Kunal Kumar Photo

Lemons

There is some saying about lemons and lemonade or whatever. Not sure why I brought it up, maybe we’ll see later. Anyways I have been travelling a bit for work, and at first thoughts - it seems like “oh that’s cool, I’ll get to go to different places”. But it’s not always as glamorous as it sounds, or as hip and fun as your influencers make it look like on social platforms. There are commitments required outside work hours, connecting flights, delayed flights, weather affected flights - those landings are fun! I also don’t get to pick where I’m going. Sometimes you get excited when you hear where you are sent, other times not so much! You have to take both.

Farm trail leading into the forest

One of the trips recently, I had already received comments and jokes about. But I was determined to make the most of it and one of the spots I wanted to check out was the Tararua Ranges. I had heard of great stories about the trails here, some of the epic missions that some of the incredible people do and of course the natural beauty of the landscape. (Still trying to figure out what is the Tararua S-K?! - jokes - Schormann to Kaitoke, 80km, 7000m vert?!) I wanted a taste of this, so one evening after work, I set out to the nearest entrance to the trails and planned to do a short excursion out in the forest. I didn’t really know what this trail would be like, not doing much research, but more just to make sure it would be short enough for me to complete after work - more on that later! I drove out to a dead end road, there was a gate to a farm, a small carpark and an information board noting - “Welcome to the Tararua Forest Park Ohau entrance”. When I checked Open Street Maps(OSM) it had noted that it was part of the Te Araora trail, so it would be good to cover a part of this. A quick read of the information board and off I went. The first part of the trail would cross private land - the farm - which was some of the most horrible boggy stuff I’ve seen. The “trail” was just covered in cattle foot prints, the ground was soaked from the winter rains which made every step sink into the ground by 5cm.

Sun streams through the trees

It’s about 1km of this, before entering the trail proper. There is a small DOC sign for “Tararua Forest Park”, yippee I’m on the trail proper. Immediately there is a junction, I check my OSM quickly and follow the trail I want to take. My plan is to do an out and back, which will be about ~7km, very achievable for me with the time and light I have. The trail wastes no time, and straight into business, it’s rooty and steep. I have no idea how you would run this, anyhow it would be just a steady hike for me. Early into the climb I see someone around the corner in camouflage gear, a big pack, a gun poking up from the back, and a dog nearby. We exchange a quick hello, and then he asks me if I’m doing the “loop”, I say I’m doing an out and back. He asks me in a surprised voice - “to the hut?!” I say no - just out the junction coming up - in a asking tone to hint that I'm not really sure what I’m talking about. He is eased at hearing that, and then I ask about the loop - out of curiosity, he mentions yes - I can do a loop which will bring me back to the junction I had just passed. We do a quick goodbye as he makes his way down, and I make my way up. I give a quick thought about - “should I do the loop?”. Have I got enough time? I had not bought my headlamp with me - stupid mistake. Anyways I think - I will make my decision when I get to the top junction, which is a couple of k’s away, or 30mins as the hunter indicated to me.

Kidney Ferns!

It’s a beautiful climb, the last of the sun, not just for the day, but the week - as the weather is about to turn. The sun streams through the trees, it’s stunning and one of the best times to be in the forest, when it's low in the sky and just piercing through the trees. The forest is super green, super lush - it’s been a wet winter. And the trail is lined with kidney ferns, anybody who knows me, knows that I love kidney ferns. It’s a good honest slog up, topping out at 500m elevation at the top junction. Ok - I’m at the top junction, decision time what do I do now? The sign reads 6km to complete the loop, or 3.6km to go back the way I had come up. So, it is a significant difference, so I decide, heck why not, let’s do the loop. The trail now becomes dense and I’m going downhill, which everyone thinks should be easier but in a forest trail - sometimes harder because of how steep and rooty it can be. I take it pretty slow, but it is now eating up a lot of the precious daylight, and in the forest it is already becoming dark. And for the first time I’m struggling with navigation, the deeper I go, it’s really hard to distinguish what is trail and what is forest, and the trusty red DOC markers are far and few in between. I’m not just concentrating on keeping on track and because it’s getting so dark, there is not much of the forest I can see. Finally I get to the next intersection, the sign says 4.4km still to go - damn! I have made slow progress, but now I can hear the Ohau River running on the right hand side of me and the slight opening in a canopy shows me there is still light. A big washout on the track reveals the river below me, it’s stunning, the scenery, the sound of the water rushing - it’s a reminder for me why I’m here, I’m smiling internally and super grateful that I can do this. It’s been a tough year for me physically, as I’m writing this blog post sitting on the sofa - my tendinitis on my foot is playing up again - it’s the third time this year, as well cutting up both my knees, and various other sicknesses etc. So when I get a chance to get out I’m just happy I can do this, there is a thought of wanting to fitter, as fit as I used to be, but it’s just what it is.

The entry

Anyway, I just have to follow the trail beside the river, keep the water on my right hand side, it really is a soothing sound. But what I didn’t know was how boggy and muddy the trail was about to become. Some of the trail is pretty much a stream! There is no choice but to go right through it, and now my feet are ankle deep in it, totally soaked and muddy. The light is fading quickly now, but luckily there is an opening in the trees, so I can still make out where the trail is. There are little stream crossings, mini waterfalls/cascades. It’s a beauty! I would love to spend some more time here. There is an awesome bridge crossing now as I make my way towards the lower junction. And just as it gets to total darkness I make it out and back onto the farm track. And back to the car with mud just dripping down my legs. This is going to be fun going back to the motel!

Getting to junction is a relief

It was great, but lessons were learnt for me. Keep to your own plan that you had made. Head lamp! - Always carry a headlamp if you are going out anywhere near sunrise or sunset. I don’t know why I didn’t that day, I’ve been really good at this, anyhow it’s a good reminder for me never to get over confident, safety is a priority. But the biggest lesson for me is if you are given lemons, then make lemonade. Oh that’s why I bought it up earlier, but what’s wrong with lemons?! When I first got assigned where I was to travel, it was just a big *sigh* but then I started to look at the positives and when I thought I could do a bucket list item - that’s what my focus became on. The total time almost ended up being 3hrs, and 10km!

In terms of photography, I’m not carrying my camera on these trips, so it’s about making the most of the phone that I have. I have been trying to shoot RAW, but I’m finding the processing that the phone does is usually superior and when outputted to a .heic file - modern phones and the software is great - of course you give up control of how your image will be processed but it is getting better and better. For a RAW file on a smaller sensor, there isn’t much headroom for the file to be manipulated. Of course after returning from these trips, I think about going back, taking the camera, having more time, doing a bit more planning - I hope I will get to this.