Auckland Baptist Tramping Club 2005

Easier option

Friday We left Auckland at different times in three vehicles. One car left as early as 3pm to beat the traffic; another car left about 4pm, and a van left The Bracken at the usual time of 6:15pm. After stops at munchies at Te Kuiti or other places on the way, we arrived later in the evening at our home for the next three days, Delta Family Lodge at Raurimu, the first car load being faced with a one-hour wait for the second car to arrive with the keys to open up. Delta is a nice place, with bunkrooms, lounges and a fully equipped kitchen. We settled in for the night - we were glad to get in from the freezing cold outside - it was so cold that the police were warning motorists not to go beyond National Park due to the dangerous ice on the roads. Saturday The day dawned wet and cold. The harder group piled back into the van to be driven to the end of a private road off Horopito to start their pack-carrying expedition on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu. The rest of us donned raincoats and umbrellas for a walk around the Raurimu village, including a lookout over the famous Raurimu Spiral, but unfortunately no trains went through while we were there. Two of the ladies made some lovely scones for morning tea.

After an early lunch of cheese and spaghetti on toast we went to Whapapapa Village for the loop walk to the Taranaki Falls. This was a straightforward well-formed track through open tussock at first, then we entered bush where there was some snow on the ground.

When we came out of the bush we saw a waterfall ahead, but this was not the Taranaki Falls. We climbed a bit through open tussock and rock country, with patches of snow on places, and at the Tama Lakes junction we were able to see the top of the Taranaki Falls. A flight of steps brought us to the base of the falls. A few of us went right up to the falls to brave the cold cascading shower. The track back to the Chateau went through beech forest at first, passing the junction with the track to Mangatepopo. We came out to open tussock once more to finish back at The Chateau. By now much of the cloud had lifted off Mt Ngauruhoe. Back at Delta Lodge Alasdair shared devotions from Luke 24:13, where the risen Jesus appears to a couple of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples did not realise He was Jesus. In today’s society we are getting into a mentality of doing things as fast as we can, and likewise Jesus comes alongside us and we do not know He is there. Alasdair told how Paul Hawker, in his book Soul Survivor, decided to spend 40 days alone away from everything in the Tararua Ranges to get closer to God. It took him seven days to get the world out of his system, and he learned that frustrating obstacles turned out to be divine delays for his good. Alasdair then commented that going on weekends away from our day-to-day lives, such as this trip and other Club trips, refreshes us for the days ahead. Even taking an hour out on a busy working day for a recreational activity such as walking, art or music works wonders. Three of the ladies had a go at line dancing to a CD one of them brought along from her line-dancing class. For our dinner we went to Schnapps Hotel in National Park village. This pub offered good meals at very reasonable prices, and we watched the Lions thrash Bay of Plenty on the big screen. Afterwards, back at the lodge, we had a modified game of pictionary. One of the group brought along the cards from a pictionary set, along with sheets of paper, but left the rather bulky board and its box at home. There were plenty of laughs as players had to draw an object and the others had to guess what it was!

