Crosbie's Hut: Weekend Tramp

Last weekend, Dave and I completed our first ever overnight tramp!!!

Dave modelling his new bargain Kathmandu pack.
All packed and ready to go!

While I've done a fair few multi-day camp/tramps myself, this was Dave's first in his adult life.  It was also my first in years....since moving back to NZ from OZ!  Have I been super slack?  Yes.  Do I have plenty of excuses for not overnighting earlier?  Yes. But I won't list them all (but I will say I spent a lot of time working weekends before landing at Bullion Restaurant).

I started getting Dave into tramping (aka hiking) when we first met- way back in 2008. During our first road trip together, ringing in New Year's 2009, we hit several hour and two hour hikes.  On our way back to Thames we completed the only hike that I HAD to do while in NZ - the Tongariro Crossing.  It wasn't an overnight trip, but it was 6 hours of straight walking! I'm not sure that walk made Dave fall in love with tramping, but at least it didn't scare him away either!

Since returning to NZ in November 2009, Dave and I have done a fair few walks together.  Unfortunately, I didn't blog about any of them (slack as!) so I can't link you to any past posts, but you'll have to take my word for it that we did make some effort to get into nature via our feet.  However, I'd say we've spent far more time enjoying nature on two wheels with our mountain bikes.

Heading off on the trail to Crosbies Hut.

So - why an overnight tramp now?  It's probably safe to say that we wouldn't have gotten around to doing this, or any other, overnight hike in the next year if we hadn't finally set a wedding date.  Actually, it's probably setting the honeymoon location that forced us into loading our packs and hitting the trails. We're getting married 8 Dec 2012.  Dave's brother is getting married on 23 Dec 2012 - on the South Island.  We weren't going to take our honeymoon until Christmas holidays anyway, so we decided to take our honeymoon on the South Island, which of course led to me suggesting a destination I've long desired to visit......Stewart Island!  It's the most likely place that a person will get to see a live kiwi in the wild and I am desperate to hike it!  Unfortunately, taking the 3 day "easy" trail leads to fewer kiwi spotting opportunities, because you are still quite close to civilization (walking out on day 3 takes you right by the airport!).  So, of course, I want to tackle the insane 9+ day trip!  Insane, why?  Because we're talking an island where it rains more than shines, has far less paved road then Juneau Alaska, and is inhabited by more native wildlife then most of the North Island (okay, I can't substantiate that fact, but....).  Basically, the guide books tell us to prepare for knee high mud through MOST of the track!

I'm not sure how much of the Northwest Circuit Dave and I will attempt (you can pay to have boats pick up/drop off at various points along the trail), but one thing is for sure - we would probably die, or at the least be miserable, if we attempted even 2 days on this trail tomorrow!  It's not that we are out of shape, but that our fitness has not been geared towards climbing over roots 3 feet high and hauling a 40 pound pack on our back at the same time.  And our fitness certainly isn't geared towards enduring those conditions for more than 2 days......we have truly become weekend warriors!

Looking over Waiomu after an hour
or more on the trail to Crosbies

So - back to the topic of this blog..... our tramp to Crosbies Hut!  This was our starting point for conditioning ourselves for tramping.  We were supposed to complete it a week earlier, so we'd have a weekend off before our 3 day/2 night Easter tramp, but wet weather scared us off.  Fortunately, the sun shone all of last week and gave us a blue to cloudy sky on the day we set out for the trail.

2009 flashback: Our first visit
to the Waiomu Kauri grove

There are about 5 different entrance points for the system of trails that lead to this hut.  We picked the Waiomu kauri trail as our starting point.  This meant we had to drive only 15 minutes and our car would be in a vaguely populated area.  We'd also been on this trail years ago, to visit the kauri grove - so we were somewhat familiar with area.

Tramping through the kauri's
(sing in head to tune of tip toe through the tulips)

I'd been told that the Waiomu trail would be the steeper option, and boy was it! We encountered a set of stairs that took us straight up to the kauri grove, but after that it was straight up via high stepping onto roots.  It was a lot of effort, but pretty enjoyable - especially when a fantail would flit around the trail right in front of you for encouragement. (stupid birds never sit still long enough for a decent picture though!). We heard quite a few fantails and several tuis in the trees.  We may have even seen a bell bird???

Add caption

Action shot of Dave's stream crossing 

There were several stream crossings on this trail (the stream we followed can be seen to the left of Dave at the start of the trail).  None of the streams had bridges, but none were terribly full of water either. However, there is no point getting your feet wet when it can be avoided, so we took our time at each of the crossings to rock hop or long step our way across.  This was actually quite a fun part of the trip, as it took more thought and planning to keep our balance with heavy packs on our back.  Dave was kind enough to lend me a hand several times, as my boots are getting a bit old and have never given me great confidence on wet rocks....he is ever the gentleman when it comes to lending assistance ;)

Ah nature....the wind in your hair, bird song in your ears
and a .....phone! in your hand?

By the time the track evened out a bit we were pretty knackered, but still in good spirits.  We took the time to have a couple of snack breaks along the way, resting our legs and backs.  There were a few good views along the way as well.  We came to one lovely lookout and could see a house in the distance.  Our last sign had said we were 1.5 hours from the hut.  We were sure the house we saw wasn't the hut-because that was going to take us FAR more than 1.5 hours to reach!  But, sure enough. An hour and a half later we found the sign directing us to the hut track spur.  After 5 agonizing minutes of straight uphill work we reached the hut.....and the bright red wall told us that we had reached that distant "house".

