Crisscrossifposs

 When my Friesian friend had said, rats at the hut, he'd understated the situation. It was whole Small Animal Breeding Unit colony of rats. Weirdly what they most wanted were the three hut tickets looped as required on my pack. All night.  So I gapped it as soon as I could see. I needed to climb to the TV tower and follow the contour nortwestwards. I'll continue this post when I get more connectivity. Right, where was I? Heading for Holly Hut on Taranaki Maunga's northeastern flank. I passed a ranunculus, a sweet wee unnameable flower that is a candidate for my alpine trough, and volcanic cliffs. You can see the track running across the picture. It was in very poor condition, evidenced by stacks of materiel waiting for the track gang. Sometime after crossing under what I think was Hebberly Ridge/Minarapa Bluff, the old collapsed Pouakai volcano appeared, the floor now Ahukawakawa Swamp.  I reached Holly Hut at lunchtime, brewed a coffee, chose a bunk and kicked back with ...

  Wore a wool top as I left Stratford on Pembroke Road to walk about 10km uphill to my first stop, Stratford Mountain House. Never having been there before I had no preconception but a sign saying cafe open 9-late kept my spirits high as the road got steeper. Rural activism is a thing, I'm learning. This time I think a farmer is being accused of breaking up families and killing babies when he or she sends bobby calves away. After a while, I met the Egmont National Park boundary and just concentrated on the incline. Plus, I mentally sorted through all possible breakfasts and decided coffee and eggs would be the ticket. I reminisced about walking in Netherlands where every track leads to coffee or my Roman road hikes in UK which always ended in a snug pub, or do I mean pub snug. So at 0856hrs I sat on an outside chair in mild rain, tummy rumbling and quip ready for when staff opened the Mountain House. At 0902hrs I decided to storm the ramparts, or anyway the front door. Removed my b...

  It was always going to be a long day, so I was out there on SH43 at 0530hrs this morning to crunch the remaining 35km to Stratford. Empty road, nice and cool and comfortingly domestic like this weedy bank. I climbed Strathmore Saddle and admired a house dating back to the earliest road. In turn I was admired by a handsome South American. At one stage I could see the road stretch for miles ahead (left to right in the background of this photo). So, I didn't look. Around midday I saw rooftops ahead and realised Toko might be an actual place, not like Strathmore or Douglas were behind me. Towns gutted by time and better roads. I fantasied about a corner store, a happy half hour wondering if there would be a bacon and egg pie or even an apple. I passed a village hall, a fire station, a derelict garage, Aitkens Transport, and on a corner the " Junction cafe bar". New, Cape Cod chairs on a verandah, exciting, closed. Rats. So I sat on their front steps and made my own lunch, w...

  I walked away from The Republic of Whangamomona ("fong-or-more-more-nuh") at 0520hrs, wondering if I was crazy. All forecasters predicted rain so why not stay another night in comfort? Answer, to my own surprise, too boring. I had SH 43 to myself and made Whangamomona Saddle by 0700hrs. Cloudy and sweaty, but great to be striding out after 3 straight days of inactivity. Here, I watched a long tailed cuckoo being harried by a small dark indignant bird. Haven't seen a single whitehead (the host species) yet. Another saddle to climb, this time Pohukura and the choice of west on Junction Road or south to Stratford, and direct to Mt Taranaki.  South won. I saw a few wild goats, passed a few wandering cattlebeasts, smelled something lovely I couldn't find (twice) and walked in to Te Wera Camp about 5 minutes before the rain started. It's a former Forest Service rangers camp, now operated by an educational trust. It reminds me a lot of Glendhu Bay on Lake Wanaka. Sweet...

 It wouldn't be a long walk without a moa, they do pop up in the oddest places. And that shop across the road was where I paid only $19.99 for a cable to link my powerbank to my phone, on Christmas Eve. I'm embarrassed to admit I never thought of checking when I bought the new phone a couple of months ago, and I was in Kaingaroa Forest when I discovered the mismatch. Thanks goodness for battery saver mode and for my brother in law, who lent me a cable in the meantime. I spent Christmas and Boxing days cowering from the heat (29 deg) and solving crosswords and walking the streets of Taumarunui. In the doing I found a fly store. Note to self, check that website. Yesterday, early, I left town. By rail cart. It's a petrol powered golf cart with plastic wheels and a top speed of 20km/hr.  I shared with Opal, one of the rail company workers (she has 5 daughters and 12 grandchildren and is in her forties).  Notice the rails aren't quite parallel? This line from Stratford to Ok...

  Four days ago I walked away from my sister's on Kakaho Road, a long gravelled forestry road into Pureora. When I stopped to enjoy my oat bar breakfast on a convenient boulder I discovered a colony of the native onion orchid, Microtis aff unifilia. It never fails to thrill, finding orchids. But something even more exciting was ahead. I can't tell whether this green gecko is Naultinus elegans or N. punctata. Quite long, so maybe the latter. This is the first time I've ever seen one and Pureora Forest isn't where I'd hope to have this encounter. It was about the best reward I could hope for. Eventually I found my way off Kakaho Road onto the Timber Trail and I'd walked about 34km when I settled on a spot to camp, off the track and uphill just past the 14km marker post. I lay there and read Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford", a gift from Wellington friends that I had the wit to put in the food box I'd sent to my sister. Really lovely novel, everyone ...