Written by Wendy Martin,
EASTER IN TE UREWERA
There's a rumor about the club that Easter trips are hard, so I thought I'd find out for myself.
The tramping began on Thursday night when we marched around the streets of Rotorua trying to find a suitable place for dinner as the favorite Chippy has closed down. Nothing came to standard, so we piled back into the van, drove 5 minutes down the road, then descended upon a poor man who was about to close up. He smiled and waved us in, the standard was met and a new favorite established.
Friday morning's mist cleared as we broke camp to head off and the forecast was for good weather all weekend.
We traveled by a mix of river and track. The tracks were well maintained and marked. In the rivers we negotiated water low and not so low, rocks - large and small, wet and dry, slippery or not, logs, patches of stinging nettle and the usual shrubbery.
We conquered sections of the Te Waiiti Stream, Te Wehiwehi Stream, Otapukawa Stream, Tauranga and Waioeka Rivers, the water clarity was amazing.
Yes, we did get wet shorts, but they soon dried. Plenty of Easter eggs helped the days along and campsites were of a fine standard.
The absolute highlight for me was bird song. Standing on the ridge tops listening to a multitude of birds including cheeky kaka and kokako with robins, tomtits and fantail flitting about, blue duck in the rivers; even at night we were treated to the sound of moreporks and kiwi. The forest was beautiful, with some magnificent specimen trees, rewa rewa, tawa, rimu, miro, matai and plenty of juveniles below. Intensive pest control in this area is certainly paying dividends.
No major mishaps occurred, just a few scrapes and bruises. Even when Kevin disappeared down between a rock and a log he emerged unscathed. No one was lost, although Kevin and Michiel did go AWOL for a bit, we were all soon happily reunited.
Many thanks to our illustrious leader John, with his knowledge of the area he was able to change plans a couple of times to give us four great days tramping and to my fellow trampers Anna, Debbie, Gaewyn, Kevin, Michiel and Tessa, who were all great company. There was loads of laughter, the scenery outstanding and a good time had by all. Thanks also to Bill for the vehicle shuttle.
So if you want a trip to remember, think about an Easter trip, don't believe everything you hear …......... or read.
Happy trails
