Our New Zealand Adventure: TARARUA RANGES TRAMPING TRIP: MT HOLDSWORTH

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 :-)