A bit off track in the Orongorongos

The Remutaka range contains the populous highways and many huts of the mid Orongorongo valley, the bleak, eroded escarpments of the south coast, less traveled rugged ridges and deep cut streams running up to the rail trail and Remutaka hill in the north, and somewhere between, the rich protected forests of the water treatment catchment. Apart from the eastern parts towards Wainuiomata, there are relatively few marked tracks and plenty of scope to go off piste. 

What:    Solo navigation trip

Where:  Orongorongos

Why:     Practice navigation, explore some new ridges and travel the Whakanui track 

Map:     Link

The trip I have in mind this weekend is to skirt the edge of the water treatment catchment in the north, head down the ridge and over Orongorongo then drop and climb onto the Remutaka range to navigate to the Papatahi track then exit via the Whakanui track. Somewhat ambitious but there are a few plan Bs on the intention sheet that can be called up.

I had in mind that there was a track up through the bush from the back of Nae Nae somewhere to the 4WD track along the Eastern Hutt hills. The topo map shows one from Wilkie Crescent, so at 7.30am I leave the warm car and head between a couple of houses to what turns out to be a firebreak. 

The break climbs steadily and the valley floor opens behind with the sound of the suburbs waking up and a goods train drifting up. It turns out to be a firebreak that Eleanor and I explored on MTBs one summer in the late '80s when we checked out most of them along these hills. This break is particularly familiar, I spot the corner where I stopped and didn't get out of the toe clips fast enough; Eleanor only laughed a little bit as she fished me out of the blackberry patch. A bit further up is the steep section that, to her credit, Eleanor attempted to come down but ended up over the handlebars and a little dented.

About half an hour later on the ridge a left turn sees me following the solid 4WD track. A short distance along is the top of the track I had meant to take: a walking track from Rata Street.

Kodak photo stop - top of Rata Street track looking towards harbour
The locals clearly can't abide unmolested information boards 

It's cloudy and soon a cold drizzle sets in, but not quite enough to stop and get the coat out.  The track plods up to eventually give a view down a damp Stokes Valley before joining the ECNZ road.

I'll skip a few details here, suffice to say that there is a very long 2m high perimeter fence along a fair chunk of the catchment. It has possum traps at regular intervals and is well maintained with a good quality 4WD track along it. There is also a lot of pine, scrub, farmland and private property.

A magnificent fence

On one side is the fence and the mist shrouded valleys of prehistoric forest in the water catchment. On the other side, there is the orderly green of life style blocks and pines in Whitemans Valley. Land cover outside the fence is mainly farmland but there is also pine, scrub and private property.

 

At a bit before 10am the top of Devine is anything but. The track potters up and into a patch of bush and it's possible that it just misses the top but there didn't seem to be much of any note. A bit further along at 631 the fence is still there and it's over a kilometer further before it runs out at an unnamed knob above the watershed between the headwaters of the Orongorongo and Narrow Neck Stream.

Last views of Whitemans Valley

Mt somewhat Devine

I have noble intentions of avoiding the water catchment, so take a compass bearing and duck into the bush to follow the watershed down and up to the next ridge. Provided I stay on the outside of the watershed line I'm not in the catchment.  The Regional Council is quite justifiably proud of the catchment. It has been managed to control pests and is probably the best example of bush as it once was in the Wellington region. It is also part of a complicated water supply network encompassing bores in the Hutt, the catchments of the Wainui, Orongorongo and Hutt rivers and a complex distribution network. They periodically do tours into the catchment and it's worth signing up for one.

There's a bit of a ground trail but I quickly lose it and just follow a bearing. The terrain to the north drops steeply in to Narrow Neck Stream - keep out of there and my line is fine.  It's not too steep and before too long I'm climbing the other side with a slight trace of a trail and occasional bits of pink tape.

Spot height 730 is where I join the ridge line in dense forest. It's about 11.45 and there's a bit of ground trail which is relatively easy to follow when the ridge is narrow but when it broadens it's pretty easy to wander off line and there's little in the way of visual cues to find it again.

A southeaster is blowing damp cold air across the ridge and there's nothing to see but mist through the occasional break in the trees. At one point I drift off the ridge in the wrong place and have to extricate myself from a gully, wasting a fair bit of time. It is amazing how quickly you lose your sense of direction so a fair chunk of the time I wander along with compass in hand.

It's damp and mossy and through out the trip there is a lot of tree fall which frequently makes any ground trail hard to follow. It could be wishful thinking but it certainly feels like the bush is less browsed than in the Tararuas. There are a lot of indications of pest control, including V notch planks nailed diagonally on to trees in a number of places  - I assume to peel possums or some such thing.

