TARARUA RANGES TRAMPING TRIP: MT HOLDSWORTH - JUMBO CIRCUIT 22-23 Oct 2011

Our very first New Zealand overnight tramping trip. 

Destination: Tararua Ranges.

Level of excitement: High ;-)

Full of energy and enthusiasm we finished packing our old and new pieces of necessary tramping equipment, we put our tramping boots on and decided that the rain would not stop us from going. We jumped into the car and drove towards the Tararuas, the nearby mountain range. We were hoping that it would stop raining by the time we got there. It didn't.

We parked Tofik at Holdsworth road end and had a look at the information board - the map and some info about the area. The Tararua Ranges gets over 200 rainy days a year and basically it's rainy, cloudy, foggy and windy… Nice… We put our hoods on and started walking as it was getting close to lunchtime ;-)

Holdsworth Lodge -> Powell Hut

Wet, wet...

The track was very well graded and easy to walk on, the trees were keeping us dry(ish), the lookout points… well, they were there… we took a short side-trip to the Rocky Lookout, which apparently offers great views, but we could see nothing but clouds in all directions (up, forward and down), oh well, it happens… ;-)

The second part of the track was much steeper and we slowed down a lot, our water breaks were getting more frequent and we were feeling very unfit for all that tramping. Some people just zoomed up past us and we were still fighting. Once we (eventually) got out of the bush, we still had some more climbing to do, this time on the open tops. It was still raining and when we finally spotted the hut we were very excited! :-) 

The sign said it should take 4 hours to get to the hut and it seemed about right to us.

Powell Hut's location is beautiful and the hut is lovely,too. It sits at 1200 m above sea level and it has a very nice verandah with a great view. When we got there we saw loads of tramping (=hiking) boots on the verandah, so we took ours off as well before going inside. When we opened the door and walked in, we saw that someone was trying to get the fire going, there were some people cooking, eating, resting in bed, unpacking, etc. It was quite busy. The bunks with mattresses are on one side and the kitchen/dining area on the other side of the hut. There are gas cookers provided in the kitchen, but there is no tap inside (there is one just outside though, on the verandah). The two long drop toilets were a little bit less exciting, nice views none the less ;-)

It seems to be a rule that you reserve your sleeping spot for the night by putting a mattress down (when they're not being used, they rest on the bed leaning against the wall) and by placing your sleeping bag on top of it. So that was what we did, as there were still some mattresses left, and then we got changed into some dry clothes and spent some time outside as it had stopped raining and the clouds looked amazing! While we were cooking our dinner, it was quite interesting to watch other people prepare their food - you can always get some good ideas for future tramps ;-)

Just outside Powell Hut, when it stopped raining...

Outside Powell Hut, beautiful clouds :-)

Naughty Rob - snacking in bed, before dinner! ;-)

Sunset at Powell Hut

Later on, it turned out that I was sleeping next to a couple with some dogs and as much as I didn't really mind one of the dogs sleeping ON ME (yep… and it was quite a big & heavy dog, who found my legs comfortable enough to sleep on), I wasn't too impressed with the guy professionally snoring almost right into my ears…

The next morning I got up early, most people were still asleep and when I walked outside I couldn't believe the views! The Sun was just rising and it was such a lovely morning that I ran straight back in to get the camera and to wake Rob up - surely he wouldn't want to miss it…  ;-)

The verandah faces east, so although we got some really nice colours of the sky from the sunset, it is well worth getting up to watch the sunrise! :-) Beautiful!

Sunrise at Powell Hut

Good morning new day :-)

A little bit grumpy Rob before breakfast... ;-)

Powell Hut -> Mt Holdsworth -> Jumbo -> Jumbo Hut 

For our second day we had planned to go from Powell Hut to Jumbo Hut, which was meant to take about 4 hours and then either stay in Jumbo Hut for the night (that Monday was a bank holiday, so no worries about not turning up to work) or continue back to Holdsworth Lodge and the car park - another 4 hours.

After some breakfast and packing, we left Powell Hut about 8am and started climbing up towards Mt Holdsworth peak (1470m). 

Powell Hut. Goodbye... :-)

We had quite nice views for the first half an hour or so and then the clouds arrived, it got very foggy and we couldn't see anything anymore. 

Clear views for a while...

And here comes the fog...

