Into the view
Our view out the window is of Island Bay and beyond it a range of mountains with no visible houses or lights. It made us curious about what was over there. So for the remainder of Easter break we headed into that view.
The mountains are called the Rimutakas and the Orongorongo River that runs through them has a couple of Department of Conservation huts you can reserve and hike to. When we called the ranger to get the code for our rental hut we said it was in the "oringoros" which met with confusion. We tried a few more times before hitting on the right pronunciation. The place names are the kind that make you feel like you are just learning how to read.
The drive to the trailhead was only an hour from home in the Catchpool Valley. The hike, aka tramp, was through beautiful old growth north island forest. Key features include a strangler tree called the northern Rata that slowly smothers giant old rimu trees. These open cavity trees once dominated the mature forest but have since been decimated by introduced possum. The possum eat the new leaves and flowers and in turn kill the killer trees. Possum trap lines were set all along the trail we walked. Another unique feature of this forest is that the understory is tree ferns. There's a beautiful lacy quality to the view.
The girls setting off down the trail, walking sideways to negotiate the steep slope.
Brandishing their tree "frond wands"
First pit stop for a refuel with Easter candy.
The tramp took us over many suspension bridges that got smaller and wobblier as we walked on.
I imagined frying up giant fiddleheads for supper
Forest view along a side stream
We brought along the jogging stroller because we knew at some point Quinn would poop out. We were hiking through naptime so it was inevitable. So as big a hassle as it was to push the stroller and carry our heavy backpacks down and up the trail, we saw no other way to carry her. We just hoped that Wren walked the whole way. The trip was estimated to be 3 hours "easy tramp for a family walking at a leisurely pace". It took us five...
Lucas' heroic effort negotiating the steep decline with a sleeping Quinn in the stroller
Stream fording
Wren walked the whole way, both directions. She impressed us all. It was about 4.5 miles one way but was in no way flat walking. Wren on the bridge suspended between two trees.
Quinn woke and walked again for the last 45 minutes. She did a champion job with a slow and steady wins the race pace.
finally we reached the cabin!
Homemade popcorn and hot tea really did us right
In learning a new language (Maori) we have a whole new set of Scrabble words to use. Lucas and I both had Moari words for our first turn.
Wren took great delight in spelling her own name, along with some word called Bool. Which actually has a meaning in the urban dictionary...
The hut was comfortable and had a gas stove for cooking and water from a rain catchment so we feasted on pasta and geared up for lights out. Kiwis and the sole NZ owl, the morepork, called throughout the night.
Sunset on the Rimutakas with the summer trickle of the Orongorongo River. Apparently in the winter the stream fills the enormous streambed and 200km winds howl through the valley.
A poor night's sleep for Quinn (and therefore Lucas and I...) so we knew it would be a rough tramp back out.
Quinn checking out the kereru in the morning
We discovered that if we told the girls stories they kept walking at a steady pace so we retold old tales like the tortoise and the hare (appropriate for the day) and made up stories like the mischievous forest bunnies named Wren and Quinn (a favorite series told by Lucas). Then Quinn and Wren told their own stories about a Unicorn named UniQuinn and a family of very friendly dragons. That's how we hiked the 4.5 hours back...pure entertainment.
With some double stroller time. On the last leg I carried Quinn in the Ergo and Lucas carried my backpack in the stroller.
It was fun, but hard work. All in all a great first overnight tramp. For next time though we'll make the tramp shorter if we can, leave the stroller at home and hopefully have more days in between the in and out. Or...I've heard tell of overnight tramps where your bags get ferried to the next stop...
The mountains are called the Rimutakas and the Orongorongo River that runs through them has a couple of Department of Conservation huts you can reserve and hike to. When we called the ranger to get the code for our rental hut we said it was in the "oringoros" which met with confusion. We tried a few more times before hitting on the right pronunciation. The place names are the kind that make you feel like you are just learning how to read.
The drive to the trailhead was only an hour from home in the Catchpool Valley. The hike, aka tramp, was through beautiful old growth north island forest. Key features include a strangler tree called the northern Rata that slowly smothers giant old rimu trees. These open cavity trees once dominated the mature forest but have since been decimated by introduced possum. The possum eat the new leaves and flowers and in turn kill the killer trees. Possum trap lines were set all along the trail we walked. Another unique feature of this forest is that the understory is tree ferns. There's a beautiful lacy quality to the view.
The girls setting off down the trail, walking sideways to negotiate the steep slope.
Brandishing their tree "frond wands"
First pit stop for a refuel with Easter candy.
The tramp took us over many suspension bridges that got smaller and wobblier as we walked on.
I imagined frying up giant fiddleheads for supper
Forest view along a side stream
We brought along the jogging stroller because we knew at some point Quinn would poop out. We were hiking through naptime so it was inevitable. So as big a hassle as it was to push the stroller and carry our heavy backpacks down and up the trail, we saw no other way to carry her. We just hoped that Wren walked the whole way. The trip was estimated to be 3 hours "easy tramp for a family walking at a leisurely pace". It took us five...
Lucas' heroic effort negotiating the steep decline with a sleeping Quinn in the stroller
Stream fording
Wren walked the whole way, both directions. She impressed us all. It was about 4.5 miles one way but was in no way flat walking. Wren on the bridge suspended between two trees.
Quinn woke and walked again for the last 45 minutes. She did a champion job with a slow and steady wins the race pace.
finally we reached the cabin!
Homemade popcorn and hot tea really did us right
In learning a new language (Maori) we have a whole new set of Scrabble words to use. Lucas and I both had Moari words for our first turn.
Wren took great delight in spelling her own name, along with some word called Bool. Which actually has a meaning in the urban dictionary...
The hut was comfortable and had a gas stove for cooking and water from a rain catchment so we feasted on pasta and geared up for lights out. Kiwis and the sole NZ owl, the morepork, called throughout the night.
Sunset on the Rimutakas with the summer trickle of the Orongorongo River. Apparently in the winter the stream fills the enormous streambed and 200km winds howl through the valley.
A poor night's sleep for Quinn (and therefore Lucas and I...) so we knew it would be a rough tramp back out.
Quinn checking out the kereru in the morning
We discovered that if we told the girls stories they kept walking at a steady pace so we retold old tales like the tortoise and the hare (appropriate for the day) and made up stories like the mischievous forest bunnies named Wren and Quinn (a favorite series told by Lucas). Then Quinn and Wren told their own stories about a Unicorn named UniQuinn and a family of very friendly dragons. That's how we hiked the 4.5 hours back...pure entertainment.
With some double stroller time. On the last leg I carried Quinn in the Ergo and Lucas carried my backpack in the stroller.
It was fun, but hard work. All in all a great first overnight tramp. For next time though we'll make the tramp shorter if we can, leave the stroller at home and hopefully have more days in between the in and out. Or...I've heard tell of overnight tramps where your bags get ferried to the next stop...
Comments
Post a Comment