Being somewhat asocial when it comes to club activities, I don't engage enough to put my name down when a trip comes up on the schedule. However, I have said I'm available if needed. Amanda, who doe the sterling work of rounding up volunteers and keeping the trap lines maintained, has e-mailed to see if I can help do the rounds of the club's main area in the upper Makororo catchment (north eastern part of the range) - this should be fun.
What: Trapping Trip for Whio protection
Where: Ruahines - upper Makaroro
When: 27-28 January 2018
Who: Amanda, Illona, Fons, self
Map:
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| We're not in the Tararuas anymore Toto |
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| Yellow is where Amanda and Ilona went |
It's about five hours from Wellington so it is well dark by the time we are driving through a forest plantation with rabbits scuttering for cover in the headlights. We stop at what seems to be a random section of road - the presence of two cars indicating that the four-bed Sentrybox Hut might be full already.
Amanda and Illona debate camping on the paddock as there are limited flat spots around the hut, but fortunately we wander the few minutes up the track to discover it is empty and tidy. It's compact so we maneuver around each other as we head straight into bed.
In the morning rabbit baits are distributed. I'm not sure how the process works to turn the Flopsy Bunnies into what looks like hairy date squares - but I'm pleased it doesn't happen in my kitchen. Trapping kits (bum bag with tools for opening and tripping traps and other essentials like gloves and hand gel) are also handed out.
The grunt up the hill starts immediately behind the hut. It's a bit over 700m climb in warm clag and Ilona sets a good pace. She also manages to keep a steady chat going with Amanda - clearly way too much energy. It's pretty good going, a few slippery bits with black leaf hummus lower down and a rocky out crop part way up where there would probably be a good view.
At the top we join the ridge forming the eastern boundary of the Upper Makaroro river catchment. At between 13 and 1400m it is below the bushline which I find a bit weird (the bushline in the Tararuas is usually 11-1200m). It is very pretty even in the clag. A wide track corridor through short mossy beech with some thick old emergent stumps and lots of herbs underfoot.
Illona and Amanda ensure the newbies watch and then practice trap handling. The simple routine quickly becomes automatic: open, disarm, check and clear, rebait, rearm, close, next ... and so it goes.
The traps are DOC 200s - named for the force with which they close. They are screwed into plywood boxes with mesh ends designed to minimise non-target catch. The bait is dehydrated rabbit - which we place beside the trap mechanism. Other baits and lures can be used including eggs, which introduce a whole new level of handling challenges.
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| First trap - time for a lesson |
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| Fons - lifting the bar |
We soon get into a rhythm and make good progress - so much so that we catch up with the other two when they have a pause.
The trap numbering is a handy marker of progress so we know when we are approaching the intersection with the track up Golden Crown Ridge. The intersection marks where the catchment boundary swings west to traverse the northern edge. The intersection is in a boggy clearing so we don't sit down as we have a bite and adjust kit.
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The herb field underfoot looks different to the Tararuas - I note there are a lot of Sundews, festooned with sticky insect catching droplets.
The trap line up here has been done recently so we swing along just glancing into check the traps haven't been sprung.
It's about a kilometre to Aranga hut which is a dump. I've previously waxed lyrical about Waiotauru Hut being the biggest dump in the Tararuas, but Aranga compresses dumpyness into a far smaller area which intensifies the impact. We swiftly close the door on a hut that has clearly been written off and is being left to decay.
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| Aranga dump |
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| If this is the tops at 1400m then what's that tree doing up here? |
Fons and I continue around the ridge taking a break for lunch on 1396 after a dip through a bushy saddle. We are just on the borderline where clag blowing in from the south is breaking up. The view north comes and goes as the boundary shifts. From here we are following the ridge SW down the western edge of the catchment - the tops are fairly broad and there's a dog leg west to climb to Piopio.
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| North from 1396 towards Ikawatea |
The traps along this section prove to be a bit harder to find - the trail through the tussock is not very clear and the wee poles by each trap can look like a stick. As they have been checked recently we continue to just glance at them as we pass.
The clag comes in and we have to resort to compass and map at times - Fons has an ipad with GPS which is a handy backup.
Some of the traps are missing baits (mice?) so we look more closely at them and rebait where necessary. There's a brief excursion on to the wrong spur in the clag before Piopio but this is quickly identified and we are soon back on track.
