Mt Matthews

Mt Matthews is the highest peak in the immediate Wellington area, situated in the Rimutaka Forest Park. It stands at an elevation of 941 m, and although there aren't great views from the top because it is covered with trees for the most part, it's a prominent peak you can see from many places in Wellington.

About 20 years ago I was on an ATC camp over in the Orongorongo valley where we talked about going up there, but didn't, and I never really had the opportunity or the company until recently, since Raewyn started getting interested in tramping.

One weekend in mid-March our church had a memorial service on Sunday for a member of our congregation who had passed away. Neither Raewyn nor I knew him particularly well, and with the weather forecast looking great we decided to wag church for the day (!) and go tramping instead.

Saturday we had tickets for the first test match at the Basin Reserve between NZ and Australia in about 10 years. That was mildly unfortunate, but we figured we could leave the cricket at 5-ish, pick up some takeaways on our drive to Wainui, walk over the 5-mile track and up the river valley as far as we could and find a place to camp overnight, then tackle Mt Matthews on the Sunday. This was also an opportunity to try out the new tent I had recently purchased from Macpac.

We made it further than we were expecting - in fact, all the way to Matthews Stream. With fading light and no wind, we decided to just pitch the tent on the flattish gravel bank on one side of the valley. The new tent was a bit cosier than the 3-man tent it replaced, but it was worth it for carrying 2.3 kg instead of 3.7.

The next morning we had breakfast, packed a day pack with water, lunch, cameras, jackets and headed up the hill. And up. And up. We did have views every now and then - north along the main spine of the Rimutaka ranges with glimpses of the Wairarapa, west towards Wellington, south down the Mukamuka valley.

We had lunch at a clearing just above the south saddle, by which stage it was getting quite hot. We were glad we had had a head start on the sun. Back down to our tent, which we packed up and walked back out to the car. They reckon it would be a 10 hr day trip from the Catchpool carpark; we reckon it would be longer - but then we were carrying more than just day packs between Catchpool and Matthews Stream.

Some bits of the track, particularly just above the south saddle, were a bit loose and scrambly. Apart from that, it's just steep and rooty...

View looking up Matthews Stream from our campsite. The track is marked on the right hand side. Mt Matthew is hiding behind the 'peak' in front.

View from the clearing above South Saddle looking up to Mt Matthews

View of Wellington from somewhere along the tops

View of Palliser Bay and Lake Ferry from the summit (end of marked track)

Descending to the turn-off to South Saddle and the Mukamuka valley

Waikaremoana Great Walk

Back in January, Raewyn, Jen and I went up to Lake Waikaremoana to do the Great Walk track over 3 days and celebrate Raewyn's birthday at the same time. Sorry for taking so long to put photos on the blog - better late than never though, right?

Day 1: Whanganui landing - Marauiti hut

We decided to do the circuit anticlockwise, so that we encountered the big climb up Panekire on the last day with lighter packs, rather than on the first day with heavier packs.

We were on the water taxi at around 9:30 and enjoyed a pleasant trip across the lake. We started walking at about 10:00 and made good time to Waiharuru hut for lunch. A family that had been on the boat with us caught up and we watched as they headed down to the lake for a swim. The walk is popular with families, and the distance can be covered leisurely over 5 days or at a faster pace in fewer days. After lunch we carried on to Marauiti hut and went for a dip in the lake. To our surprise the family arrived later in the afternoon (and proceeded to go for another swim).

GPS data: 12.1 km, 3:19 moving (4:27 total), ascent 710 m, descent 706 m.

The three musketeers at the start of another Great Walk

View across the lake to Panekire Bluffs

Marauiti hut


Day 2: Marauiti hut - Waiopaoa hut

Another beautiful morning greeted us. Thanks to sunrise being so early, we were breakfasted, packed, and ready to go by 7:30. Again we were making good time and opted to take the side trip to Korokoro Falls. This was about the only part of the whole track where the time indicated on the sign was remotely close to what it took us to walk (half an hour each way). Upon arriving back at the main track we had lunch before carrying on.
We had another swim when we got to Waiopaoa hut, and while Raewyn was getting changed I prepared her birthday cake (applying icing, M&Ms, and candles). On a youth camp a couple of years ago I had smuggled a cake in, and I knew this time was going to be a bit more difficult, but not impossible - and it was worth it :)
We met a couple staying at the same hut that night who lived in Rotorua and were also Christians, turned out they had some mutual friends in common with Raewyn. Small world.

