Waka & Waewae Day 28: Tongariro to Oturere Hut
Waka & Waewae Day 28: Tongariro to Oturere Hut
Road, maunga and strange, alien world.
Following the previous day's adventure and tussle with Rotoaira, I spent the night at Tongariro Holiday Park. It's often known as 'Base Camp' by those heading up to do the world famous Tongariro Crossing day walk.
The night had been freezing. This made the inside of my sleeping bag more attractive than usual, while simultaneously ramping up the number of overnight wee breaks to four. Four! And it was a good 200m dash to the toilet block each time. Each time I woke up busting, I deliriously peeled back the frost-lined tent outer, before taking part in the Winter Olympic event that doesn't exist, but should.
All this running about on the opposite to hot coals in the middle of the night delayed my wake up and I wasn't ready to leave until 9:30am. From there, I marched back up State Highway 46, through the settlement of Papakai and up the gravel road that leads to Ketetahi Track. Yes, that famously long and taunting track that makes the finale to the Tongariro Crossing!
I had a quick first lunch at the shelter in the car park, before taking off on the bush track to wander past the grey water coloured Ketetahi Springs. I've done the Crossing before, but this end section really gets no attention on the normal south-to-north walk, since it sits at the end of a very engaging and full-on day walk.
The track eventually leaves the soda springs and emerges above the treeline. Laden with my boat, tent and other superfluous gear for the night's hut stay, I trudged slowly up DOC's plastic lined path. Second lunch would be at the old Ketetahi Hut, I decided. Except, it's no longer there. Damaged in the 2012 Te Maari eruption, the hut was removed fully some years later. I hear the reason was due to people rocking up and spending the night in it.
The wind strengthened as I climbed altitude, its chilled might battering my exposed arms. I perched on a tussock, at a track bend and threw on another layer up top. My legs were still wrapped in polyprop from the cold night and morning. "Are you okay?" asked a young lady passerby, one of the many partaking in the Crossing that day. "I'm good. Thank you," I responded, appreciating the human contact. She was one of the last people I would see until the hut.
Continuing up the valley and around the Central Crater, I was all alone. I had THE Tongariro Crossing to myself! There was a lot of cloud and a freezing cold wind chill, but I the crater, the Blue Lake and the Emerald Lakes were all mine! It dawned on me that I was traversing a volcanic mountain alone: a completely foreign notion to teenage me, growing up in southeast London. What a fortunate series of events had led me to this scenario.
I set up the GoPro for a few self-timed shots, but the strong gusts kept catching my camera placement. On one occasion, it sent it tumbling down a muddy slope to the green shores of the lower Emerald Lake.
Once I'd had enough fun in the cold, I set off down the Waihohonu Oturere Track. It's immediately steep and somewhat treacherous feeling, but the views are beyond incredible. The sun was just about still poking over the maunga, lighting up the desert-coloured rocks below. This place was truly other worldly. The track levelled out and I crunched over the stones, through dark, sandy dunes, between large black rocks. Ngāuruhoe peered down from above. Small white flowers sprawled across the land, closer inspection revealing a curly shape I'd not seen in nature before. It wasn't Mars, but it wasn't Earth, either.
I bounded down the hill, stopping every so many metres to take another snap of the mind-blowing scenery. Then, right on cue, I reached the Oturere Hut. Plonked on this mysterious planet's surface, like a landed spacecraft.
Humans crowded its interior, warming me upon entry. Any Covid concerns evaporated in an instant. Of the 26 berths, 23 were taken. I later learned three had turned back during a whiteout further up the maunga. I grabbed my berth in the main dining area with a window view and placed my giant pack and boat on the mattress-less bed beside it. It's always a plus when you get a space for pack storage beside you in a hut!
The DOC warden stopped by for a mihi and a bit of a welcome, before all us new-found friends attempted to cook, while staying out of each other's way. The fire was lit and the hut became toasty. Tramping, sharing snacks and why I was carrying a boat led the topics of conversation, before we all turned in for one of those classic "communal sleeps with noises" that you can only get in a DOC hut!
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