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The Hump Ridge Track will be one of the highlights of our trip for more reasons than we expected.
Day One Blue cliffs bay to Okaka lodge
We set off fully clad in water proofs as the rainy weather continued but thankfully the gusty wind had reduced. The trail followed the coastline for the first10 kilometres passing through forest and for part of the way along the beach. We turned inland and graduaaly the path took us up towards Hump Ridge. The trees of the forest protected us from the rain and wind. A welcome shelter provided a dry lunch stop. Refueled we headed out back onto the trail.
The gradient became much steeper and we spent less time admiring the woodland and focused our attention to where we put our feet and increasingly our handa. The climb seemed to be almost vertical with some scrambling required around tree roots and rocks. As we climbed the temperature dropped but we didn' t notice as we were building up quite a fug with our exersions.
Eventually after what seemed an endless climb we reached the ridge. As we popped out of the forest onto open moorland we were thwacked across the face by horizontal hail. We pressed forward for another two kilometres until we could see Okaka lodge. We almost trotted down to the lodge were we recieved a warm welcome from the warden Mia. We had a mug of hot tea thrust in our hands and we joined fellow trampers huddled around the fire snuggled under blankets hugging hot water bottles. The cold weather had surprised everyone including our warden.
It soon became apparent that the cold weather and physical challenge of getting to the top had taken a serious affect on two of the ladies. After calls to the emergency services the helicopter was put into action and they were air lifted to a local hospital. There is no vehicular access to the lodge. You will be pleased to know that both ladies are fully recovered.
The lodge is well stocked with beer and wine so after such a hard and dramatic day many of us took a wee dram. So to bed. The point here is that we hadn't slept in a propper bed since Auckland over two weeks ago. You might think that climbing over 700m and walking 20 km is a bit of an extreme way of getting a good nights sleep! As soon as our heads hit the pillow we were asleep oblivious to the wind and snow storm raging outside.
Day two Okaka Lodge to Port Craig
We awoke to a winter wonderland. A layer of snow covered the lodge roof and we tucked into lovely warm porridge cooked by the warden. We packed our bags and put on our dried out waterproofs to start the second day of the treck. The path went up and down along the ridge. There were several places that would have provided us with amazing views but sadly all we saw was cloud.
After two hours walking the path started descending gradually through the forest. We found it hard to know how much progress we we making because we were surrounded by ever thickening forest. We had to trust that the path and boardwalks were taking us in the right direction.
At the start of the walk we could hear the wind over the ridge but as we descended the forest became quieter. We heard the occaisional bird and some rather spooky groanings from trees. At last a sign that we were getting somewhere as we heard the thud of waves on the sea shore.
After five hours walking from the lodge we popped out of the forest onto a disused tramway built to take logs to Port Craig, our destination for the day.
Not only had we met the tramway the rain had stopped and the sun came out. We quickly took off our water proofs ond some other layers ready to tackle the last 10 km of our treck. The tram way wasnt as easy walking as we expected because of lanslips and boggy conditions but there were interesting sites to see. The highlight was three wooden viaducts, one the highest in the southern hemisphere.
At last we reached Port Craig our lodge for the night. Not much of the port remains apart from a few rusty bits of machinery. The lodge warden welcomed us with tea but thankfully no need of blankets or hot water bottles.
Day three, Port Craig to Bluecliffs bay
We were feeling rather smug with ourselves for being such intrepid adventurers battling with elements and pushing our bodies to the limit. But this was all shattered as on the last day of our tramp the locals held the annual Stump the Hump. Basically this involved doing the three day treck we were tackling but in 24 hours. Hardy challengers paid $150 to start at midnight with the aim of finishing before the end of the day. Over 200 entered and by the time we were tucking into our porridge a handful had already checked into the lodge and were well on their way to the finish.
We strode out to complete the remaining 20 km of our walk only to be passed by walkers who had already done the 700m ascent and descent and 40 odd km. One lady was in a particularly fetching fancy dress. Mike thought she had an unfair advantage as she was sporting some ballon wings!
The final days walk gave us a real mixture through forest, coastal path and along the beach. The sun shone its little heart out so we could pack away all our waterproofs and replace them with su n cream and midge repelent. On the way we met volunteers, also in facy dress,who were helping with the challenge and passed by yet more superhumans marching to the finish line.
On our arrival at the end of the trail we found a mini carnival as friends and family awaited the arrivalof their loved ones completing the stump the hump challenge. We bid our farewells to our fellow trampers who after sharing such an eventful tramp felt like life long biuddies.
Back at Tuatapere camp site we emptied our rucksacks of slightly damp but definitly smelly clothes and headed for the shower. Feeling more human we reflcted on what an amazing three days it had been and compared aches and pains over a hearty fish and chips.
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