Tramping
I had a fantastic weekend as Kate and a bunch of her friends invited me along for a few days of tramping in Orongorongo valley.
For those of you that don’t know, tramping is a popular pastime for Kiwis, and it typically involves walking through rainforest, climbing steep ridges and wading through refreshingly cold rivers to explore the many wonderful remote areas of the country, with a sleeping bag, a dry pair of socks and lots of food (because you’ll be hungry at the end of the day) tucked away in your backpack. Public, private and doc huts are hidden in the bush and provide shelter and some bunks, and usually a fireplace, fresh water (collected from a nearby stream) and a gas cooker.
We escaped friday afternoon rush hour and drove to the other side of Wellington Harbour, to Catchpool Valley car park. After walking along Orongorongo track for an hour and a quarter, we arrived at Orongorongo river which we followed 1 1/2 hours upstream. Just before dusk we found the orange triangle marker on the left bank of the river bed, indicating the location of Shamrock hut that was hidden in the forest a short walk away.
We made ourselves at home in the hut, lit some candles (these huts have no electricity so you need to bring some lights) and enjoyed our evening with nice food, wine and singing. My tramping companions are all members of the same choir, so I had front-row seats to some wonderful private concerts. Before calling it a day, we collected all food and stored it out of reach from the rats that we heard gnawing on the floorboards. Apparently, a rat was seen strolling over the mantle piece in the middle of the night, but I was fast asleep and missed out on all the rodent entertainment.
We spent the next bright and sunny day exploring more of the Orongorongo river and its sidestreams, birds, trees and plants. My fellow trampers knew the names of all flora and fauna and showed me different kinds of trees, ferns, orchids and much more. Unfortunately, I can’t remember a single name - I’m not much of a botanist I’m afraid… After an excellent meal, copious amounts of wine and some nice games of the ever popular and addictive game 6 Nimmt, we headed off to a sheltered spot in the river bed where we lit a beautiful fire and spent the night relaxing, roasting marshmellows and singing (or listening to song, in my case). Back in Wellington, a huge Guy Fawkes fireworks show was on, and it was so loud that we could hear it!
On sunday, we packed our stuff, cleaned the hut and followed the river downstream, making a small detour so that Kate, who is a volunteer for a kiwi conservation project in Rimutaka forest park, could check some of the stoat traps that are placed throughout the area. The traps (the type of trap used is the DOC 200) contain a chicken egg as bait, and a weight-triggered mechanism that slams down a metal grill with enough force to snap tree branches, instantly killing the stoat (if you look carefully at the picture, you’ll see the marks the trap left on the stoat’s back).
After a last lunch in the Orongorongo river bed, at the end of the Turere stream, it was time for us to walk back to the car park, drive back home, let our shoes dry and have a nice hot shower. What a great weekend! Check out the photos.