Sunday

The day dawned cloudy but no rain. We were away about 9am headed back to Whakapapa for our tramp of the day, the five hour trip from Scoria Flat on Bruce Road via Whakapapaiti Hut back to The Chateau. About 4000 years ago the whole place was under water, along with the rest of the world. We were reminded of God's promise that He would never flood the world again. As we arrived at Whakapapa the DOC rangers advised us to take the bus rather than drive the van up the icy Bruce Rd. As we boarded the bus, we could see Ngauruhoe clearly. The bus drove to the Top O' The Bruce (Iwikau Village) before taking us back to Scoria Flat. It was a shock getting out of the nice warm bus into a cold bitter wind despite the sunshine. On went parkas, balaclavas, overtrousers and gloves in a hurry before we set out across the snow-covered terrain. We learned such things as being easier to sidle up a steep snow slope instead of going straight up, as we climbed up to the top of a ridge for an elevenses stop out of the wind with views all around - Ngauruhoe in the clear sky, and Ruapehu capped by mist, but cloud to the west meant we could not see Mt Taranaki which would stand out prominently in a fine clear day. Afterwards we dropped down into the Whakapapaiti valley. Our lunch stop was at the Whakapapaiti Hut, we found a sheltered sunny spot on the north side of the hut. After a 45min lunch break, we were away by 12:30pm heading down the Whakapapaiti valley. Behind us Mt Ruapehu stood up majestically. We were faced with a river crossing further down; we found some safe crossings and we forded the river without any trouble. The Robyn Foster Memorial Bridge, about an hour's travel from the hut, was a significant place in the history of the Club.At Labour weekend 1983 Robyn Foster, a lively and likeable young lady, was fording a river on the other side of Mt Ruapehu on a Club expedition. The weather had been nasty, and the rivers were running high. It was a tricky crossing; the others got across safely, but Robyn was washed away and subsequently traded her earthly body for her heavenly body (2 Corinthians 5:1). Naturally, such an unexpected death would be a sorry and tragic event for the Club, and in her memory a fund was raised to build a bridge at the spot where Robyn drowned. The money was raised, and a subsidy given by the government, but it was decided to put a bridge across the Whakapapaiti River, an equally dangerous crossing on a track that had much greater usage. Thus this bridge became the Robyn Jane Foster Memorial Bridge. This made an appropriate spot for our devotions. John told us what it meant to be made in God's image (Genesis 1:27). Firstly, God is moral. He has given us the know-how to distinguish between right and wrong, something we do not see in animals, birds, insects, reptiles or fish. Secondly, God is creative. Although He is the only one who creates from nothing, he has empowered humans to be creative in making different types of buildings, artworks, music, etc, which animals and birds can not. God also works, and as we work we show the image of our God. Also God is spiritual, and so are humans - you never see sparrows holding a church service, or your pet cat having its devotions in the morning. When John invited the others to add anything, Alasdair shared a joke, to which John commented a fifth aspect of being made in His image. He created humour and laughter - you never see animals or birds laughing, having jokes or teasing one another for fun! The 45 minute walk out to Whakapapa Village was through beech forest at first, Slippery Gully making a good spot for a brief break.

Later we crossed an alpine bog on a boardwalk, and a final stretch of bush brought us out to The Chateau at 4:15pm. We returned to Raurimu to shower and get into our glad rags to return to Schnapps Hotel for our dinner. Four of us had a soak in the spa at the back of the neighbouring YHA/backpacker hostel before dinner, and others soaked the cold and sweat of the day away afterwards. It is most important not to stay too long in a really hot spa pool; one of us fell faint and had to lie on the ground for several minutes before coming completely right once more. Afterwards, back at the lodge, we enjoyed a dessert of freshly-baked apple crumble, and another game of pictionary. Monday The day dawned sunny as we rose for a leisurely breakfast. Then out came the brooms, cleaning gear and hoover to get the lodge back to its pristine condition we found it on the Friday night.

Some of us took a walk along the main street of Raurimu, beside the railway, and had a look at some of the quaint curios of the village.

At about 10:45am the hard group, who had been tramping on the western slopes of Ruapehu, arrived in the van which Alasdair had taken to pick them up. These people had some time to shower and change clothes before we headed off about 11:30am for lunch in Taumarunui at a cafe. We were all pleased to fork out the extra 10% public holiday surcharge for our meal.

As nearly always happens on weekend trips, our drive home to Auckland was in fine sunny weather. We arrived home about 5pm. COSTS: Travel, food (3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, dessert on Sunday night) and accommodation $105 (for car passengers this included $56 payable to the driver; the accommodation for the three nights was $30). Bus Whakapapa to Scoria Flat on the Sunday: $5 Schnapps Hotel: mains $6 to $20; desserts $8 Spa at National Park Backpackers YHA: $2