One is a type of sea spirit that can be heard singing on the coast or sea - another a word describing the sound of running water, and the last is one of 70 atua offspring of Rangi and Papa (according to Elsdon Best). I don't know which is the case but I note that a nearby stream is called Patupaiarehe which according to the Maori dictionary are ..."fairy folk - fair-skinned mythical people who live in the bush on mountains. Although like humans in appearance, the belief is that they do not eat cooked food and are afraid of fires."
The area is south of Palmerston North and apparently used by Rangitāne o Manawatu to cross the range and also for lighting fires to send signals to their whanaunga in times of battle.
My interest is a little more prosaic in origin - it's at the northern limits of the range with topography that indicates that navigation might be challenging (i.e. flat).
The trip is also unusual in that I have company - Angela is up for a bit of a challenge and a road trip to Iona and Col's.
What: One day nav trip
Where: Arawaru - northern Tararuas
Why: New territory, training for Taupo
When: 7 October 2017
Who: Angela and me
Map:
The weather forecast for the weekend is wet, more wet but little wind. We've chucked bikes in the car and have a number of options starting with a Saturday walk.
At 7am we leave the car at the end of Kahuterawa Road and head up the well formed track beside the stream, passing the Te Araroa trail on the way (the half way point is apparently very close to here). It's raining and keeps it up most of the day so we won't mention it again.
The stream is up and turbid - it would be a lovely walk in summer with swimming holes, and the steep valley sides providing shade. An hour in there is a swing bridge - I'm a little unsure about the route up valley so we scout across to see if there is track going our way - no luck, but we are diverted by a flock of trail runners chattering breathlessly down the hill and across the bridge. They don't see us lurking in the undergrowth. The diversion is profitable though with Angela finding a native snail shell in the leaf litter - Iona had said there were some in the area so it's pretty cool to actually see the evidence.
There's a well beaten track heading up the true right, past the spur by Ross Creek (we will come down here later), and up to Quartz Creek. A few metres up Quartz Creek tape markers on the other side indicate a route onto the spur between Quartz Stream and Kahuterawa Stream. We gird our respective loins and start climbing.
The track starts steeply but is marked and has a reasonable foot trail. We make good progress, climbing above the sound of the streams and start to hear birds, we also have a reasonably close encounter with a kereru. A largish animal disappears into the undergrowth but we don't see what it is - my guess is a deer. There are plenty of fresh prints on the track.
The trees shorten as we climb and at pt 624 we emerge into a clearing which, on a good day, would no doubt have splendid views. Today we just pause to add layers - it's decidedly cooler up here.
With no view we take a bearing and find a few triangles leading on towards Arawaru - the way is a lot less travelled and the triangles peter out after a short while. Tape markers continue though.
Rather than head straight to the peak I plan to head west and south along the main range of the Tararuas. This is simply to pick up two spot heights (600 and 604). Angela gamely puts her trust in my map and compass skills as we head off into the featureless landscape.
There are tape markers and we find a couple of informal signs (one indicating a route to Scott Road). As we swing around past 600 we discover that there are tape markers heading off to places we are not intending to go; at one point we find ourselves on a wide cut track which after a while has veered off in quite the wrong direction.
Eventually we start a descent that indicates we have passed our destination. I cast about to confirm where we are and at one point call out to locate Angela - no response ... I relocate closer to where I think I left her - this time there's a muffled noise and I hurry through the undergrowth with visions of her face down in mud having been attacked by a vagrant bush lawyer. She is upright but pointing at her mouth - apparently my calls have coincided exactly with the moment that she grabbed the passing opportunity to cram in some food - she's completely unable to speak.
The plan now is to back track to a point where the slope down to the Patupaiarehe stream is gentle so we can cross and climb to Arawaru. The map gives no clues about the vegetation but I'm expecting that there might be a bit of unpleasant scrub.
