Clayridge track to Mckerrow to Whakanui

 

I've been doing some biking and not blogging that here and then the weather got bad so I was restricted to hiking in town.   When it rains here it can really pour, it reminds me of the monsoon rains I saw in Beijing. This is not the kind of rain I want to hike in.  Also most of the trails in my area at least are made of slippery clay.  Wet clay is not fun to hike on.  I've slipped and fallen a few times since I got to New Zealand.   I've been told that it is just this area, that not all of New Zealand is made of slick clay.  I hope that is true.

I got off to a late start because I did not sleep well the night before.  I think I hit the trail at about 11pm and I had planned to do about 7.5 miles with about 2,500 feet.  The time quickly got away from me and I nearly had to hike out in the dark.  I got out well after sunset but was never forced to put my headlamp on.

This trail did not excite me other than a few big trees and some colorful mushrooms the greenery did not impress.  There was a good view point about a quarter of a mile before the top of Mount Mckenna and I opted to have my lunch there.  I've been up Mckenna from the other side three times and I know there is no view on the summit. 

Abra dropped me off at the start of my hike in Catchpool Valley and I through hiked up the clay ridge trail over to the Mckenna trail and down the Whakanui trail.  Then I took three busses to get home. 

 The bus drivers have been striking and the bus service is no reliable.  I took the first bus that arrived even though it did not go all the way to where I wanted to go. I was afraid that the actual bus I wanted would get cancelled and then I would be really stuck out in the middle of no where. So I took a bus that only went to the bus barn and then I waited there for another bus to take me to the BP station so I could walk over to Fitzherbert road and catch my final bus home.

This hike was not a lot fun for me today, I was tired and there was a lot of elevation gain and I did not pack as much food as I would have liked to eat since I am trying to lose weight.

7.5 miles with 2,400 feet (rounded up) elevation gain 

New Zealand is treating me okay. There is no covid here and I might be able to afford healthcare once I am a resident, so I am loving that.  The people are friendlier on the street, there is a bit of a relaxed attitude.  

 But also the houses are built very poorly, they are basically just wooden tents.  They don't put plywood on the exterior of the house at all, just chicken wire then paper and then the siding or the roofing.  Insulation is minimal, there is generally only one heat source in the entire house.   Extractor fans and roof vents have to be retrofitted into most houses.  Even the new builds don't have roof vents and have condensation problems.  These are very expensive wooden tents, young people starting out have no prayer of ever owning their own home, but still you don't see tent cities here.  The government puts all the homeless people in hotel rooms. 

Kiwis get ripped off on most consumer goods. Food is expensive because there is so little competition, the grocery consumers and the farmers are both getting ripped off by the grocery stores.  The government is thinking about trying to do something about that. 95% of the food produced here is exported and what stays here is over priced.

I'm adjusting to life here, but I do really miss my Olympic Mountains, my warm insulated house and cheap cilantro, I don't miss the crowds in the Mountains though. At least the trails around here are not crowded since I'm not in a touristy area.

Rimu tree

                                                                  Giant Rimu tree

Escaped domestic goat eating all the native tree seedlings so only older trees
remain and no new ones come up to replace them.  Everywhere I look the environment here 
is degraded and still  being degraded.  

Top of the east Whakanui again

Whakanui is pronounced fuckanooey.  I kind of wish I did not know that.

The top of the trail.  There was a lot of rain but I got a sort of okay tarp pitch at 
the top to have my lunch under. 

Amazing higher elevation fern

Traps for rats/possums/stoats to protect the kiwi

A dark and dreary hike but very fitting for near the winter solstice

 

The top of the East Whakanui Trail

 

I decided to go back again and try for the highest point on the Whakanui East trail.  This trail is no longer marked and is sort of reverted to a trap line.  Here in NZ you will find all kinds of traps and poisons along almost every trail.  They are attempting to rid NZ of all predators by 2050.  I’m glad they are trying to save the native animals; there are no native mammals to NZ other then two bats.  But at the same time it greatly detracts from the sense of being alone in nature to see traps and boxes of poison everywhere. 

