Day 65: Parawai Hut to Waikanae

Distance Covered: 24 km

The most furious part of the Big Storm came through last night. Gale force winds hurled rain against the hut all night long. We were warm and cozy in our bags on the bunks, but we tossed and turned worried about who all might be stuck in this weather.

When dawn finally came, though, it was clear and bright. Not a cloud to be seen as the sun hung brightly in the sky. Already, the standing water was gone, moisture was visibly evaporating away, and it felt warmish. The report on the river was that it had already fallen a couple of meters. This was great news and yet another sign that things can turn rapidly in the Tararua Mountains.

The Storm Girls headed out early to get into town where they have a host waiting for them. We said goodbye as our schedules looked like we would not cross paths again. We stuck around for an hour or so, drying things in the sun and estimating the weather's stability. The next section is 14 km of going up a ridge back to 900+ meters and then back down. We didn’t want to climb all the way up and get caught in a storm.

We headed out a little after 9, walking back along a short section of trail. The difference was stark from our experience just a short time earlier. No water and everything looked clean and bright. It was kind of amazing.

From the hut parking lot, it was 2 km of road walking and then we were back in the woods, getting ready to climb. The first part of the track was on nice trail… a beginner’s loop that’s so much fun to walk on. It’s great to be able to walk and look around at the same time! However, our main track was supposed to split off and become “tramping track”, which was a bad sign. These nearly always mean some track that nobody but us Te Araroa walkers use, which means an unmaintained mess.

Ah, but not this time. Sure, it was muddy (there’s been a lot of rain after all) and maybe a little rough in places. However, the track was fairly wide, had occasional views, was not a root filled climb, and overall felt like people actually used it. This feeling was confirmed when we came across a young woman hiking the opposite way on a day hike. So, while we were climbing to a fairly high spot, we were able to almost cruise up to the top and back down.

We ate lunch at the summit. That was a fun experience. And kind of lazy since we knew that this was probably the last forest peak of the island. From there, the route down meandered through native bush, then a pine forest (very nice trail there) and then back to native bush. 

There was a section at the bottom that asked us to walk 10 meters up stream in the creek that had us worried after yesterday’s adventure. These concerns were not substantiated, though, as the creek was innocently gurgling along looking beautiful and serene. Emily even stopped on the bank to give her shoes and socks a good scrubbing.

The 10 km road walk section into town was no fun, as expected. We’ve become so finely attuned to our feet that we were on pavement for less than 10 meters before the discomfort set in. It’s incredible to think about how much energy a dirt path absorbs from each foot fall…

About halfway through, we took a break. Where to stay for the night? The campground wasn’t in town… it was actually several km further and off the trail. We were also knocking around the idea of a day off. We had been planning one in Levin before the weather motivated us to keep moving. The motel was expensive in town, but there was a solution: rent a real room (with its own shower!) for two nights as a “Christmas Present” for Emily. She liked this idea so I called and booked it.

The next 5 km into town were just more foot wrecking road walk. It helped knowing, though, that a real bed was waiting for us. Being in town also means more food options and we both bought a large pizza. Then a stop at the store for delicious things. And then the motel just a block further.

This evening we ate our pizzas and watched a movie on Netflix. The feeling we shared was one of surrealism. We just power hiked mountains famous for being rugged, fought our way across swollen creeks in an all day tropical downpour, and climbed/descended many km’s of altitude. And now here we are, munching on pizza and watching movies. It feels… off somehow. Like hiking is reality and this “normal” lifestyle is just pretend. Curious stuff that had us feeling dazed.

Anyway, tomorrow we will sit around and do nothing. And eat delicious things. And feel the surreal things.