The down hill is straight forward and the bottom flat and scrubby. We worm our way through tight wet scrub occasionally crawling underneath. Slowly the slope steepens and the scrub gives way to bush for a reasonably open saunter upwards. There are a few more scrubby bits and no signs of human passage but clearly quite a few animals about, so progress is good.
We join up with a track marked with orange tape which confirms where we are and leads us through a healthy leather wood belt onto Arawaru. The trig slowly emerges from the clag marking the highest point for the day (767m).
I've been conscious of the time and this is a decision point - either follow the trail back to where we came up (minus the thrashing around pt 604) - which is more direct. Or continue on around the catchment to tracks which are marked on the map and likely to be quicker travel.
Angela's legs are up to it, so we continue east along the ridge through more leather wood. Fortunately, someone has cut a tunnel through the worst bits and there are orange tape markers reasonably frequently. There are a few points where a fallen branch makes it tricky to find the route or where the canopy rises and we are worming through moss festooned trunks with little indication of the ridge line - each time with a bit of casting about we find a marker and I only need to keep a casual eye on the compass. This type of travel is much quicker than pure navigation and speeds up even more when we emerge on a swathe of a track after 664 - clearly the well formed and evidently popular Otangane loop track.
The rain has eased and the cloud base lifted so when we get to a view spot near pt 550 we can identify the ridge we have followed, the upper slopes of Arawaru (not quite the top) and the spur we travelled up in the morning. Pts 600 and 604 are hidden beyond. It's sort of like an anatomy lesson of our day's travels. Angela enjoys getting a visual sense of the distance we have covered.
The flat tops here are decidedly muddy so we are splotching along with a fair amount of sliding but Angela's trail shoes hold up fine. The area has signs and tracks all over the place. A handy notice board before we start the descent down the spur by Ross Creek provides a map and we identify where the Plantinum mines loop is (not for today though).
The bits of rock that we see on the tops during the day are reddish with a lot of quartz - quite different to what I'm used to further south and I wonder if this is why someone thought to look for Platinum up here.
The track down is muddy but well constructed - Angela takes the 2 hours to the car park sign as a challenge so we whistle down at a good rate. On the way we meet our first person for the day - a young tourist in shorts and light shirt in the rain. It's after 4pm and he has a very small pack so we wonder about the wisdom of his choices. We also find our second giant earthworm of the day - they seem to come out onto the track in the soggy conditions so I carefully lift it out of harms way.
At the bottom we join the track we followed in. The river could be a little higher after a day of rain but we are a little more focused on putting one tired foot in front of another.
With a few minutes to go I finally hear the sound I have been waiting for all day. The repeated lifting whistles of a shining cuckoo. I'd heard one last weekend too - more than anything they are the harbingers of summer. I've not seen one up close but they apparently have a beautiful iridescent green back. The wretched little parasites maraud into NZ after swanning around the Solomons and New Guinea over winter. They lay their eggs in the nests of the poor little battler; the grey warbler, leaving them to raise the chick while they enjoy their hedonistic life style. We briefly contemplate the discussion between Mr and Mrs G Warbler when junior turns out to be five times the size of his parents.
A couple turns up at the carpark from across the stream just after us, looking similarly bedraggled - there is a brief amusing interlude with semi naked women struggling in steamed up vehicles to don dry clothes whilst maintaining decorum. I brave the ammoniac stink of the long drop to get changed.
It's taken about 1:15 from the 2 hr sign and we are both quite tired after the day. I'm impressed that Angela has spent 10 hours on her feet with no sit down stops - great training for biking around Taupo I'm sure! We have only paused for navigation and (virtually non-existent) views.
Back at the ranch, Iona and Col are coping with an invasion what with brother number three and partner also turning up plus guests for tea. We enjoy a superb meal but Angela and I are pretty much falling asleep afterwards - she gets the stamina prize by getting up at 4am to watch the rugby with Col.
The planned excursions on Sunday are cancelled due to the "rain" and in favour of pancake breakfast followed by lunch out. We leave Iona and Col to it and head back for Wellington.
The sort of weekend that makes you yearn for more of the same. Thank you.
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