What with wandering off track and stopping to add layers it is almost 2pm when I get to Orongorongo (the high point). Basically, it's claggy with nothing to see. It's low mossy bush and scrub with no view. At a few points it's easiest to crawl to move about. If there was a view it would be westward across the Orongorongo headwaters to a low ridge then a drop into the Wainuiomata East Branch, a row of ridges then Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt and the Harbour.  Maybe the windmills above Wellington and the Kaikouras beyond to the left. Or today ... mist.

It's still the edge of the water catchment at this point. I head on towards spot height 820 and then 805 where in theory I should drop off to the east over 589 to follow the catchment edge.  However the ground trail is stronger ahead and given the cold and short daylight hours now available it's safer to follow the ridge. Wairongomai Saddle will have to keep for another day.

The trail comes and goes but I manage to keep on the fading ridge, dropping eventually through untracked undergrowth to exit right on the junction between the Orongorongo River and the unnamed stream from Wairongomai Saddle.

Looking up Orongorongo River, the unnamed stream on the right.

It's 5pm, getting dim and I'm pretty tired. Heading up onto the Remutaka Range is out of the question now so I find a flat spot well away from the stream (it's part of the Wellington water supply after all) and set up my bivvy tent. The amount of fallen branches in this forest means a bit of care in choosing a site clear of aerial hazards.

Settling in for a comfy night ...

It gets dark quickly and I have the head torch on to finish setting up for the night. The intermittent drizzle has cleared and the southeaster is absent from the bottom of this wee valley. The light fades to dark and the world shrinks to the cramped quarters of the tent and a dehy meal for two. My feet slowly thaw and not long after 6.30 there's nothing for it but to turn in with the sound of the stream and the river drowning out the sounds of the bush. I had thought I might be lucky enough to hear a kiwi, but if there were any about they didn't wake me up.

The tent doesn't seem to get too damp from condensation and I have a gloriously long sleep. Just before 7 it's still dark at the bottom of the valley amidst tall trees but by the time I've broken camp it's light enough to head off about 7.40.

The original plan to head up onto the Remutaka Range and bash along the ridge to the Papatahi track and a steep descent to the Orongorongo River is not the smartest move as I'm pretty tired from yesterday and a day on the tops in weather like yesterday wouldn't be the best. I suspect the Council would prefer I didn't wade down the river (although the standard of treatment at the water plant is very high and would easily cope with my boots being rinsed in the river).

I decide to activate one of my contingency plans - to exit up a spur to the water supply access road. I choose a likely spur on the map and head off - to my surprise the spur has markers; not much ground trail to start with and a lot of tree fall on the lower slopes but the markers are frequent enough to keep on line and travel becomes easier further up.

The bush is varied and beautiful with some superb giants. Despite tired legs after yesterday it's only about 45 minutes up to the road which is wide and solidly built.

Water works access road - middle of nowhere

To cut a long story short, I navigate a route out of the catchment which turns out to be well used by pest control operators with an impressive number of rat and stoat traps.

It could be imagination but it seems that there is a lot more dead fall and undergrowth than in the Tararuas which makes the going a bit treacherous in places. The southerly starts in again so I'm happy enough to get to the high point on the ridge a bit before 1030, a nondescript knob amidst the trees and the point at which the track descends before climbing again but into somewhat improved weather, even vouchsafing views towards Wellington.

On the ridge

The high point - is tha' it then?

Wainuiomata and beyond

The cloud to the east has lifted and there's a few clearings so some good views across Wainuiomata and out to Wellington are revealed.

Same view, a little further along

There is a track I expect to meet when I leave the catchment area, and indeed I come across a wide, well benched track but not where it is marked on the map. However, it means I can relax and lope along with out worrying about navigation, footing or being poked in the face. The track is clearly very old and doesn't look very well used so I wonder what it was built for, in between contemplating the second mistake I'd found on topo maps recently.

With half an eye on the altimeter I gradually realise that the track has not climbed where it should have. Odd. The compass confirms I am on a slightly different heading than expected. Odder. Still it's going down into the right valley so let's see where it goes.

There are plenty of traps along the way with eggs held in a cradle of nails - clearly irresistible to stoats. The track sidles then drops and finally zigzags down a narrow ridge. I'm hoping I wont be popping out in the water catchment. Just before the bottom there is a sign identifying this as the "Pack Track" then the track ends abruptly at a non-descript gravel patch at the end of a side road.

Bottom of the Pack Track - not much to see.

To cut a long story short - I have come out in the catchment and now have the potentially embarrassing task of exiting past various gates, signs and buildings. I don't meet anyone so no lengthy explanations are required.

The final thing is to organise a pick up. There's no cell cover until the Coast Road where I discover that home command is asleep on the job so it ends up being a long 11km of road walking.

So ... ticks in the box for Orongorongo, circumnavigation of a large part of the catchment, navigation practice, another night in the Macpac bush cocoon ... not so successful in terms of avoiding the catchment itself, knocking off the Remutaka ridge to Papatahi, the Whakanui track and hearing kiwi.

Plenty of unfinished business for another trip or two.