North-South Track, Kaimai Range
Day 5 Having soaked our boots and socks crossing the weir at Wharawhara last evening, we donned wet boots and socks to cross it again and make our way up to Cashmore’s Clearing and along to Waitawheta Hut for lunch. This large hut is very popular with school groups and today was no exception as we met a group of students from Whāngārei who were pursuing another step in their goal of their Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Poignantly, this was the day the Duke passed away. It was great to see the enthusiasm of these young people – and they were heading off to construct emergency shelters for the night with a forecast of rain! The tutors were looking forward to a peaceful and comfortable night in the hut. Lunch over, we made our way down the Waitawheta tramline, which we knew well, to the Daly’s Clearing Hut turn-off.
Up again, and it wasn’t long before the familiar blue hut came into view. With 16 bunks, 8 on each side of a central dining area, this hut even has the luxury of water at a sink in the hut. This evening there is a good discussion on how to vary and create tasty dehydrated meals. Are we nearly over these?
For a tramper, dehydrated meals are well worth the effort of making your own, both for variety and the fact that they are almost weightless and take up very little room, but with a bit of steeping in boiling water once you reach the hut they make a really tasty and easy to prepare meal.
Day 6 – we had the luxury of a lie-in this morning, as we were going to be joined by Pamela’s son Alistair who was leaving Franklin Road at daybreak and walking in to join us on the walk-out on our last day. ETA was 8.30 and right on the button, Alistair stepped onto the hut’s deck to give his Mum a big hug.
It was with a light-hearted ‘hi-ho, hi-ho’ that we lifted our now much lighter packs onto our backs for the last day. We didn’t even care that it was going to rain all day. Well, it was drizzly, enough to warrant rain jackets.
The section of the North-South Track from Daly’s Clearing Hut down to Dickey’s Flat is just beautiful. DoC has done a lot of work on this track recently, particularly nearer to Dickey’s Flat. Following the Waitawheta River, this section was rated the second-best of the journey, after the views from the tops at Abseil Rock.
Allan had walked in from Karangahake to join us for lunch at Dickey’s Flat, which we enjoyed in the lovely park by the river. After lunch, it was torches out to find our way through the short tunnel to join the wellused track through the Karangahake gold mining historical area. We couldn’t use the Crown Track to come out as the bridge across the river was being replaced, so it was torches out again to negotiate the Windows Walk. All too soon we were back at the Karangahake car park – mission accomplished!
Here we were met by Helen’s husband Andrew to transport the weary but elated trampers home, in true Andrew style by ‘piping’ us in, blowing down an orange safety cone. We loved it!
“What’s next?" asked Cindy. "I haven’t thought about it yet,” I said. “I’m going to enjoy this one for a while yet.”
The North-South Track is tantalizingly close for those of us who are blessed to live in the Bay of Plenty - a ‘Great Walk’ without the hordes. Put it on your bucket list. I’m certainly pleased that I did.