Dull weather puts a (slight) damper on Smith Stream mission

Smith Stream Hut, Ruahine FP, Saturday 14 September 2024
Banner Photo: Middle Stream crossing

We left Napier around 7am as usual, picked up Di from Maraekakaho and continued down SH50, past the Sunrise Hut car park to get as close as we could to the river – with Fiona jumping out to open and close gates along the way.

The weather was steadily getting more overcast, then it started to drizzle. Elly and John decided to do an alternate tramp up the Waipawa River due to the poor conditions. The rest donned rain jackets and pack covers and started off at 8.50am – the jackets and covers remained on for the entire tramp.

Initially we hugged the fence line alongside a well-marked track with undulating open grassland until we reached the track proper.

We came to quite a quagmire and needed to play leap-frog between the solid mounds that interspersed it. Then we realised we’d gone past the turn and had to leap-frog back over to find the track! Soon after 10, we negotiated a steep drop aided by a well-placed rope, then crossed the Middle Stream – there was obvious flood damage and we had some difficulty getting out up the bank; would those unstable, uprooted trees hold our weight as we clambered up? Once through, we stopped for morning tea.

There were no views because of the low cloud, but plenty of pretty bush and mosses. We arrived at the Smiths Stream/Waipawa River junction at 11.20 and had a team talk. It was obvious we would not get all the way to Smith Stream Hut and back until quite late, and did not want Elly and John waiting too long for us – plus we were unsure how long the weather would hold.

We retraced our way and actually got a bit of a view as the cloud was trying its best to lift. We stopped for a lunch break before dropping back down to cross Middle Stream, reaching the van not long before 2pm. Campbell turned the van ready for the homeward journey – it got a bit stuck in the sodden ground so a push was called for. We had just changed when the weather really started to pack in; and Elly and John arrived.

The return journey was broken at the Tikokino pub for coffees, wine, hot chips and use of their loos. Despite the weather, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day out with great company – and nice for newcomer Phil to see we are indeed a sociable lot.

Elly reports on the Waipawa River excursion:
John and I were not looking forward to walking in the rain for five or six hours without any shelter on the way, so we planned to walk up the Waipawa River to Waipawa Forks Hut and then back via the Sunrise Track.

Alas, the river flow was very swift and it was impossible to see the bottom. About 30 crossings are needed to get to the hut, so this plan was abandoned and we put plan B in place: take the Swamp Track, walk up the Sunrise Track, down to Waipawa Forks Hut with only one river crossing, and return the same way.

When we arrived at the bottom of the Sunrise Track, we opted to go to Triplex Hut first for morning tea before commencing our climb. To our delight, the occupants from the night before had left the fire glowing and it was delightfully warm inside the hut.

We were reluctant to leave, but duty called. After zig-zagging up the Sunrise Track for just under 50 minutes, we reached the turn-off to Waipawa Forks Hut. The track has become quite eroded and somewhat overgrown with astelia in places, but in all it is not difficult. It took us just over 40 minutes to reach the hut. The river crossing was fine; the water only came to halfway up our calves.

After lunch in the dry at the hut, we retraced our steps but took the other half of the beautiful Swamp Track to get back to the car, finding the others had already arrived. Our total walking time (excluding breaks) was four hours. Total distance approximately 15 km.

Trampers: Campbell Living, Juliet Gillick, Fiona Bryant, Di Reid, Alison Greer, Phil Shakespeare, John Dobbs and reporters Shona Tupe and Elly Govers