Tararua Ranges
Day 35: Poads Road (Levin) to Te Matawai Hut (16km/7 hours) Jason and Sharon kindly dropped us off at the track early Monday morning and it was back in to the Tararuas for us. The info said that this section would take 7 - 8 hours. Optimistically (and perhaps foolishly) we thought we could do it in about 5 hours and then carry on to the next hut this afternoon. However, this plan was soon put to bed when we realised how tough the first leg was going to be! We had a major climb on our hands. It was a good track (apart from navigating around a massive slip) but a very steady climb (from about 100m ASL to 900m ASL). Seven hours after starting we reached the Te Matawai hut and quickly decided this was where we should stop for the day. We had a good view of one of the mountains we would be climbing the next day. And then the cloud came in and she was shielded from view for the rest of the day. Roger found a swallow’s nest just outside (see his notes). Roger’s no...