• Te Araroa Day 54
• Ōwhango to the Forest – 20.58 km in 5 hours 5 minutes

It dawned a fine but chilly morning and I set off from Kay’s after she took the obligatory shot for Te Araroa’s Facebook group. Here’s me and Kay, not sure if my grin could get any cheesier really!

It was a short walk from the small township to the beginning of the 42 Traverse trail, and I was grateful there was a bridge across the Whakapapa River. Whio (native blue ducks) live around and about here, I really hoped I might see one in the next two days.

There was a hefty information noticeboard at the beginning of track with warnings a plenty. It began a wide, gravel 4WD track and although I waited for it to deteriorate it didn’t seem to. I was going fast, and still vaguely wondering if I could in fact do the whole thing in one day while knowing that it was unlikely.

I hadn’t seen anyone for a few hours except a single motorcyclist. Suddenly there was a flurry of traffic – two mountain bikers coming the other way, a 4WD, and two quad bikes. There were 4 children and an older guy with the quad bikes, one towing a trailer. They were all decked out in hunting camo gear and we chatted a bit.

I ran into them again 5 minutes later, and this time the guy asked if I’d like to come and stay with them instead of camping in the forest. He explained that he had a hut, and was taking his children in for two nights. There was plenty of space and I was very welcome. Gosh, this could be cool I thought all while trying to figure out if it was a good idea. I decided that he seemed really nice and had the 4 children so it was safe enough. I’d already done almost 20km and we weren’t too far away from the hut. It’s a secret hut, so he gave me the GPS coordinates and explained really well which track I should turn off. I drew a dot on the topo map, and followed on foot as they headed off on their bikes.

Well, this was a lot more exciting than following the relatively boring track, to a rough campsite beside a stream in the middle of nowhere, where rats are apparently a problem I thought. I also imagined they might have tasty treats in their trailer, like milk for a cup of tea. The instructions were easy to remember and follow, and I turned off the main path, went down a quad bike track, turning off again to go up a track, and finding their hut.

To my amazement inside there was a log burner, gas cook top, 4 bunk beds and a coffee table with chairs. Wow. The hut was made of punga, perspex, plywood and some corrugated iron. There was even a long drop toilet not far away with an amazing view. Brad was the hunter’s name, and his four children were aged between 10 and 14 years old. Despite the complete randomness of the situation, he had a really nice manner and I felt immediately comfortable and grateful for the experience.

We had some lunch and then walked down a steep track to the Whanganui River. The kids enjoyed chucking rocks in the water, while Brad explained about the area, some of the farming and logging history of the forest, and how he and a friend had built their hut. DOC knew about it and seemed happy enough that no trees had been cut down and it was looked after. It seems some huts are just rubbish pits. Apparently one actually has a generator to run lights etc though! Brad said that the track improving a lot in recent years had made it much more accessible to vehicles, increasing the usage. He and his friend had hauled all of the material to build their hut in on quad bikes (including the log burner!). He was a commercial pilot and had lived around the world for his job, but loved this hut more than any other place.

Although the experience of staying in the forest was more important than the hunting, the kids were keen on Brad’s idea to go to one of the hides on dusk to see if we could see anything. To be honest, I’d never really been a fan of hunting and I’d definitely stereotyped hunters before. I couldn’t help but think this experience was really fitting for my Te Araroa journey, as Brad explained how for him hunting was all about being at one with the forest, and sometimes just watching the animals. He relished moving only 5 metres in the space of an hour, as quietly as he could, and felt he noticed and saw much more because it. He’d tried tramping, but questioned whether you actually see anything tramping. It seemed a fair point.

We set off in single file behind Brad to the hide, trying to be as quiet as mice. It is so difficult to walk through the bush without making a sound!! I loved the challenge of it. We arrived at the hide, and all sat down to watch out over the clearing as the sun set. This was incredible too – trying to sit super still, and not make a sound, while tuning into the forest. It felt a bit like meditation for me. After about twenty minutes the walkie talkies that the kids were carrying bleeped and we all ended up giggling and giving up as it was getting dark. After we could talk again I explained I’d heard a sound in that direction just once, and one of the children did too. Brad was convinced we’d heard a deer breathe out once. How cool! If only I’d looked in that direction…

For dinner they were having a chicken casserole with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli and there was no question of me making tramping food. I helped chop some vegetables, and by the time we ate the fire was roaring, the lantern lighting the hut, and even the teenagers had become a bit more talkative.

After dinner it was time for hot chocolate with marshmallows for toasting, and Whittaker’s chocolate. I couldn’t stop thinking how lucky I was. Brad had mentioned poetry a couple of times in the afternoon, and I’d thought he was joking. Next minute, he’d found The Man from Snowy River on his Kindle, and we each read a verse at a time while passing it around our circle of chairs. I couldn’t believe the teenagers were happy to do this is front of a stranger, and it highlighted how much of an amazing father Brad seemed to be. I hadn’t heard any of them complain about anything the whole afternoon and evening, and there’d been no devices – pretty much a miracle in this day and age. As we were all tucked up in our sleeping bags with the light out, there was even a bed time story that I drifted off to.

What an amazing day!