The “Higgins Navigation Special” was something that I was keen to sign up for - thankfully I did register my interest well in advance as this trip proved to be a very popular. For some reason people seem reluctant to take on a navigation trip with thoughts springing to mind such as getting lost, bush bashing and groveling through unknown territory. Despite this, I was up for the challenge!
We had strict instruction from our leader that we were not allowed to bring a GPS. Armed with a compass and map, we arrived at the Kaitoke Waterworks road-end where we were briefed on the planned route. On Allen's enlarged map, it looked reasonably simple and straight forward. The plan for the first day was to follow the four-wheel drive track towards the Hutt Forks, ford the Eastern Hutt River, then make our way up towards Maymorn Ridge, through points 770, 761 (Pukeruru), 707 and then towards the old track that leads up to Maymorn Junction and Renata Hut. We had the option of staying at Renata Hut, but this was dependent on time, and how our navigation went during the day.
There were no problems finding the spur leading up to Maymorn Ridge with a reasonable ground trail to follow. As the ridge opened out we needed to be careful with our navigation - we all had turns out in front. There was some talk that the girls in the group were doing the navigating on day 1, and the boys on day 2. As it turned out, we worked as a team. The challenge was to not get too far right on the ridge, and start heading down the wrong spur. There was some bush bashing, and then we would come out to an open more boggy area in places. In true Tararua fashion, the weather was also quite misty at times, so this all added to the challenge. We successfully navigated, relying on our compass and map - Allen finally succumbed to Alistair's request to check where we were on his GPS - this happened very occasionally - and then we found out that Allen had a GPS too. And we all thought that we weren't allowed these! I guess that Alistair's excuse for carrying a GPS was that he is the Assistant Chief Guide!
The next challenge for the day was to find the old logging road around point 707 which would take us towards the Renata "track." We eventually found the old logging road - now starting to regenerate with bush and some trees. After some patience we made it to the track leading to Renata hut - as it was close to 5pm by this time, we decided that it was too late to head for the hut, and to back-track, find a water source and a suitable camping spot for the night. Even though there were no obvious waterways, we had past a few reasonably large puddles with water in. We found a good camping spot on the old logging road, managing to just squeeze the two large club flys on the old logging road area. Yes, club medium-fit trips also have good grub for dinner - soup, pate and crackers, then pasta and cabonara sauce with cheese and veges, and the fruit salad that some kind punters had carried in their packs for dessert.
Sunday morning was very laid back - Allen cranked the cooker up for a first billy brew followed by a second breakfast brew, and those fortunate enough to share Sue and Allen's fly listened to stories of their previous club trips and adventures in the hills, on the kayak, mountain bike and even skiing – this couple is inspirational!
Our plan was to head towards point 572, then south towards point 536, 515 and then the old logging road around to point 618. It took us longer than anticipated to find our way. We consulted our maps and compasses often, and checked each others bearings for a consensus on which bearing to take. Once we at point 536, travel was reasonably easy going, reaching the old road, and then point 618. The sun started shining, and as we seemed to be going well for a time, we enjoyed a lunch in the sun just before point 618. From here, we followed a ridge past points 638, 641 and 642. Travel through this section was fast and easy going. Allen picked up the pace, as he was worried that Wayne in the club bus would fail to wait for us at the road-end! As it turns out, for the last part of the trip down towards the Hutt River, we did need the extra time - it was quite hard to pick the best place to descend. We ended up finding an ok place, despite dodging a few supplejacks, and some reasonably steep slopes. We made it down to the swingbridge and to the road-end just 5 minutes later than planned.
Looking back on the trip, I gained a lot of experience relying on the compass and map - the compass is always king! It also became evident that it is important to pick a good route and not be tempted to follow what sometimes appear to be very convincing ground trails. It is very satisfying to navigate without having to rely on GPS - well, most of the time! The area we were in is also very beautiful - there were many examples of rata and very mature rimu and beech trees, a reasonable bird-life, and very picturesque streams and rivers. This is definitely a place that I would like to explore further.