Edlevice
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Sun 5 Dec 2010 20:50
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Hi Folks,
Another first, we have just completed our first NZ
tramp, thats not a day walk but an over night out in the wilds, or so we thought
!
It was completly out of the blue, with just
one week to go before we return to Blighty a couple of yachie freinds who we
have met down here in Wellington invited us to come along, they assured us that
it wasnt a night out in a tent !
So we packed up the van after much rooting
around all our old camping gear, boots and
clothing, borrowing another ruck sack from some
other freinds and set off for Mount Ruapahu , it the Volcano in the middle of
the North Island, arriving at a DOC ( Dept of Enviro) camp site, all free
toilets and running water included we settled down to wait for the
rest of the crew who were coming from various
places, Auckland, ect ...
We being the non workers were set up by seven
o/clock , the guys from Aukland arrived by nine, found us, just as Lyn was
putting her jim jams on, the night was warm som 18 deg and there were no clouds
in the sky, pitch black with just the stars , out came the camp chairs, out came
the vino and we sat under a beutiful night sky drinking some great wine and
reliving old stories of island hopping in the South Pacific ...
Next morning out came the frying pan and on
went the bacon, qickly sizzeled the pig and slapped it between two bits of
bread, downed with a cup of tea ... we were set for the day.
All the others were up and about, stuffing ruck
sacks with all sought of gear, our little pile looked pretty poor, bags to small
ect, having just enought room to cram in the basics plus two bottles of wine, we
were assured by the others though that everything was taken care of
!
We then drove up to Whukapapa ( pronounced
Fuckapapa) Wh in Maiori if F ...
arriving at the village 1100 m above sea level, a
bright clear day with Mnt Ruapahu towering
above the village, its an awsome view with its snow
covered peaks rolling down to the green
lush vegitation, gushing streams and rivers, fresh
with the spring ice melt and not a little bitting thing in sight
....
We hiched up our sacks and set off into the bush,
seven Km later we arrived at our river crossing, the landscape we had cross
varied so much, from tundra plains, rock strewn stream beds and native bush, the
mix was so varied and made it so much more enjoyable
with view of the mountain and the plains below , by
now the poor old feet were aching, but boots off and a quick wade through the
river soon soothed those furry feet, on boots and a scamper for another one and
a half Ks got us to the DOC hut, thats an understatment, these so called huts
are like ski lodges, pine built cabins eighteen bunks, with mattresses, a log
burner with wood provided, sinks water and toilets, we were blown away with the
facilities, and all for 15 bucks for three nights, with views to die for of
both the mountain and vista below.
Our bunch were well organized,out from all the ruck
sacks came all the produce, wine flowed and Dan one of the crew knocked up a
grade A meal, freash pacific prawns in garlic,
pasta, roasted vegies, salad , and fine cheese, all
on two camp stoves ... the sun faded and another balmy night , the bummer was
all the wine was go by nine and nobody had bought the rum..
The air had a chill but the stove had been stoked
up and the hutt was toastie, even Lyn said she was warm, we all fell asleep to
Lyn and others melodic snoring ... ah bliss .
The next day we awoke after a night of huriling
soft things at lyn to stop her snoring, some seasoned hut dwellers had ear
plugs, Lyn had to dig her way out from lots of jumpers and socks that she had
acumalted in the night, she wasnt the only one but she was in range of the crew
so there for an easy target !
On with boots and sacks and a quick scamper, some
three hrs and we were back to reality, a road full of tourists and the previous
day seem like a dream ... ahhh
That all for a while folks as we are off to blighty
for a while .. see you all soon
The Wellywood hobbits
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