The adventures of Tongariro & the Molesworth – Part 1

The scene was set, the planning was complete – well as much as it ever is with us. It’s funny how when someone asks us the plan for tomorrow and the answer is “we don’t know yet”. That’s just how we like to roll. Nothing too set in stone so there’s no pressure to complete a plan or achieve specific things at specific times or on specific days. This also allows us to be flexible and go with what happens and any opportunities that we might run across. Just how we like it.

Anyways, I digress; Steve was headed up to Wellington in convoy with our mate Andrew, who also lives in Dunedin. A big day to Kaikoura to stay in a backpackers, highlighted by a spa with a group of 20-something female backpackers and welcoming a gang member to stay with them in their bunk room.

Day 2 started with rain, and lots of it. And it basically didn’t stop all day. A cold southerly front was blowing through, not ideal timing if we’re honest! Steve splashed his way to the ferry with Andrew, while I stared out my office window hoping for the rain to clear. They arrived, it was raining, we had dinner, it was raining, we left heading north, it was raining – very hard. We were wrapped up in basically everything we had and managed to get only moderately wet.

Ultimately it didn’t matter a single bit as finally, after 18 months, Steve and I had reconnected in person for the first time since we finished the Black Sea trip in Thal, Austria at Sam’s house. And we were off on a new adventure – the excitement was peaking, the anticipation was finally over – we were on the road again. We were headed for Ohau (just south of Levin) to an Airbnb booked last minute while Steve was on the ferry. Oh, and did I mention it was raining and we got soaked?

We arrived at Steph and Doug’s place, and the first words yelled out the door were “Whisky!”, of course we responded with “yes please”. They were actually calling their dog in, but it was a sign, this was the place for us. We relaxed into the evening drinking home brewed beer, cider and blackberry whisky while talking all things travel, whisky, life, adventure, politics, whisky and more! Doug had to leave for work at 0:dark:thirty but he was more than happy to entertain us until well after midnight! His attitude was summed up by us offering him some of our whisky on the basis that we were drinking more than the price of the Airbnb for the night – his reply was “sometimes with Airbnb you make some money, sometimes you drink whisky and enjoy”.

We then woke to Steph cooking a fresh breakfast of wild pork bacon and free range eggs from their farm. Wow, had we landed on our feet straight away or what?!?! She told us all about their lifestyle, trying to live with zero waste and as self-sustainable as possible, and their local community sharing shed for sharing excess produce – impressive! A lovely couple, more than happy to welcome us into their home and share a bit of their lives with us, as we did with them. The type of encounter that brings a smile to your face and refreshes your belief in humanity.

The new day started with sun and we had a fresh, excited, energised, but slightly whisky-jaded, outlook on things. We headed for the Whanganui River Road, which winds up the Whanganui River valley. It’s a thing in New Zealand to canoe down the Whanganui River, in fact it’s one of our Great Walks, although not really a walk at all. So we had decided the next best thing to do would be to ride up the road alongside the river, Andrew tagged along with us in his little Peugeot. Now, you’d think with us on our bikes and Andrew in a car that, on windy roads, it’d be a total mismatch… and you’d be right, but that didn’t stop Andrew trying to keep up and he had a lot of fun doing so.

Firstly we had business to attend to though, we stopped in Upokongaro, just north of Whanganui for a special treat. You see, Steve got married five years ago and the real reason for this catch up with mates was that we were his groomsmen. And following his wedding we’d established a little club, the Gentlemen’s Devonshire Tea and Whisky Club (GDTWC) in honour of the pre-wedding nerve management strategies of Devonshire Tea and whisky. So in Upokongaro we had a makeshift Devonshire Tea – scones, jam, cream (not clotted) and tea – but no whisky, because we are responsible!! The café had this perfect little area for us to indulge. It also happened to have some jigsaw puzzles and never missing on opportunity we sat down to quickly complete a 500 piece circular one. Two hours later we left Upokongaro, tired yet refreshed from the puzzle exertions.

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We smashed out the river valley, quite a spectacular ride and a lot of fun. We passed through places such as Athens, Corinth, London and Jerusalem – or to the locals Ãtene, Koriniti, Ranana and Hiruharama. And ended up in Pipiriki looking for the Bridge to Nowhere. We found the Road to Nowhere at the end of a muddy track, but no bridge in sight. Oh well, we had a lot of fun getting our bikes (and Andrew’s car) down this muddy track, and it highlighted how far we’d come in our riding ability after 11,500km on big KTM bikes. Our little Suzuki DR650s were light and manoeuvrable, even when loaded up, and this gave us plenty of confidence to really test them and us out. So we headed off to Ohakune to find our other mate, Brett, and celebrated catching up for the first time in five years with a whisky, of course!