On our way to Mt Holdsworth

It took us about an hour to reach Mt Holdsworth, and then a further 2 hours 20 minutes to get to Jumbo Peak (1405m). Although we had no views from the peaks, we enjoyed our little tramp and had plenty of chances to "expose ourselves to the wind" (as one of our friends used to say). We didn't meet many people on the track, it was very peaceful and quiet. The track was quite nice and not very difficult, but there were occasional steep drop-offs while walking along the ridge, and some fairly big mud patches ;-)

Mt Holdsworth (1470m) with no views at all...

Time for Jumbo peak...

Rob almost falling into the fog... :-O

... but I saved him, not to worry ;-)

Jumbo (1405m), not much views here either...

We spotted Jumbo Hut from the distance, maybe 20 minutes after Jumbo Peak and decided to stop at the hut for lunch and then to continue to the car park.

This part of the track took us pretty much spot on 4 hours but we were quite slow, just enjoying ourselves and not rushing anywhere ;-)

Jumbo Hut ahead :-)

Jumbo Hut is a lovely little hut (20 bunks), smaller than Powell Hut, but with a similar set out: bunks on the left, kitchen/dining on the right, there were gas cookers there as well, tap and sink just outside, little fire place in the corner, and the loo was in a magical misty location set in the trees ;-)

Jumbo Hut, bunk room

Jumbo Hut, kitchen/dining area

There were also some additional mattresses just under the roof (see photos), I wonder whether people actually sleep up there or if they take those mattresses down to use them on the floor…?

Strangely located mattresses at the back under the roof...

There was no one there when we arrived so we had it for ourselves for lunch ;-)

Jumbo Hut -> Holdsworth Lodge (out)

After some lazy times - almost 2 hours lunch break - it was time to move on. 

Mystical forest on the way down

The track from this hut was a little bit steeper than we had anticipated. It also started to rain, which made it very slippery - although we had some shelter from the trees, the rain made the tree roots very tricky. We were moving with a pace of a snail. We must have been quite a comical image to other people skipping down the track like a deer. We had no idea how they weren't falling over as much as they should of. After twice the expected amount of time, filled with swearing, sweating, slipping and threatening the Tararuas not to come back ever again, we finally reached the bottom of the mountain and Atiwhakatu Hut. We sat down for a few minutes, considered staying in the hut instead of carrying on, but in the end we decided to keep going. The track from the hut was much easier, much flatter and if it hadn't been for the rain it would have had lovely views. 

The fog never leaves...

We had to keep the pace up, as it was starting to get late and we were over an hour behind schedule… It was still raining and when we got to the car park it was quite dark and we were pretty soaked, but happy to see our van Tofik. After a quick change into some dry clothes and shoes and a few statements that we are definitely not coming back to the Tararuas ever again, we drove away, got the map out and started planning our next visit to those foggy, but beautiful mountain ranges. Of course we were coming back :-)

Wet and muddy Tararuas, just the way we like it ;-)

ROUGH LOCATION OF THE TARARUA RANGES:

WINDY WELLY 29 August 2011 – 19 December 2011

Location of Wellington, Hutt Valley and Tararua Ranges

We spent almost four months in the Wellington area and we had some really good times while living there. At the beginning we checked into the Top 10 Holiday Park in Lower Hutt, while looking for a place to rent. Rob was working and I had two interviews, after which I was very excited to find out that I got the job. 
So we were both very lucky and we became a happily employed couple for a few months ;-)

We were both working in the Hutt Valley (very close to Wellington), Rob in Lower Hutt and me in Upper Hutt. We decided to rent a room, and later on a flat, in Upper Hutt as it was cheaper and seemed quieter and nicer than Lower Hutt. We really liked it there.

Our daily routine was that Rob would drive to work, dropping me off to my work and then after work I would walk back (apart from when I was getting lifts off my lovely colleagues at work) and Rob would arrive home not much later after me :-)

Fun times at work

I could not imagine a more wonderful team to work with and it was such a pleasure to have met such great people and so hard to say goodbye to them when my contract ended... But I hope to stay in touch and to see them again :-)

Rob made some friends too, and he even managed to extend his contract for two additional weeks, so we were finishing our work at a similar time :-)

Working Monday to Friday we finally had our weekends back! Some of you may not believe it but we only went out for drinks in Wellington ONCE in those four months (it's true! honest!) and it was when our dear friend Hoon visited us for a few days. We had a fantastic time and burnt lots of calories dancing in Boogie Wonderland, got some breakfast from McDonalds (yuck) and took a morning train back home ;-)

Instead of spending our weekend time (and money) in pubs and bars, we were exploring the area and very quickly realised that tramping was what we enjoyed the most :-) By tramping I mean hiking (for our non-kiwi readers). After a couple of trips to Kaitoke Regional Park and Waiohine Gorge one day trips just weren't good enough anymore ;-) We wanted to do more and to go further.