As we approach where we will be leaving the tops to find Totara spur, Fons realises he has dropped a water bottle - he pops back to the last few tracks he checked to not find it while I snooze in the tussock. The warm clag and little wind makes it quite pleasant.
The navigation to find Totara spur is tricky - the top is wide and featureless and the traps are very difficult to spot - we only miss one but there's a bit of zigzagging involved. As we start the drop towards the spur though, the clag lifts and we are at last given views of the route we have taken during the day and the spur ahead. We locate the first of the traps of the line we are rebaiting and swing back into the routine ... open, disarm, check and clean, rebait, close, next trap ...
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| The clag lifts ... Piopio on our ridge on left |
I'm a bit faster than Fons so periodically I relieve him of a few baits - with the extra baits used on the tops we run out and have to crib a few from tomorrow's share.
The track is well formed and the spur is beautiful. Open beech with the sweet earthy smell of honey dew in the warm air. Beech leaves line the mossy path and further down there are Totara, Rimu and other species.
Pausing on the way down we are visited by some riflemans, Mr and Mrs bush tit, the odd fantail and a warbler. To my untrained eye there are more birds here than I normally see in the Tararuas.
It's late afternoon when we drop down beside Upper Makaroro Hut. It's a four bedder and in good heart - a bit bigger and lighter than Sentry Box. There is information about Whio on the wall and in various trips in the log.
Amanda and Illona are well ensconced having finished their line and been for a swim. With all the tasks for the day complete we relax over dinner, which follows the standard club routine (shared dinner with one person tasked with bringing dessert) - Fons distinguishes himself by producing some interesting traditional dutch biscuits. We turn in early with daylight still streaming through the skylight.
In the morning Illona reports hearing Whio whistling which is duly noted in the log. Nice to know the object of the exercise is thriving (or at least still in existence).
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| The Party |
There's no hurry - we depart at 7.30, after checking the few A24s at the bottom of Totara spur. We are immediately distracted by the buddleia on the river flats which Ilona demonstrates are exhibiting signs of being chewed out by a biological control agent introduced for the purpose (the bug probably found it's own way to this isolated patch of plants).
After crossing the 'river' we start the steep climb up the spur and back to the ridge we started on yesterday.
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| From near the bottom of the spur |
It's a steep climb Parks Peak Hut. With four bodies the traps are rapidly checked - with a slightly faster rate of climb I tend to do the lion's share so soon run out of baits. We take a couple of breaks on the way to sit and exchange alarm calls with some whiteheads and to watch while the single dead stoat for the weekend is removed from a trap.
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| The best sort of stoat |
It's good forest so there are few views back to the breaking clag on the tops. Near the ridge we get some glimpses including of Kylie Biv hovering on the edge of the cloud intermittently catching the sun (it's a bit further south from where Fons and I left the ridge yesterday).
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| Looking westish - Piopio on horizon in middle Amanda & Illona's spur in mid-ground pointing towards the hut. Totara spur somewhere on left |
Parks Peak Hut is on the ridge near the top of our track - on the edge of a clearing at about 1330m. It's a lovely looking spot - it would be great in snow.
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| Parks Peak Hut |
We quickly rock north along the ridge encountering a couple of flocks of whiteheads in the low canopy that respond to our noises and come to investigate. Because of the additional baits needed yesterday we run out and have to split baits - Illona is not too bothered as there are also eggs in the traps which we leave to be cleaned out on another trip.
With the last trap primed we head down the spur we came up yesterday. Amanda and I are a little ahead so wait for the others at Rocky Knoll watching the clag curling and drifting in the eddies coming up the gullies. It's hot and the sun is trying to break through. As we drop lower it gradually clears to give a view across farmland to the island ridge formed by Wakarara Range.
In the open sun it gets even hotter - we come across drag marks in the dust and wonder if a hunter has been through - it turns out to be a woman with two children and a tot on her shoulders (not sure who she was dragging!). We are somewhat impressed - it's no small feat to navigate the steep track in such fashion in this heat. They catch up as we wait at Sentrybox hut - she used to live nearby and remembered coming up the track as a child - it's fantastic to see the connection being carried to another generation.
The car is hot, and with four sweaty trampers just a little ripe for the start of the long drive home. However, it's early afternoon so we have plenty of time, just stopping at a rather good cafe in Norsewood. We say our farewells at Wellington Railway station with that little warm glow of having made some tiny contribution to the survival of Whio in the Ruahines - and, who knows, maybe they'll spread to the Tararuas one of these days ...
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