GPS data: 15.8 km, 4:38 moving (6:16 total), ascent 904 m, descent 895 m.

Early morning mist over the lake near Marauiti hut

Reflections on the lake

Korokoro falls


Day 3: Waiopaoa hut - Onepoto (road end)

Once again we were up early, this time with a mission to get as much of the climb out of the way before the day heated up too much. It was hovering around 30 degrees the previous two days and expected to be similar on the third day too. We were walking by 7:30 and arrived at Panekire hut by 10:30 - too early for lunch, so we carried on. The views from along the tops were expansive, although the track kept mostly on the non-lake side of the bluffs with only a few opportunities to see the view. Coming down was equally as interminable as going up. Maybe I'm getting old, but my knees don't seem to like going downhill like they used to.

GPS data: 17.8 km, 5:29 moving (7:43 total), ascent 1109 m, descent 1117 m.

Raewyn on the track about half an hour after leaving Waiopaoa hut

View from one lookout point along the tops

Another view


Overall impressions

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I wasn't as impressed by the Lake Waikaremoana track as I had been by most of the other Great Walks. Maybe its the long drive to get there, to find that most of the time you're walking through bush which looks pretty similar to the bush virtually everywhere else in the country. The only novelty factors are the views from the tops (of which there aren't as many as you would think, looking at the track) and the freshwater swimming opportunities.

One thing that irritated me a bit was the signage. As mentioned, we were considerably faster than the time indicated on all the signs, apart from the side trip to Korokoro Falls. Why is this a problem? Well, first of all, it makes things difficult to plan. We could possibly have done the walk in 2 days if we'd pushed it, but in the planning we were wondering whether trying to do it in 3 was too ambitious. Obviously we needn't have worried. I don't like having heaps of time sitting around with not much to do. But a second, more nagging issue, is regarding the people who come here, walk a section in 2 hrs that according to the sign should take 4, and think that the same sort of ratio will be true for every yellow and green DoC sign all over NZ. It could cause these people to overestimate their own ability. Yes, on the one hand, if it is mostly families walking the track, they will take longer, but in my opinion DoC should put the expected times on signs throughout the country according to some standardised walking pace (as actually walked by someone, not just calculated according to track condition, distance, and elevation gain/loss) and then it's up to individuals to mentally adjust their own expected times if they are faster or slower.

Another thing I found irritating was the lack of rangers at the huts to check people's passes. Huts on Great Walks have premium prices and are booked out months in advance, and we came across more than one person who decided on the day to carry on to the next one. No-one was at the huts checking passes. I was very surprised by this.

So it was a good walk, and a good one to take kids on, but I don't know that I'd be quick to recommend it as a great walk. Tongariro and Milford still take the cake for me as the best of the Great Walks.

Nepal: Departure (15 Nov)

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We had a fairly relaxing morning, with not much to do since we did most of our packing the day before. We opted to leave the Bible college at 10:00 to get to the airport in plenty of time for our 1:00 flight. The international check-in was nowhere near as chaotic as domestic. However, after going through security it was pretty diabolical – 5 numbered gates (each of which led to a bus, or straight to a plane) and no indication of where each one was headed until ‘boarding’ started. Then of course they called for priority boarding, families with young children etc. who got on the bus first, then we got on. So upon arriving at the plane, we got on first – so much for ‘priority boarding’!

About an hour after taking off we landed in Kolkata for refuelling. (Due to the fuel crisis, airlines were not allowed to refuel in Kathmandu, and every aircraft had to have sufficient fuel on board to fly out once it arrived.) About 45 minutes later we were on our way to Singapore. It was a flight time of around 6 hours in total, during which time it became clear that we were seated in daycare class. There were at least 9 children under the age of 4 (i.e. seated on their parent’s lap) within three rows of us. It made for a very long flight with the crying, wailing, screaming, squealing, seat kicking and random touching. Then nobody seemed to be in a hurry to get off the plane when we were disembarking...