Our goal on Day 4 was to walk the Tongariro Crossing, which is actually part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, another of NZ’s Great Walks. It is said to be NZ’s best one day walk and something three of us had never done, and Steve had done 16 years ago. Challenge accepted! So we had an early start and all that, actually we were lucky the track was even open as it’d been closed the day before due to the southerly storm blowing through (the one that drenched us coming out of Wellington). But it was going to be cold, with a wind chill of -15^oC predicted. We were keen anyway and had some whisky to keep us warm if things got really cold…as I said we’re responsible…!

We had a shuttle bus booked to take us to the start of the track. The driver, Richard, had a cackle that brought a smile to your face, he obviously loved his job and loved driving a little apprehension into all the would-be walkers on their way to the start of the track. We unloaded at Mangatepopo and it was cold, and busy, so we wrapped up and got under way. It was tough to start but once the muscles started warming up it all became a whole lot of fun. We stopped for snacks and whisky at Soda Springs to keep us going and then hit the Devil’s Staircase. Yes, for some, I’m sure the combination of stairs, altitude and freezing cold temperatures would have felt like an offering from the Devil. We just smiled and pressed on!

The staircase opens out onto the South Crater of Tongariro at 1,650m. There was ice and wind and lines a million miles long for the toilets. The people, golly, there were a lot of people. We found out later that there were about 800 people on the track today and on a good weather day there’d be around 1,500 people on the track. We were glad it wasn’t a good weather day. We strolled across the crater with the crowds, it was a beautiful spot. All the while I was staring up at Mt Ngauruhoe off to our right, the almost perfect conical volcano, hidden in the clouds. I’d always had in my mind that when I did the Crossing I’d go up Ngauruhoe while I was there, because I’d heard stories of those who had summited it and it was something I’d wanted to achieve. So as we turned to head off up to Red Crater and away from Ngauruhoe I stopped and declared my intention to turn around and do it. Now the weather was pretty rubbish and it was really cold, but I had what I needed and felt confident. A quick group discussion resulted in Steve deciding to come too (basically he was forced to because I couldn’t go on my own and I wasn’t backing down – thanks Steve!), while Andrew and Brett would continue on along the track. We set some plans for meeting them later and headed off.

Now Ngauruhoe is very steep, and has a lot of scree on it. This is not a great combination when you want to go up, and as we started heading up at ever increasing steepness it felt like it was one step up and one slide just as far back down. It was hard hard work, especially in the cold, and as we got higher the altitude started to have some impact too. We had spotted a rocky outcrop as we headed up and targeted this, both for the protection from the wind to rest and the more solid footing. It also took us away from the snowiest bits of the slopes. As we reached each outcrop we’d target the next one and put in the effort to reach it and then rest again. Always looking for the rockiest bits to climb on. We had targeted 90 minutes to reach the top, and as this passed and we hit a particularly steep, icy and slippery bit. We consciously discussed whether we should continue. It was cold, windy and slippery and the risk was growing, and with visibility probably around 10m we had no idea how far still to the top. We decided on one final push and, you wouldn’t believe it, but the top appeared out of nowhere almost immediately. What a feeling, to get to the top (2,287m), not on a sparkling sunny day, but on a cold windy cloudy snowy day, it was basically a blizzard. It felt extra special to have pushed through to achieve it. So as you’d expect, we celebrated with some whisky.

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We took a few photos and I had my glove off for less than a minute and I could feel my fingers starting to freeze up. It was super cold, probably -20^oC with the wind chill. So we didn’t stay around too long and started the more fun part of the adventure, getting back down. We found out later when talking to a DOC ranger that they discourage people from going up Ngauruhoe because of the risk of rock fall on the way back down. He told us of a guy who lost his leg, and almost his life getting hit by a 100kg boulder a while back. Fortunately we were well aware of this risk and didn’t get lower than each other and at risk. Now it was hard going up, but so easy going down – one step and slide would get you a long way down the mountain, and it was fun. We completed some bum-sliding on ice, some bum sliding on scree and a lot of scree sliding on our feet. Suddenly the South Crater opened out below us again, although we’d tracked a long way further left than we thought on the way down. Fortunately the clouds opened out just in time before we headed off around the corner. In the end it was 105 mins up and 45 mins down, and this put us about 45 minutes behind our planned reconnect with the other boys. Oops! A quick discussion resulted in us running back across the South Crater to make up some time.

We had one more push to the top of the main track at Red Crater, peaking at 1,886m, peanuts compared to what we’d just completed. We did have a little scare as Steve started cramping up halfway up that last push, was he going to be able to make it? Could we keep up the pace we needed to as we had to meet our shuttle bus? He battled on while I stopped at a spot that had some cell coverage to message the other boys. With a bit of bottle and fight we hit the top as some guys running it from the other direction came past – show-offs! As we came over the top to the famous Tongariro Crossing view down to the Emerald Lakes we had a magical clearing of the clouds and a fantastic view. We could also see across the Central Crater to Blue Lake in the distance. We found out from the other two that a few hours before none of this was visible, they walked past Blue Lake without even seeing it. What had happened is the worst weather had hit while we were on top of Ngauruhoe and then cleared dramatically as we came back down. So we got to have an awesome side adventure, avoid all of the crowds and get the best views of the day – win win win!!

