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Reports......Hotel
Du Vin to Moumoukai Valley
Date: 9 August 2009
Leaders: Ron King & Tony Gibson
This was a new trip – a section of the Te Araroa trail through the
Hunuas between Hotel du Vin (at the end of Lyons Rd) and the
Moumoukai Valley campsite.
Four carloads made it to the campsite through a locked gate
(remembered the combination) and along a metal road which
deteriorated to a pot-holed track at its end. We weren’t alone. We’d
met cyclists and vehicles carrying bikes on the way in so guessed
that there was an event on, but we didn’t count on hunters at the
campsite. They assured us that they wouldn’t be a problem, and they
weren’t, although we did hear shots in the afternoon. Our start was
from the Lyons Rd end so two cars ferried us there, leaving two at
the campsite for the shuffle back to the beginning.
The first part of the tramp involved climbing around a small bluff,
thanks to the management of Hotel du Vin who didn’t want scruffy
trampers contaminating their carpark (which would have given easy
access). Then came the first river crossing, met by Bevan’s “But
this wasn’t in the trip description!” Tough luck Bevan, there’s more
to come – in fact another four. They were just short bits of
paddling, but once your feet are wet they’re just as wet as if you’d
had to wade right in. We were lucky not to, as the track followed
the river through farmland, and parts of the bank had fallen in
leaving the electric fence we walked beside hanging over the river.
In heavy rain the river tends to change its course, which is a bit
of a nightmare for establishing legal boundaries and marking the
route.
We left the farmland at a stile below a steep spur, which marked the
beginning of DOC land. There wasn’t a proper track up the spur as
DOC have yet to construct a zigzag path, so we clambered up holding
onto vegetation for support. No-one seemed to be puffing at the top
– maybe no need for the zigzag after all. From there we entered bush
and ambled along a ridge with some attractive totara, rimu, treefern,
and further on nikau and kauri. The lunch spot was on a knoll where
the track from Matheson’s farm meets the Te Araroa track, then it
was up and down and around, sometimes picking up old hunters’ tracks
and previously marked but overgrown sections, with some tight
passages through cut supplejack and muddy pig rootings.
The high point was marked 445 on the map but what had previously
been side tracks leading to it were no longer visible so we didn’t
recognise it as the high spot – not that we would have seen anything
anyway. As one of the group remarked “Views? What views? There
aren’t any. Sucked in again – that always happens”. In fact there
was only one place further on where you could catch a glimpse of
anything like a view – across the Moumoukai Valley. This was a pity
because although much of the track was on ridges the thick bush
obscured what would have been good views over hills and farmland.
We entered ARC land above the Moumoukai Valley where the pine forest
begins, and found work in progress on the track – bush partly
cleared beside a fence which trampers in their right mind would
cross to work on grass under the pine trees. This would be
trespassing, but the alternative was to crash through undergrowth on
the bush side of the fence. Presumably the ARC will continue to
clear bush by the fence as further along they have partly
constructed wooden steps leading down to the Moumoukai Valley.
After three hours of bush tramping our feet were more or less dry,
but according to Murphy’s law there should be a dirty stream to
cross within a few metres of reaching the cars … and there was. A
sure way of getting offside with your fellow trampers is to get into
their cars with wet muddy boots and backside. Thank heaven for
plastic bags.
The downside of through trips is the hassle with transport --
ferrying people and cars from one end to the other. Thanks to Tony
for organising the shuffle with such good grace.
Judy Begg
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