With the Routeburn and Rakiura under my belt, I set off for the North Island to tackle my next challenges. Having picked up a rental van in Wellington, I left Wairoa at dinner time and began the slow and winding drive to Lake Waikaremoana. By the time I pulled into the holiday park, it was dark and raining. I gratefully submitted to an early night, curled up in the back of the van. The next morning I awoke to continued rain. I made coffee and headed over to te Kura Whenua, the beautiful new visitors' centre built by Nga Tuhoe, the caretakers of Te Urewera. Since 2014, a Treaty Settlement between Tuhoe and the Crown endowed Te Urewera with the legal power of its own entity: Te Urewera cannot be owned by anyone. Tuhoe were named custodians of Te Urewera and have since stepped into the roles formerly filled by Department of Conservation staff, such as hut wardening and pest control in the area. Their visitors' centre has a tiny gift shop where you can buy items emblazened with the phrase 'care for nature,' but it is otherwise sparse. Two display cabinets sit empty, awaiting strengthening before receiving Tuhoe taonga, or treasured artifacts. I chatted with Tina, who was taking care of the water taxi bookings, and seemingly most of the daily running of this part of Te Urewera, about postponing my booking by a day in hope of better weather. She enthusiastically agreed to this plan, and I happily went back to bed with a book. The holiday park was quiet. There was a young couple sharing a tiny tent and an equally tiny Toyota Platz. They sat out the rain side by side in its front seats, reading. Groups of hunters pore over maps at the visitors' centre, and all of the fishermens cabins do indeed appear to be filled with fishermen, largely of the silver-haired variety. I find a wonderful book on the Tuhoe people in the visitors' centre, and I sit reading it for over an hour. Eventually Tina sits down for a korero. She talks of Tuhoe's desire to honestly assess every action in terms of its effects on Te Urewera, with a 'no harm' goal. We discuss a section of the track which was closed for several months this summer, due to structural concerns about a bridge. From the outside it has appeared that the closure dragged on for much longer than necessary, and I had wondered if this was due to inefficiencies as Nga Tuhoe and the Department of Conservation work together on managing the Waikaremoana track. I learned that there was much more to it; the approach that Tuhoe seek to take is a truly holistic one where every impact is considered, no matter the time taken. When looking at using helicopters, they consider the contribution to climate change and ask if it is truly necessary. They seek to reduce waste and to use non-tanninised timber, to reduce the impact on Te Urewera. This thoroughness of course slows decision making processes, yet I find it inspirational. Speaking with Tina, the vibe I got was idealistic and optimistic. I love that this is the spirit in which Te Urewera is being managed. I went for a short run in the afternoon to loosen up the body and take in a couple of local waterfalls, and went to bed that night feeling happy and excited. The following day the mountains were still hiding in cloud, but the temperature was noticeably warmer as we boarded the water taxi. The water level was too low to access Hopuruahine Landing by boat, so we were dropped at Whanganui hut to start. I felt heavy and slow from the outset, slowly settling into my rhythm as I neared the edge of the kiwi enclosure. The track went up and over a small hill before continuing along the lakeshore once more. I began to appreciate the short uphill sections interspersed with lovely downhill running, my body slowly relaxing into it, relief coursing through me. I could do this. I spotted a couple of bright blue Hochstetter mushrooms on the side of the trail, which always make me smile. The forest was gorgeous, with big Mamaku ferns stretching their dark fronds sensuously over the track. The cloud was slowly burning off, gifting me views of the perfectly still and calm lake as I continued around. The track kept me on my toes with sections of slippery rock and tricky tree roots, but continued to be gently undulating. 23 kilometres in I reached Waiopaoa hut. The last pit stop before attacking the Panekire Range. Apprehensive but tracking well for time, I gobbled down some food and reminded myself that it was ok to walk the steep sections. I set off, gradually ascending through glorious tawa forest. Then things got seriously steep, with several sections of stairs. Once the track rejoined the ridge I was soon immersed in a mossy wonderland. In the clouds, the forest told me that was its usual state, everything laden with moisture, lush and dripping. Green upon green, times infinity. I reached Panekire hut before I knew it. I eagerly anticipated some downhill running. The last stretch of ridge blessed me with some incredible views as the clouds parted perfectly. The descent to Onepoto was much steeper than I'd realised, making running it a real struggle. My knees loudly voiced their unhappiness as I stumbled down. Eventually I was at the road, exhausted, more relieved than anything, but as I checked my time, a smile slowly spread across my face.... yessss. I stopped back at the Visitor's Centre and waved through the window to Tina, who came running out with a big smile. She was thrilled to know that I had finished, and in half decent time. “You could be one of those multisporters!” she told me. I laughed self consciously and thanked her for all her help. Although this trail had been one of the more logistically tricky ones I had run so far, the hidden gift it had brought me was the interaction with local people such as Tina, which gave a beautiful human element to the adventure. Waikaremoana will stay in my memories for a long time to come.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
I am a conservation field worker in New Zealand. I love mountains, sunrises, river swims, barefeet, cold beer, campfires, live music and whiskey.
Archives
April 2020
Categories
All
|