Day 3

We woke up to an amazing sunrise above the low desert cloud. We ate breakfast out on the deck in the sun as the cloud slowly interfered. After we packed up and were ready to leave, the cloud had already lowered the visibility to 100m. This didn't matter because we were only focused on getting past the day's grind; the Waihinoa River. (pictured below) We gradually descended

for a couple of kilometers now used to the volcanic rocky track. This kept our pace up enough to catch a Finnish guy who stayed at the hut with us the night before. We passed and he caught us up so he became our fourth group member. When we came to the edge of the Waihinoa River gully, I was a little speechless. That was like the biggest, if not the steepest valley I have ever hiked in and out of. It was insane.

Getting down was pretty hard. Every single rock I stepped on moved. It was tiring getting down the 100+ meter valley wall. When we reached the bottom, we wasted no time getting across the swing bridge. As soon as we had all crossed, we were straight on to getting up the other side where the track took a sketchy line straight up a stream bed and then across-slope above decent-sized bluffs.

As we dropped into the Mangaturuturu valley now on the western side of the Turoa access road, we were amazed by the number of waterfalls and bluffs. Both Isaac and I had been skiing at Turoa Ski area for years and we had never realized just how insane the bluffs are from the lower slopes into the valley. We climbed out of an initial valley and then dropped down into the main gully where we came across a school group doing their end-of-year Duke of Ed camp. After a brief chat with the group, we descended further into the valley, now getting glimpses of the hut as well as Lake Surprise which rested high above the valley floor.

Around 10 minutes later, we came across the Cascades. These rapids are amazing. They're fast, loud, steep, and very long, around half a kilometer long! As we followed the gradually steeping path down, we came to a section that was getting close to a rock climb... It would have been a solid 35-45 degrees. After this, the track followed the river down to Mangaturuturu Hut where we had lunch.

Day 5

With 85km under our belts and with the weather forecast to pack in, we took a rest day at Whakapapaiti Hut before pickup on Day 6. Luckily we managed to get the side room to ourselves both nights which meant we could spread out and sleep on two mattresses rather than one. After a long sleep-in till well past 8, we dragged our mattresses out onto the spacious deck in front of the hut. We literally had breakfast in bed cooking up the water and rehydrating our dehydrated meals all while lying in the warm sun below the western slopes of Ruapehu. It didn't last too long though as we got too hot.

With the hut being only a hundred or so meters from the Whakapapaiti stream, we had a wander down to find a rock dam that had created an awesome swim hole. Despite this along with the sunny weather, none of us felt like bearing the cold of the snowmelt.

Trying to lighten our packs, we started a mission to eat as much of our spare food as we could. This involved downing 3 bags of gummy snakes, a 600-calorie dehy meal for lunch as well as noodles, and a revolting Radix Smokey Barbeque which we barely touched (still sitting on the table waiting to be eaten in the photo on the left).

Having been out of coverage for over 24hrs at that point, we knew our parents would be getting concerned. We had searched around the hut for coverage to at least get that one message out to say we were safe. We decided that it'd be handy to get a forecast as well so we embarked on a nice bushwhack up to the ridge directly above the hut. The beech forest was thick and it was slow going but as we emerged out into the scrub, we started getting patchy reception. After climbing a little higher, Isaac got full bars meaning we could reply to the parents. We then climbed the ridge a little, now with a clear view of Whakapapa Skifield and Pinnacle Ridge, and dropped back down into the valley following a slip and then a stream bed which then crossed onto the track to the hut.

Next on the itinerary was starting the fire, and I have to say my axe skills were defiantly lacking. So after an hour of practice chopping all the newly dropped firewood, a large improvement was made. As 4 others turned up to stay, we wound down the evening with a couple of games of cards by ourselves and with the other group. We also had tea cooked on the roaring wood burner and some chocolate; a delicacy when outdoors.

Right: Isaac by the Whakapapaiti stream.

Below: Panorama from the ridge. From left to right - Whakapapa Skifield, Mt Ruapehu, Whakapapaiti Valley.

Photo by Isaac Allen

Day 6

It was another slow morning. We all slept till at least 7 am. The plan was to hike the 8km out to Whakapapa Village to get picked up at 12 pm by Bryn's Parents. After getting packed up, we left around 8.30 not because we needed to but more cause we were sick of sitting around in the hut. The day's rest had worked wonders for the blisters. Our legs were refreshed and we were making great time finishing at the village at 10 O'clock. We realized once we sat down at the public shelter that Bryn's parents were tracking over an hour late for pickup due to traffic in Taupo. This meant we had a good 3 hours to waste which we spent eating hot chips from the Tnt Pataka, disposing of our rubbish at the recycling center, and resting in the DOC center cinema where we later got kicked out.

As we drove towards Turangi, the weather finally started to pack in. We totally lucked out having not a single shower over the whole 6-day trip. The rain was torrential and we were glad to not be walking in it.

Isaac and I got dropped at Burger King Turangi where one Journey ended and another one started...