Kaitoke Regional Park. Beautiful trees...

  

Kaitoke Regional Park. Beautiful views...

Kaitoke Regional Park. Beautiful rivers...

Kaitoke Regional Park. This way to Rivendell...

On our way for a day out in the capital city we would promise ourselves to just go and check a couple of things in some outdoor shops and then go and see the Botanic Gardens, the Carter Observatory, visit Te Papa museum, go for a free tour of the Parliament House, etc.

During our few visits to the capital we spent 99% of time in outdoor shops collecting our gear for tramping and we have never made it to any of the above attractions, apart from the museum, but even that was rushed and we didn't really see much. When we are back in Wellington after our travels around the South Island, we're gonna have to spend a whole day just doing all the touristy things in the city ;-)

Mt Victoria, Wellington. Beautiful views!

At the beginning it looked like we didn't need much at all, but with time we needed more and more, so that's how it all started and as we were getting a camping stove, some camping pots and a couple of sporks, we also bought some more tramping clothes and socks and head-torches and a tent and a camping towel and some dry sacks and some camping cups and gaiters and roll-mats and rain coats and a compass and a small sharp knife and bigger packs (on our first few 2-day-tramps we were carrying our daypacks as we didn't have any bigger packs, then we decided that one big pack for Rob should be enough and I could have my day pack and then we realised that we both really needed big packs, so we got one for me as well...) and loads of other bits and pieces (including our backcountry hut passes) :-)

Waiohine Gorge, Tararua Ranges

Waiohine Gorge, Tararua Ranges

All that tramping business was getting more and more interesting (and expensive) :-)

Our trip planning skills were a little bit poor at the beginning. One lovely lady at work belongs to a tramping club and she was very kindly offering us lots of advice: “So we were thinking of doing this tramp next weekend, what do you reckon? … What?! We need a whole week for it?! Oh... OK...” (we got better...)

We also started staying in New Zealand backcountry huts, which is always fun :-)

Backcountry huts – for those who have no idea what they would be – are little buildings at various locations (on the tracks), where you can spend a night while tramping. 

Most of them would have:

• bunks (either classic bunks or most common bed platforms – for example 10-people sleep on low level and 10 people on top level, sleeping next to each other – you get 75cm each so use it wisely)
• table and benches
• “kitchen” meaning a metal bench for cooking
• visitor book where you write your details in (name, planned route from the hut, backcountry hut pass number, etc)
• notice board with some information about the area, maps, some magazines (the oldest we have found was from 1991) and books left by trampers, some candles etc
• a tap outside – usually rain water
• a loo (usually a little walk away from the hut and usually a smelly long drop with lots of flies but very often with a nice view)
• a ticket box – for your backcountry hut tickets

Some would also have:

• a tap inside the hut
• a fire place
• a “cloak room” before you enter the main room – to leave all the wet/dirty gear in or space to even get changed into dry clothes
• drying rack / strings to hang your wet clothes up for drying
• a verandah (nice view)
• kitchen and bunk rooms separated or even a few separate bunk rooms

And very posh ones may have:

• flushing toilets
• toilet paper in the toilets
• gas cookers

Our first overnight tramping trips were in Tararua Ranges, not far from the Hutt Valley. Reports from our tramps will be posted later on :-)

We really enjoyed our time in Wellington and it gave us a taste of domesticated life in New Zealand with normal jobs and well away from the usual backpacker lifestyle. We look forward to revisiting Wellington on our way back from the South Island. We may even have time to stop by the best bakery ever, just down the road from where Rob worked (Daily Bread Bakery, Gracefield, Lower Hutt) to get some Steak and Garlic pies.

  

HOW OUR CAMPERVAN TOFIK WAS BORN...

So when we bought our van it looked like this: 

There was a bed in it, some horrible curtains on horrible yellow strings and some plastic baskets attached to the front.

There was also a carpet on the ceiling and we couldn't understand why until we took it down and saw that a big part of the ceiling was missing the foam and fabric and it was just rusty metal… Oh well… 

We took that bed out (managed to sell it on trademe.co.nz), measured the van, came up with some projects on paper, made a looong shopping list and zoomed to Bunnings Warehouse. 

Time to spend some money :-)

Rob on a serious shopping mission

Our mission to build our super-van Tofik had begun… 

First Rob insisted that we had to sand everything as much as we could so we got to it. 

