Walk to the top to see.......nothing!
Each year the Wellington Regional Council run a great summer walking programme and one of the events is an all day walk from Battle Hill to Paraparaumu via Mt Wainui. I participated in this walk a couple of weeks ago.
We met at Queen Elizabeth Park, Paraparaumu at 7.30 am and were bused over to Battle Hill on the old Paekakariki road. We began the walk by crossing Transmission Gully where in about 8 to 10 years from now there will be a new motorway heading north from Wellington. Enjoy it now.
The group of about 30 were all reasonably fit - we were told we had to be as this was a 9 hour walk with no cafes on the side at which to rest up! The day was overcast but we were hoping that the cloud would disappear as we started our ascent through the bush to Wainui peak - 600m. The track was narrow, wet and boggy. Sometimes it was a test to our endurance to stay upright with most of the group slipping at least once. Others misjudged the edges of boggy patches and sunk into the mud up to their calves. I decided to try the Tarzan mode and swing from branch to branch over the bogs but even so I landed in one up to the top of my boot. There's not another sound quite so dispiriting as the sucking, squelching noise as you pull your foot out.
One of our crew told us about a group they came across once on a boggy track on their hands and knees trying to find one of their party's boot which had come off in the bog! Just finding it would be a mission - pulling it out would be something else!
Finally at the top of Mt Wainui in time for lunch we looked out into the clearing to see.........fog! Total white out! Our Wellington summer was in true form - more cloud and rain. Our guide however, gave us a brilliant description on what we would have seen were we able - all of the Kapiti Coast, South Island, Rimutaka hills etc, etc.
With this picturesque scene still in our minds we headed on the downward journey - a bit drier this side and finally out onto the farmland back down to Paraparaumu by 5.30pm. We were a tired and pretty grubby bunch as we stood around having the welcome cup of tea provided at the end. It had been a long day but as always there is the sense of achievement. Our D.O.C. guides gave us plenty of information on the way and made the day a wonderful experience.
The walk was hard - I recall asking myself more than once why I had even got out of bed that morning but that evening after a hot shower and with a glass of wine in hand we had forgotten all the pain and were saying " what a great day that was"!
Posted by Sandra on 14th February, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks
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