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We came across the final straggler on the track just above the Emerald Lakes, and knew that we were now on target to meet our shuttle bus – whew! She was struggling with the steep scree slopes, so we gave her a bit of advice which changed her day completely. We continued on down past her grumpy boyfriend, he’d obviously decided helping her was not in his best interests, mmmmmm….

We stopped for some quick lunch looking out spectacularly over Blue Lake and got on our way again to catch up with the others. After coming out of the mountains you are presented with a fantastic view down to Lake Taupo, it was quite special. The track then stretched out with long gradual downhill sections to Ketetahi Springs and on down to the carpark, so we started jogging in the hope of finishing the last hour or so with Andrew and Brett. We called them to let them know we were on our way, they told us they were only about 500m ahead of us – they lied! They’d decided to make it a competition and were walking as quick as they could to stay ahead of us. For a while we wondered if we’d passed them as we took a shortcut when the track looped back on itself, but pushed on. We ran past a lot of people, some giving us high fives, some giving support, us giving some others support, some shaking their heads and one couple telling us we were crazy (in a nice way!) – it was a cool vibe – I think everyone was nearing the end of their day and happy and proud of their achievements. It’s cool how putting yourself through a bit of challenge brings out those feelings.

So we eventually caught up with Andrew and Brett, a whole 100m from the carpark (totally true, we couldn’t believe it!!), so we did finish the VERY last bit of the walk with them. They’d finished their whisky hours earlier, so we magnanimously decided to share some of ours with them and we all celebrated a great achievement. We’d made it in plenty of time for our shuttle bus, YAY!! We headed back to Ohakune for dinner and a hot hot spa – the perfect way to end a massive day!

Day 5 started with breakfast and a small task – to track down a proper Devonshire Tea – shouldn’t be a problem in an alpine village in New Zealand, right? Well, you’d be right… the Chateau at the base of Mt Ruapehu near Whakapapa Skifield had exactly what we were after. We booked in, because that’s what you have to do, and packed up our gear and headed off. We savoured our fantastic tea and scones, and I mean fantastic, the tea selection was so impressive. We took a few celebratory photos to commemorate actually getting together and agreed we’d meet for another trip on or before Labour Weekend 2020 and said our farewells.

From The Chateau, Steve and I headed north to Taumarunui and the start of the Forgotten World Highway, through Whangamomona. It got its name for the fact that it’s pretty isolated, could you guess? But it is apparently a bit of a bikers haven too, and it’s obvious why – it’s quiet, good road surfaces and bendy, oh so bendy. We had a lot of fun, but possibly the coolest aspect was coming over a rise or around a corner and some magnificent view stretches out in front of you. There was a nice little gravel stretch through a stunning little gorge, rugged and dense with native bush, before we reached Whangamomona Hotel for lunch and a break. It was a great road and well worth the effort of coming through this way.

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We left Whangamomona late in the afternoon with big goals in our mind, finish the Forgotten World Highway, and then smash out 250km back to Otaki, just north of Wellington so we’d only have a short way to go for the ferry tomorrow morning. We made the most of the rest of the highway, more fantastic roads and one final STUNNING view as we crested a hill. Mt Egmont loomed huge in front of us, silhouetted against the setting sun. It was spectacular!!

We then hit the flat open main roads again and blatted our way down the South Taranaki Bight. This is when my bike started having a few minor issues, it was lacking a bit of power at the top of 5th gear, and seemed to be worse as the engine heated right up, but more about that in Part 2. We stopped in Whanganui for dinner and then put on everything we had to stay warm for the final blast. We were heading to Otaki Forks campground, about 20km up a gravel road off the main highway, and arrived around 9.30pm. Plenty of time to set up our tents and sit by the river in the moonlight and drink some whisky and discuss the world (including the future world for Grit and Sprit…). It’s become a bit of tradition – river, whisky and chats. Long may it continue!

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Day 6 started with a quick blast into Wellington where we’d arranged for a visit to my son’s daycare. The kids were keen to see the bikes so we thought the best time would be while on an adventure with them loaded up and a bit muddy! The kids loved it, we showed them around the bikes, started one up and revved the engine a bit, and then let them try on our helmets. They all thought it was just fantastic. And Reuben was so chuffed that his dad was a bit of a legend amongst his friends.

The North Island part of this adventure was now complete, we’d had an amazing time and some cool adventure, but we headed off to the ferry feeling like the real adventure was coming once we hit the South Island and got off the tarmac onto the gravel of the Molesworth. Bring it on, we were excited and ready!!