Twig Adventures

January 16th John Coull campsite – Ramanui campsite (km1292) Mileage: 18.6mi/30km We had another fantastic day on the water. We only had to go 30 km (easy with current), so we had a leisurely breakfast and weren’t paddling until 9 am. The weather was partly cloudy all day and just perfect. The first part took us through a really scenic gorge. I’ve paddled down many spectacular rivers but the jungle-like vegetation really sets this one apart. It reminds me most of the Suwanee in Florida but with higher banks and cliffs. There are also waterfalls and streams trickling down every 100 meters. We made it to Mangapurua Landing by noon. This is where the official TA route begins on the[…]

January 15th Whakahoro (km1245.5)- John Coull campsite Mileage: 23.6mi/38km It was so nice to have an easy day for once. I still got up early but I took my time having breakfast and then had time to go to the cafe for the wifi and electricity. It was foggy to begin with but cleared into a sunny day. The outfitter was a tad late but I was glad for the extra time. I was also happy to see 2 Necky Looksha 14′ kayaks arrive, plus all our food bags. There were heaps of other people loading canoes but we were the only kayaks. We easily fit everything into the provided dry bags, listened to a safety briefing, and were shortly[…]

January 14th Upper Retaruke rd. (km1212) -Whakahoro (km1245.5) Mileage: 20.8mi/33.5km We had an interesting alarm clock this morning. Three bucks came crashing in, snorting and grunting around 5:30am. They did some bunny hops and then took off. Deer are very territorial and we had invaded their space. There is a lot of deer farming in the area, hence all the very high fences. Some have escaped and run wild, which I think these were. In all the time I’ve spent backpacking, I’ve actually encountered territorial deer on several occasions, but I didn’t expect it in NZ. The morning was spectacularly sunny but cool and fresh from all the rain. The road walking was really enjoyable, with no traffic and just[…]

January 13th Whakapapa Village (km1173)-Upper Retaruke rd. (km1212) Mileage: 24.2mi/39km We had a wonderful night, with only one interruption from a fierce thunderstorm rolling through. I saw lots of flashes and heard some thunder, but it was pretty tame otherwise. The thunder burger was just a precursor! In the morning, we went to use the very nice public restrooms and took a last look at the cute little town. This lodge made me think of The Shining. The track from the village followed some more awesome boardwalk, with views back towards the volcanoes. The first couple miles were on the ’round the mountain’ route, circumnavigating Ruapehu. Later we would split off from the well-maintained track and just have to walk[…]

January 12th Ketetahi TH, Tongariro Crossing (km1146)- Whakapapa Village (km1173) Mileage: 16.8mi/27km plus about 3 miles extra doing side trips to Soda Springs and Taranaki falls; also walking around town. I was so ready for this day to start and so were many others. Cars started arriving at 4 am and there were parking authorities set up by 5 am. We hit the trail around 5:40, glad to get away from that place. The first part of the track was through forest and a gradual climb. Then we broke out into the tundra and really began climbing, with great views of the sunrise. We would gain about 3000 feet in elevation today. The highest point of the crossing is 1186[…]

January 11th Mako stream 42 traverse (km1112)-Ketetahi TH, Tongariro Crossing (km1146) Mileage: 21.1mi/34k Today was all about getting to where we needed to be for the start of the big day…the Tongariro Crossing. I started off by breaking another carbon stake. Where we camped, the ground was so hard that I couldn’t drive them more than halfway in. I got up for a bathroom break in the dark and promptly stepped on one, snapping it in half. Oops. Ti stakes are the way to go. I will replace my carbon stakes entirely as soon as I can. We hiked fast until we came to Mangatepopo stream (we would cross the headwaters of this stream later on the slopes of Tongariro).[…]

January 10th Taumarunui (km1076)-Mako stream 42 traverse (km1112) Mileage: 22.3mi/36km As promised, Glen of Blazing Paddles met us early at the holiday park and drove us into town. I got some cash to pay him for the trip and we discussed what boats we could use. He said he had some Necky Looksha sea kayaks, which I hope is the case. He dropped us off at the beginning of the road walk out of town. It was nice to have some company again and the country road was one of the most pleasant I’ve hiked, even if it was drizzling rain. We passed a beautiful Clydesdale stallion, who was very friendly and not even afraid of my umbrella. Then we[…]

January 9th Taumarunui (km1075) Mileage: just walking the town I was up very early to take a stab at my long list of chores. First were some blog posts, laundry, locating and patching the hole on my pillow, and general gear clean-up. I even washed my pack. I was also trying to figure out my time-line in order to book the kayak trip down the Whanganui River. There are so many details and different permutations. I read a lot of blogs and came up with a schedule. Two days to get to the start of the Tongariro crossing, 1 day for that, then another 2 to get to the starting point for the river section, paddling by Monday. Whew. I[…]

January 8th #10 campsite (km1032)- near Taumarunui (km1069) Mileage: 23mi/37km After the long day yesterday, I got a slower-than-usual start at 8:30 am. The day was brilliant and I was in a fantastic mood. I quickly came to yet another awe-inspiring swingbridge. Then there was the Ongarue spiral. It sounds complicated but the signage explained it well. It’s just a big loop built to ease the gradient of the train track where there was a cliff. The tunnel and bridge were restored so that pedestrians can now enjoy passing through. It’s a pretty neat historical relic, made even better by the informational displays In the tunnel, I met the first person of the day, a guy doing the Cape to[…]

January 7th Bogg Inn hut (km988)- #10 campsite (km1032) Mileage: 27.3mi/44km My biggest day yet! I was shooting for this, knowing that the trail would be easy and packing made all the faster by staying in the hut last night. It was raining again in the morning but I felt fairly confident it would burn off by mid-day. And it did. Still, it’s never easy to leave the protection of a roof over your head and go out into the wet. This rainy weather is much more like the NZ I expected. The first month of little rain made me spoiled. It was a short hike from the hut back to the main route. Then I came to the first[…]