Day 63 - a taste of the mountains
Ian & Frank’s hut —-> Makahika Outdoor Centre 18km
I woke up to the pitter patter of rain on the tin roof of the shed and snuggled down deeper into my sleeping bag. The thought of getting out into the freezing cold shed was just about as appealing as putting my wet clothes back on.
I cooked my breakfast whilst still in my sleeping bag, delaying the inevitable. The rain started to slow and as I ventured outside it had pretty much stopped. I willed the sun to come out so I could dry off, my clothes and waterproofs had dried precisely zero since yesterday.
The path from the shed took me along a backcountry track and then out besides the Mangahao No 3 Reservoir. It was eerily quiet, again no people around and the dam almost seemed abandoned.
After a couple of hours in the open, I entered the start of the Tararua forest. My face was either covered in spider webs, or my feet were submerged in mud. A lot of the time, it was both.
Although it was as mid-morning, it was dark and gloomy. The dense trees providing cover from the daylight above.
Despite the sun still not showing it’s face, my first real taste of the Tararuas proved quite a fun place to wander through. There were lots of streams to rock hop over and some to wade through. The climb up to the highest point at Horeowena lookout wasn’t particularly steep but there were zero views at the top thanks to a white out.
After lunch staring at absolutely nothing, I came down through the forest and the mist started to clear. As I was on the home stretch for the day, all but the faintest of clouds disappeared and I walked the final 5km in bright sunshine.
Arriving at Makahika outdoor centre, I was so happy to be able to dry out all my gear. I knew it was going to be wet and muddy in the Tararuas, but something about starting out dry was important, wet socks in the morning is just the absolute worst. There wasn’t anyone else staying there so I had their wonderful little TA station to myself. I very carefully put my tent up, and then wandered around trying to get phone signal. One of the workers laughed at me and said it was hopeless trying here, but she’d heard that at the top of the driveway up the road you could get a few bars. So I climbed the ginormous driveway a few hundred metres back down the road and sat at the top admiring the views and using the internet whilst I had it.
When I got back to Makahika, the owner was putting away the horses and she pointed out where the wifi password was… written on the underside of the marquee (obviously) and on a piece of paper thrown in the bin (duh). My climb up the hill proved to be just a pre-mountain range warm up…
Once the sun went down, it turned bitterly cold and for the first time I put my beanie and my puffa jacket on. I tightened my sleeping bag around my head and hoped this wasn’t what it was going to be like up in the mountains!
Side note - whilst getting out of the tent in the middle of the night was freezing, it was absolutely worth it. The sky was alive with stars, the Milky Way with its purple bluey haze visible right overhead. I made a mental note to try and get out every night to look at the stars from now on.