We stayed a night and a day in Singapore, visiting the Garden by the Bay and Orchard Road for some shopping, since the weather decided to bucket down every couple of hours or so. Then it was back to the airport for our overnight flight to Auckland. We got a bit held up at the biosecurity check, but got the all clear and just managed to catch our connecting flight to Wellington. It was so good to be home!

Kathmandu international terminal departures area

Final view of Everest and other mountains on our flight to Singapore

Index

Nepal: Missions: Day 5 (14 Nov)

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Early in the morning Bond, Aaron, and two of the local translators left to go on a 3-day trip to one of the villages near the epicentre. They had been there a few times previously, and another opportunity had come up through MAF for them to go again.
We ended up having quite a productive day. After breakfast we asked Heather for some chores, and spent a couple of hours in the morning stripping beds, airing out blankets, collecting sheets for washing, emptying rubbish bins, vacuuming, doing dishes, and cleaning the fridge. After lunch we went to a local grocery store and spent our last 180 Rs on some snacks to take on the plane the next day.

At 3:30 we joined the church service. We were able to follow along with some of the songs, although we struggled a bit more with the sermon, which was mostly in Nepali with a few key points translated to English, but given there were only four of us non-Nepali speakers, I can’t complain. It was cool to sing ‘Our God is greater’ with our new-found Nepali brothers and sisters – a goosebumps moment as it sunk in that we do all worship the same great God. About the only words we could pick up otherwise were ‘Danyabad’ (thanks), ‘Jesu’ (Jesus) and ‘Jaimashi’ (Jesus is victor – a Christian greeting).

In the evening we got talking with Heather and Jena about missions, different countries and cultures, churches, etc. It was interesting to hear their stories.

Calvary Chapel Bible college staff heading out to minister in villages near the epicentre, only accessible by helicopter

Next day

Nepal: Missions: Day 4 (13 Nov)

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At breakfast it was announced that the filming would be done at the orphanage. This was to make a promotional video to share with the Promise Child supporters. Somehow Raewyn and I wangled ourselves in to be camera operators. It was a lot of fun (for us at least), something a bit different, and cool to have been a part of.

We arrived back at the Bible college shortly after 11, just in time for a final send-off service for the students. It was cool to be able to join with them for worship – them singing in Nepali and us singing the same song in English. Pastor Bond spoke briefly – it was interesting to see how the translation works in a sermon type situation. Then all the students were called up to be prayed over as a group and to be given commentaries and audio Bibles. After that we had a special lunch for them. The main Calvary Westgrove team departed later that night.

Filming a promotional video at the Promise Child orphanage, Kathmandu

Raewyn and me with Pastor Brent Kaser, Calvary Chapel Westgrove missions pastor and founder of Promise Child

Commissioning service for the Calvary Chapel Bible college students

Calvary Chapel Bible college students were given Nepali commentaries and talking Bibles to help them minister in their villages

Celebratory lunch for the Bible college students

The Calvary Chapel Westgrove missions team praying before departing

Next day

Nepal: Missions: Day 3 (12 Nov)

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Thursday, day 3, there weren’t really any concrete plans. We ended up going back to the orphanage to tidy up a few things, stock the kitchen with utensils, pots and pans etc., in preparation for some filming they were planning on doing on Friday. After lunch the plan was to visit the monkey temple and then go to Thamel for some shopping. Since both Raewyn and I had kind of had enough (of being around people, and of being in Nepal in general) – and we didn’t have any money left – we opted to stay on campus. It was just as well because the group ended up only going to Thamel, and spent four hours there shopping. I think that’s more than the entire time we’ve spent there put together! They were all talking about coming back, whereas I couldn’t wait to get home and really am not fussed about returning. It was good to have some alone time – it’s been in short supply since we arrived on campus. That was one good thing about the trek: we could always retreat to our tent to be by ourselves. I find it really hard being surrounded by other people all day.