 

I often find them located in the in nice flat spots where I want to eat lunch.  I think the boxes might make a nice seat but who wants to sit on a rat trap while eating?

 

Last time I tried for this high point I missed and unmarked turn and I got soaking wet and turned back before making the high point. I also got very cold.

 

In the background "Bush Rice Grass" Microlaena avenacea in the midground the beautiful liverwort Schistochila pellucida(?) and in the foreground the magnificent "Prince of whales fern" Leptopteris superba, all native to New Zealand. All at 2,600 feet yesterday. The amazing fern does not show up until higher elevations, so I have only seen it twice now.

I caught two buses to the trail head today.  Abra could not drop me off since our car was stolen and we are still waiting on insurance to repair it.  Good thing the bus system here is so great.

I started my hike at 9:30 and gave myself a 1pm lunch and turnaround time if I wanted to make it out before dark. 

Winter solstice is near.  The shortest day of the year will be June 21-22 so the sun is setting at 5: PM.  That makes a nice change from home where it gets dark at 4:30 on the shortest days of the year.

I was so tired at the start of this hike; I was not sure how far I would make it.  I soon realized I was too hot; I had overcompensated for being too cold last time.  I took off my hiking pants and just hiked in my leggings and that helped a lot. 

In the 4 times I have hiked up here I have only seen people twice. One time I saw a couple working the trap line and today I a hiker passed me while I was resting and wearing just my leggings. He turned up a different trail though so I never saw him again.

I was low on water for most this hike as I got distracted by seeing one other hiker on the trail and forgot to make the turn to get water.  I did not miss the turn by much, but I felt too lazy to go back and get more water.

I finally made it to the top just at one pm. It was a hard hike for me but the plants at the top made a nice reward.  I saw lots of “prince of whales” fern and at least one other plant that only grows up high.

I also saw a green mushroom for the first time ever.  It is native to NZ and Aussie so I have never seen it before.

There were a lot of bright mushrooms on this hike, but not very many of them, just lots of colors to be seen.

I was too tired to spend much energy on good photos.  I barely made it to the top really.

On the way back down I made my previously missed turn for extra water and I brewed a cup of coffee and a cup of tea back to back.

It started to drizzle on the way down but nothing too bad.  In the end I was glad that I wore my boots. 

This was my first hike in this pair of La Sportiva boots.  My other identical pair cracked when I dried them on the dehumidifier.  I packed a brand new pair of them to NZ not knowing how much it might cost to get them here. 

I stashed a bottle of kombucha at the trail head for myself since I did not have a car to keep a drink in and I knew I would be thirsty by the end of the hike.

I made it down to the bus stop just in time to catch the 5:15 bus out.  My bus stop on Sunny grove road (in a sunless gully) is the last one on the line.  The bus was turning around just as I arrived, so I did not have to wait at all. 

I had ten minutes to chance buses from the 170 to the 160 line at Queen Street.  Just enough time to grab some venison sausage at the butcher.

Editing photos for this post right now. 

We had the sausage with king boletus that we found just blocks from our house the day before.

When I got home I was very tired but still I washed a mountain of dishes and cooked dinner.  Abra was quite tired when she got home after being on her feet all day and losing 15 minutes waiting for the bus to pick her up from the train station.   With no car she is taking a bus and a train to work. 

Normally she takes her car to the train station.

The trail signs here drive me a bit nuts, they often state the time it take to hike the trail rather than the distance.  I’d much rather know the distance and the elevation gain.  The time it took someone to hike it is pretty worthless to me.  I hike at my own rate, mostly slower than the stated times.  

Except when going downhill then I seem to go about twice as fast as the stated times.  Also I think they measure it different depending on if is a walking trail or a tramping trail.

 

7 miles with 2,600 feet elevation gain or11k with 790 meters

My company at lunch time.

Too tired to take non-blurry photos

Yummy but a bit heavy I guess

Brewing back to back tea and coffee after getting
dehydrated.  Yes I know both are dehydrating as well.