Big thanks to Hoon for helping us with this unpleasant task :-)

After that we painted the floor :) 

Then we painted the metal elements in our bedroom/kitchen-to-be :-)

It was quite a messy job using up quite a few spray paint cans…

When we finished with the painting, it was about time to start building the bed - the main piece of furniture in our little home, which is also a sofa and a wardrobe at the same time :)

There was a lot of screws to be put in and without many tools it was a slow and painful process. We were lucky to get a chance to borrow some tools from Mike (cheers Mike!) and later on we even found a drill that we could borrow off Bryce (thank you!) :-)

After a few days (weeks?...) of cutting plywood, sanding edges, screwing pieces together, putting brackets and hinges on, glueing bits together, laughing and swearing we finally had our bed sorted. Rob is here presenting how it works :-)

The last screw goes in and the bed/sofa/wardrobe is finished :-)

This is how it opens - the wardrobe still empty at that point :)

Should we close it into the sofa version or fold it out into the bed? :-)

This is how the sofa becomes the bed :-)

Bedroom complete :-D

OK, time for the kitchen! :-)

Our idea was to have some kitchen storage space on the bottom level

then the next level would be designated for some everyday food/drinks/small dishes etc

and also it would be our "working" space where we could cook when 

the doors to this level become a bench :-)

And it works just as planned :-)

What's for dinner tonight? ;-)

My turn (again?!) to cook something...

Rob helping "in the kitchen"

After all that was done, we were happy as we knew that the hardest part was over :-D

Next there was time for some details / improvements :-)

So we painted the kitchen cupboards blue and filled them with all kinds of boxes, baskets and kitchen stuff :-) 

Thanks to Lyn we can even keep some food in proper air-tight containers :-D

We made some extra shelves for the front of our bedroom 

(just in front of the bed on one side)

The entry to our bedroom/living room

Our little bedroom shelves are very handy - we cook on them when it rains ;-)

We got ourselves some stuff sacks to go on the rail behind the seats (very handy and useful)

Stuff sacks in different colours and sizes

We bought lots of storage boxes matching our storage spaces ;-)

 We also bought a lock box and screwed it inside the big storage box (under-bed space) so we can store our valuables securely (meaning: our passports really…)

Our wardrobe and the lock box

Huge lock box to keep our passports safe :-) We stuff it with other things to save space :-)

We bought a big foam mattress, cut it into two bits of needed size, then we got some material to use as a mattress cover and some more material for the new curtains.

We made our own mattress covers! And our own curtains! That was thanks to lovely Claire who we borrowed a sawing machine from for weeks. Thank you, Claire :-)

We also got some cargo netting and fitted it on the side on the ceiling 

so it gives us extra storage space.

We also got a special fabric to cover the missing bit on the ceiling and covered the board on the back door with our curtain material, so it looks a little bit nicer :-)

We fitted some lights on the ceiling, so that we can see / read in the evening when it gets dark.

Also in the wooden storage box covering the left wheel arch we keep our camping chairs (so we can enjoy our dinner outside in the evening) and a little fridge (so we can enjoy cold beer with our dinner) - the fridge cable reaches all the way to the cigarette lighter :-)

Later on, when we met with the sandflies on the South Island, we realised that we really needed some extra protection from those beasts, so we also got some mosquito netting and fitted that in our windows and at the back of the van :-)

Mosquito netting at the back - we do truly hate sandflies! :-P

Rob also created an additional protection device (using some leftover foam, mattress material and the sawing machine) for the tow bar at the back of the van. 

We put it on when using the back shelves and it keeps us from getting any further bruises when walking into the tow bar ;-)

Health & Safety first! ;-)

Then after a good wash, a service and a new spare tyre and a new battery, Tofik was ready to take us on our adventure :-) 

By "us" I mean Rob, me and our little passengers :-)

Now he also has "two new shoes" (cool new tyres) at the front :-)

Our little happy passengers on board

We love our little home 

and we think that waking up to a different view every day is pretty amazing :-)

Good morning :-D Where are we today? :-)

Tofik is great, he still smiles even when it rains

Just smile, you're on holiday ;-)

He might be only little, but he's not scared of the big boys and gets on OK with them ;)

Can you spot our Tofik? ;-)

PS. During taking photos I got wounded, there was blood and everything (but no tears)

Yep, I managed to fall out of the van while taking some of the above photos, I saved the camera, but had to sacrifice my arm ;-)

:-)