tramping new zealand

I’d love some better, more summery weather.

It’s almost February, and I had three layers of wool on my torso, my wool pants, and wool beanie on. Oh, and my reserve pair of footwear, my jandals.

Outside was super foggy, not that it mattered much. Some very heavy rain in the night, so I was fortunate not to be in my tent. Better to have it as my pillow.

By the time I’d done some track cutting to what I thought was the toilet, it wasn’t, just the meat safe, it was almost 9 am, and the rain had almost stopped. Still pretty foggy despite the wind.

Why not complete the loop back to the car?

The DOC sign said it would take half an hour to get back to the Northern Henderson Tramline Track junction, but I re-timed it. Clearly close to double that, and that was without stopping.

The return turned out to be an easier walk than yesterday‘s tramline. The vegetation regrowth from previous logging was interesting, to a point.

The best parts were the threecreek crossings, which were very pretty. Didn’t seem to take long before I was staggering out of the forest and up the road to complete the loop.

Near the carpark, some foreign hikers were intent on doing the loop too, but were just starting out. It was after 12 pm, and I didn’t rate their chances. I suggested the DOC times were optimistic and the track conditions were not entirely manicured. They said they would turn around if they didn’t feel they would make it.

After that, more than 15,000 steps in the late stage of the day, the plan to abandon a possible Waihaha Hut expedition was hatched. Tacking on another 10 km, even on a relatively easy track, did not seem prudent.

Instead, I headed to Palmerston North to prepare for some time in the Ruahines.

Here’s hoping for some better weather. It was about time summer started.