Looking towards Whitianga from  Crosbies Hut

I was greatly relieved to have reached the hut.  I'd gotten used to having wet muddy feet - having navigated the boggy area prior to the hut a little less successfully than on prior muddy stretches (I think I sank up to mid calf?....unfortunately there are no photos of this event). However, I was very much ready to take my pack off and rest - especially after that last 5 minutes of work.  WOW, what a horrific end to a long hike!

Our original plan had been to stay in the hut overnight, but, having put off our hut reservations to see what the weather was doing, the hut was booked.  So we packed our tent and borrowed sleeping mats from Dave's mum.  We located the campsites behind and below the hut (though, thankfully, not FAR or STEEPLY below the hut!).  We set about putting up the tent and unpacking our things.....just in time too - as it started to spit a bit of rain after our fly was up!

Crosbie's Hut the morning we left

After a short rest and a few banana chips, it was decided we should head up to the hut and make dinner.....or we'd soon be asleep without food.  The hut that had been nearly empty when we arrived was now quite full with other weary trampers.  Everyone was friendly enough, but it took every ounce of my energy to focus on frying up our chicken that I hardly registered someone talking to me!  Dave took over frying duties half way through the batch process (as we'd brought only one pot and had lots of chicken to brown).  Now - chicken isn't something you'd really think of hauling up a mountain for 5 hours (oh, yes, it took us 5 hours to reach the hut....see why I was ready for sleep!), but I really wanted Dave's first tramping trip to be one of good food and enjoyment.  Nothing ruins a trip more than being hungry all the time! Granted, EVERYTHING tastes good after a day on the trail - so I probably could have gotten away with dehydrated veggies and we'd be fine.  However, I choose chicken burritos.  Back at home I had sliced the chicken and coated in burrito spice then chucked it in the freezer.  By the time we reached the hut the chicken was still cold, but not frozen.  I also pre-sliced the peppers & mushrooms and grated the cheese.  Things that made a huge difference in clean up, but also meant far less energy needed for dinner prep!  We also packed up a bottle of wine - to celebrate Dave's first hike!  It's a good thing we didn't start drinking the wine while cooking though (which is what we usually).  I'd have been on my butt half passed out with one glass before dinner was ready! LOL

The clouds had been hanging about since we arrived at the hut, so there wasn't much of a sunset, but the sun did briefly break through to illuminate the surrounding bush:

Looking towards the Kauaeranga valley.....Table Mountain?

Looking towards Coromandel....Castle Rock is nearly obscured by clouds.

Shortly before all light was lost, we headed back to our tent.  It was a decent enough sleep, as far as tent sleeping goes.  There is always one position that is uncomfortable no matter how many times you try and no portable mattress is going to mask that fact that you're sleeping on hard ground.  Add to that the aches from a pack and walking all day and it's no surprise that you're tossing most the night and wide awake as soon as light arrives.

I'd hoped to wake to the "dawn chorus" of birds, but we woke instead to intermittent drizzle...the birds staying quiet in their beds.  We ate our breakfast (oats & dried dates & papaya soaked in water overnight) in the tent and then started packing up. We headed back to the hut to brush our teeth and fill up with water (rain water collected in tanks) to find the other trampers cleaning their breakfast dishes.  The steep climb to the hut means it is well perched for the views, but boy does the wind cut through!  I'm sure the tent sites are at least 2 degrees warmer!  The view in the morning showed high clouds that looked ready to set in:

Looking towards Whitianga the morning of our departure.

Follow the orange arrows, that's the trail.

We were taking the Karaka trail home from the hut.  This trail would come out in Thames just a street behind our house.  I'd heard this would be less steep than the Waiomu trail, but more muddy.  The overnight rain wouldn't have helped the mud, but I think it would take more than a week of sun to dry this overgrown area.  We enjoyed the bush as soon as we set off, beautiful moss covered trees.


The Karaka trail was perfect for our second day of hiking (when we were a bit more tired and my shoulders/hips were sore from the pack).  A large majority of it was obviously meant as vehicle access at one time - large ruts at wheel spacing, but the bush was making an effort to reclaim the space - which meant that the slope grade was not too steep on the ups or downs.....and thankfully there was a lot of down!  It was pretty easy walking and relatively uneventful.  The somewhat constant drizzle meant we encountered far fewer fantails that yesterday - though one little guy did make laugh by flying around nearly in front of my face.....was he after the mozzies that were following us?

The walk seemed to take ages - probably because I was sore and tired.  The trail wasn't punctuated by streams or their crossings, but navigating around big muddy bogs did lessen the monotony of getting snagged on vines and slapped with wet ferns. I even had to put the camera in my pack as all the wet ferns were hitting me right at waist level and the camera bag was starting to get a bit wet.

There were a few places that were photo worthy though:

The mist was with us most of the morning, but the bush kept most of the rain off us.

Dave checking our elevation on the GPS while I document the colorful cliffside track overlooking the bush.

 It took us 5.5 hours from leaving Crosbie's hut to reaching our door.  By the time we reached our neighborhood, the weather was hot sun one moment then drizzly rain the next! We were pleased to take hot showers and rinse our boots before getting in our brand new car to retrieve our Chariot Jim from Waiomu.  In the last hour of our hike, on a part of the track we'd actually been before, we encountered the most interesting   creatures.....  Dave spotted a congregation of at least 5, probably more, giraffe weevils!  We'd never heard of giraffe weevils before, but after posting the following picture on Facebook we had a name to put to the nose...er, antanae....er, bug.  (Thanks Olga and Kathy for helping identify!).

Say Cheese!

As I finish this long winded post I find it's time to start packing our next tramp!  Fingers crossed that the dry weather holds out for us when we visit the Whirinaki trail tomorrow......