Next day

Nepal: Missions: Day 2 (11 Nov)

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Today we were heading out of town to visit a couple of villages where the team has been out ministering before. It would be a 2-3 hour drive to get there, so we started early with breakfast at 6:00 before loading up three 4WD vehicles for the twenty of us who were going.

The roads getting through Kathmandu were bad enough; then we got out of the city and they got even worse. After about an hour we came to a turnoff, where the real off-roading began – very rocky and steep, some of it worse than what we went mountain biking on! We stopped a couple of times, but towards the end I was feeling really queasy.

The first village we stopped at was Sikre. The team had passed through here by ‘accident’ (or Divine appointment), and were able to minister to the people with tarpaulins and food, and were warmly welcomed. We received another warm welcome today. Many of the houses were damaged in the earthquake and had been partially rebuilt, but I guess it is a slow process when most of their effort goes into farming, and if you don’t have building materials available. Several buildings were once 2- or 3-storeyed but had been converted into 1-storey out of necessity. We saw a new one being built, with people sawing planks lengthwise from logs using a double hand saw. We talked with a few people and prayed for them.

From there we drove another 20 minutes or so to Liptol, the village of one of the Bible college students, Soba. We had lunch on the side of the track before heading on foot down to the village, taking blankets with us to give to people there. Soba’s house was the first one we came to, and again had once been three storeys but was reduced to one. Some of the other houses had not even fared that well, and were just piles of rubble.

A relative of Soba’s who was also a believer invited us to her home. There we met a man called Bizay who had recently come to faith, and as a group we were able to encourage him, through a translator. From there it was back to Soba’s house to distribute blankets, beanies, sweets and stickers. A couple of the leaders (Bond and Gerry) shared a few words, including the gospel message and to say that they would be back in a few weeks with a medical team and more supplies.

After we left we prayed for the people in the village. It was an amazing day. Then began the long drive back to Kathmandu – just under 3 hours, for a distance of around 30 km.

Visiting the village of Sikre

Sikre

Visiting Liptol, a village that was badly affected by the earthquake

Handing out stickers to kids at Liptol

We brought beanies and blankets for the people living in Liptol

Farewell from Liptol

Next day

Nepal: Missions: Day 1 (10 Nov)

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We slept in until 7:00 and enjoyed washing water on tap… Heather and Jena from the Calvary Chapel Bible College came and picked us up just after 9:00. The traffic getting down to the campus in Laktipur was chaos, with huge lines of trucks that had been parked for days waiting for fuel to become available.

We arrived at the campus and dropped off our bags, and went down with the rest of the missions team from Calvary Westgrove to the orphanage building which was a few blocks away. Once inside, everyone dispersed to various jobs; we started off moving bedding to the various rooms, then started cleaning – a big job. The building has three storeys, six bedrooms, three bathrooms. It’s being set up to initially house up to 12 children. The team had installed fans and lighting, laid carpet in the lounge and bedrooms and faux timber flooring in the dining room, replaced the curtains, and furnished all the rooms. By the end of the day the place was starting to look really inviting.

Calvary Chapel Bible college, Kathmandu

Promise Child orphanage, Kathmandu

Cleaning a bathroom at the orphanage

One of the bedrooms in the Promise Child orphanage, Kathmandu

Next day

Nepal: Lukla – Kathmandu (9 Nov)

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Another early start; our wake-up call was at 5:00 but we were already up, thanks to a rodent of some variety scrabbling around in the wall right next to my head, then dogs going off their nut, and generally having already slept enough by that stage due to our early bedtimes for the last couple of weeks. We didn’t have much more packing to do. Breakfast was at 5:30 and we were off to the airport at 6:00. It was similar chaos to the first flight, with bags being weighed, boarding passes handed out, ‘security’ checks and waiting to be summoned for our plane. Finally our turn came, and Raewyn and I managed to score two seats on the side of the plane so she could have her turn at seeing the mountains. We got our money’s worth out of the flight – due to congestion at Kathmandu airport, we ended up circling for an extra half hour or so.

