "I'm going to need more food if you want me to do this, specifically fat and protein!". Alright stomach; I sat down again and had a handful of scroggin, 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter and 2 squares of chocolate (I'm conscious of the fact that my current food supply needs to last 8 days!). Two minutes up the trail my stomach was celebrating. In ten minutes my legs piped up and said that that was all very well but how's about sharing the windfall? Within twenty minutes or so my whole body felt much more alive and I lope along happily. But for whatever reason it was still a very slow day.
I got to Horowhenua Lookout at 12:30, but had recently snacked so stopped only to take photos before carrying on (after ever so briefly not passing up a good seat). Shortly after beginning the steep descent off the ridge I reached Archey's Lookout, and though there was no official seat I stopped for lunch. You can see out to the coast from here, and while the trail notes say on a clear day you can see the South Island, I had a clear day and all I could see was the northern tip of Kapiti Island poking out from behind the next ridge. It was a nice view from a nice sunny spot however, and a good time to refuel and have boots off for a bit.
Beyond the lookout the steep descent continues, but I reached the bottom sooner than I expected, emerging onto a flat patch of forest with a banked edge that screamed "old road". It is in fact an old tramway, and the track and TA follows it all the way 'out of the woods'. My hopes that "tramway" meant easy grade were justified, and though there are numerous stream crossings (presumably any bridges were made of wood and have long rotted away), the stream was running very low and I had to no more than splash through it on each occasion. All in all, this bit of the track was a doddle and yet I still didn't get through it very fast and made very slow time still.
After a number of small clearings where the modern walking track crosses and old road the trail emerges into a large clearing with a small plaque and a vault loo. Sadly there was no toilet paper I could steal (some other hiker probably noticed their supply was running low like I've just done and had the same idea!). Since toilet paper is one of the unfortunate essentials one needs to carry when tramping in NZ, I resolved to ask at the first house I came to along the short road section through the small settlement of Makahika.
Beyond the end of the bush walking track you head out to the road along a 4WD track through golden grassed farmland. There's a river crossing to keep things interesting, and scattered groups of sheep that never seemed to figure out that if they ran sideways off the track they'd escape this overburdened interloper a lot faster than if they run a little ways ahead each time the interloper catches them up...
Finally I came to the stile over the fence to the road (gravel). This leads through a narrow gorge round to a widening valley, and not long after dodging the only car heading out and back to the farm, I soon came across other signs of civilisation. The first house I came to turned out to be the Makahika Outdoor Recreation Centre. The notes say you can sometimes get accommodation here on weekends. It is not a weekend and I don't require accommodation, but hopefully a roll of toilet paper might be in the offing...?
I went round to the door and knocked. A woman answered, took one look at me and welcomed me right in. Upon making my unusual request to see if I might buy a roll of toilet paper off her the woman, Sally, whisked me inside, assuring me she would not only supply me with a roll of toilet paper (free of charge) but also dinner and a place to sleep for the night. I had intended to go further that day (it was not yet 4pm), but Sally was adamant that there was nowhere to camp between here and Waiopehu Hut and that that hut was a 6hr walk away. But if I wanted to stay they had a school group in that were about to go bush for the night so I could gave a bunk room in the lodge house all to myself. There were also hot showers and I could do some laundry too if I liked. It would take a bigger hiker than me (metaphorically) to say no to all of that. Sally went to print off the forecast for the Tararua Ranges, leaving me to peruse and write in her visitors book. A few people I know had been through, including Taylor who wrote "a life changing experience!" in the comments. I soon found out why--Sally had given him her old iPhone since his phone had died and she'd just bought a new Samsung. I assumed she'd also given him the same hiker dream-treatment she was currently giving me. I hope it really was life-changing for him.
Twenty minutes after I arrived off I was sent, down to the lodge, freshly furnished with the seven day forecast for the Tararuas Ranges, a care package containing some cherries, two strips of Cadbury's chocolate, some vogels bread and an avocado, and a hastily scribbled note for the number I should ring to book a discounted water taxi when it comes time to do the Queen Charlotte Track. It was all a bit much to take in, but I thanked Sally profusely, said hi to Sam the dog in passing on the way out, and headed off down the driveway to the lodge.
The lodge proved to be in the middle of some form of organised chaos, specifically a handful of teachers and parents trying to organise about twenty primary school aged children for a swimming trip to the river and an overnight outing at the rec centre's bush hut. I spotted someone in the rec centre livery and asked about accommodation. Sally had phoned ahead and I was expected. A cheerful outdoor adventure guide from the UK named Emily took me inside and showed me the lounge, kitchen, showers and laundry and told me to make myself at home. So I did.
Extracting clothes and wash bag from my pack I left it in the lounge and went to shower. There's nothing so nice as a completely unexpected opportunity to get clean using warm water! When I emerged, cleaned, dried, dressed and moisturised 15 minutes later the school group had gone and the whole place was eerily quiet. I set about putting on a wash and then made myself comfortable in the lounge to update my journal and slowly chomp my way through the cherries and chcolate. Fortunately I had finished chomping and cleared all evidence away when Sally popped her head in later and mentioned in passing that there was not to be any eating in the lounge; Emily had forgotten to mention that on our little tour!
Sally spared a moment to ask if I was settled and had everything I needed, but don't mistake my description of her generosity for a Mrs Weasley-type of character. Being ex-military and with a rec centre full of errant school kids to run Sally's approach is direct, efficient and focused, sparing a few moments as required to check on the progress of things previously put in motion (like the housing of a lone hiker for the night). While it was perhaps a little jarring to be the centre of attention for that focus one second and not the next her generosity toward myself and other TAers was overwhelming, particularly as it is something that is a mere sideline to the tight ship that is Sally's running of the rec centre. While her husband apparently runs the Duke of Edinburgh courses the centre offers, the rec centre itself and it's other activities are Sally's domain.
I popped up to the house at one point to enquire about the Wifi password so I could fire off a couple of blog entries before going to seek out dinner. There was no one about but I'd been told there'd be a plate of good left for me in the fridge do I started my search there. There was a plate containing eight home made meat patties but I felt sure they couldn't be for me. Emily breezed through at one point, on the heels of a wet little boy who had appeared in the lounge doorway asking for Mrs Somebody's phone which he had been sent to get from the lounge. I told him I didn't know Mrs Somebody or her phone but that there was a phone left charging in the wall. He said it was supposed to have a charger too so after a moment's hesitation I pulled the phone free and gave it and the charger to the boy (there was only the one school group in as far as I could tell, and only the one phone left in the lounge). He disappeared, but was back about half an hour later with Emily and another guide, Hone, in tow; they'd come to collect some things for the group's overnight adventure and apparently the boy had also forgotten to pack some essential items. 'There's always one' I thought, as I hung out my washing on the line. Sadly it was too late to catch the sunshine and I resorted to using the drier (with permission). I mentioned to the others that the washing machine seemed to be struggling with it's wash cycle. It was making a weird screech each time it tried to turn and the spin cycle didn't seem to get much water out of the clothes. Hone didn't seem too concerned, but when he later put his washing in the machine positively screamed as it tried to turn, so much so I had to stop it and restart it a couple of times to get it to limp through the cycle.
For dinner Emily and Hone shared with me some sausages and homemade meat patties (strangely containing sunflower seeds, but absolutely delicious!). I washed up, then Emily took my through the Tararua walk on a map pinned to the walk. She's knows the mountains backwards so had lots of good stories and advice. It was interesting to see that TA barely touches the surface as far as possible walks through the a Tararuas goes. Oh well, I'll see at least some of them for myself tomorrow!
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