After landing at Kathmandu we were picked up and taken to the Radisson, arriving about 9 am. We were able to check into our rooms straightaway and to have proper showers for the first time in two weeks.

We visited the royal palace museum, which was a very strange experience. The building was designed and constructed in the 1960s, and it showed. Some of the rooms seemed like they were trying to emulate palaces in Europe, with ornately painted ceilings, velvet wallpaper, large paintings of former monarchs, etc., but then the 1970s cabinets, chairs and tables and other furniture kind of messed up the look. From the palace the route then went out to a garden area that had been the residence where the royal massacre of 2001 took place. I wasn’t aware of the events or the history, and came away none the wiser.

From there we headed into Thamel for lunch and to find an internet café, where we spent 20 minutes (for 30 Rs) checking emails and sending some back home.

On the way back to the hotel a fair trade craft shop caught our eye. It had a big variety of things, many of which were quite different to the things that all the shops in Thamel were selling (pashminas, yak wool hats/slippers, ugly ornate hangings, Gurkha knives, notebooks, ugly carvings, hippie clothes). Several items had profiles about the person who had made them. We spent quite a bit of time looking around and liked the idea of supporting it, so we each got some things.

In the evening we all went out for dinner at one of the more upmarket restaurants in Thamel, where Rishi presented us with our trekking permits as mementos.

Waiting to depart from Lukla

Kathmandu from the air

Next day

Nepal: Trek day 13: Ghat – Lukla (8 Nov)

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Ghat: 2578 m
Lukla: 2850 m
Distance: 5.5 km (108.7 km total)

We had a sleep-in today; our official wake-up call (with tea) wasn’t until 7:00. Unfortunately nobody thought to tell the local dogs, who all set one another off at about 6:15. We joked it was a dog message from Namche which had taken an hour to reach here.
Raewyn and I had decided yesterday afternoon to give extra tips to the three Sherpa guides: Luk, Dilip and Sham. Luk and Dilip were bringing the tea around so we gave them theirs then. As we were heading to breakfast we spotted Sham and went to say thank you and give him his tip. Initially he declined it and backed away from us almost in horror. I said, ‘It would make us very sad if you did’t take it,’ so he finally accepted but was nearly in tears. This was his first trek as a guide, so I can understand him feeling a bit awkward and not used to it. (It was quite sobering for us, because what we gave him really wasn’t very much for us – just goes to show how much of a difference just a small amount makes to them I guess.)

After breakfast we had group photos of the staff and then everyone. Then we hit the trail for our final walk back to Lukla.
It was also the final walk for my boots. They were not in the greatest state to begin with; they had split on the inside of the right one on their last tramp (Heaphy), but I decided to take them after my #2 boots proved to cause bruising on my shins due to the tongue being quite hard. I bodged the split up with silicone sealant, but over the last few days of the trek it opened up again, and another three developed. I was planning on donating them but given the state of them I doubt anyone would have wanted them, so ended up just leaving them behind in Lukla. We were also planning on donating some of our clothes, so Rishi said he would make that happen.

Again we had good weather and since we were covering ground we had already travelled, I didn’t take a lot of photos. It was interesting looking across the valley to the villages perched on the hillside that had fascinated us so much on the first day; they now looked quite commonplace and normal.

We arrived at the lodge about 11:30 and had lunch about an hour later. While we were having a wash (in our en suite bathroom!) Rishi came to tell us that the Sherpa guides were leaving soon and wanted to divvy up the clothes between them. Adam, one of the Poms, was also donating a pair of boots. Rishi divided the clothes into two piles and put the boots separate, then put a playing card face up on each pile. Then he put three matching cards face down on the floor, and called the guides in to choose a card and claim their pile. We appreciated the way this was done – fairly, and only in the presence of the people involved.

After that we had time for a leisurely wander around Lukla. Dinner was a bit more involved, including a celebratory cake.

Two views of my boots on the last day. They didn't owe me anything!

Local staff: sherpa guides, cooks, and porters

Our entire trekking party

Passing through Chheplung

Free-range chickens at Lukla

Next day