The Luxurious Bog Inn

One of many observations I have of New Zealand is that there are not a lot of big towns. Towns. Not cities - I'm not even asking for that much - just towns. You hit a 'bigger' dot on a map and expect a bit more then a cluster of 10 houses and a local grocery place. So travelling between cities can be challenging for a backpacker - you have to stock up on the right gear/food ahead of time or forego some much needed supplies.

Tamaranui. One of the bigger towns. It has an i-site. The starting ground for most people looking to do the Whanganui Great Walk - which is actually a canoe journey down the river.

We spent a night here before heading out to Pureora Forest Park. We stayed at a Holiday Park just outside of town, where we met a lovely older couple looking after the place. We avoided tenting it for the night due to the amount of wind and rain we have been getting (it's really hard to air out your gear if it gets wet) - so we stayed in a cozy cabin (just basic).

Another thing to note about New Zealand is that (so far) none of the houses/buildings/cabins have heating built into the infrastructure. They all use either electric blankets for sleeping or portable heaters. Our cabin had a heater - but it only really works for like 2 hours before overheating and shutting down for the remainder of the night. So you either have a toasty evening or a warm morning. Not both. :)

The couple looking after the holiday park were wonderful and held onto our excess belongings while we left town to hike the Pureora Forest Park 3 day tramp.

We were told to take the scenic drive to the park, but no one could tell us which direction it was. So we skirted around the park on the south side to come up on the east part. It was a long drive through hilly areas. On the highways, there are a number of park areas you can pull off the road to picnic at which offer incredible views. We pulled over at one point and were able to enjoy Lake Taupo and a mountain range in the distance (not the Tongariro National Park mountains - more rolling hill mountains (1100m and under)). It was quite nice. We were even able to spot a few wild pigs. That prompted me to stop and try to get them out of the bush for a photograph. Mind you, after several attempts at coaxing the piggies out of the woods, Brent and I were only able to capture the rump of the caramel pig. :)

Sir Huntington III. Oh car. One week old at the time and acting funny. Not what you want to contend with. So our possessed speedometer (they call them speedos here, so mind my writing if I go back and forth), which jumps around everywhere and clocks you in at 80km/hr when you're actually rounding 115km/hr (according to a mechanic) decided to stop working all together on this day. Literally, we were driving at 0 km/hr for roughly 40kms. At which point in time the odometer also stops to climb. SO - our car, which is currently just over 170,000kms - is actually QUITE older than this.

We didn't think much about it and just kept driving. Although, the car started to show signs of struggle up hills at low speeds. Note taken.

Pureora Forest Park. A very strange park. We drove through the park on logging roads, which kind of threw us considering that we thought it was a preserved park. Pine and fir trees lined the gravel road - not very kiwi like. The outskirts of the park houses mostly trees that are used for logging, and most of them are not native to the country. There was a forest protest in the 1970s to stop the deforestation of the native trees in this forest park that was a success. The government stepped in with the conservation to protect the remaining native forest, which makes up what the park is today.

But you still have to drive through the logging areas, which makes the forest park look quite barren and unwelcoming. At one point, it looks more like a desert in Arizona with the clearcutting then a beautiful lush environment.

The first night we spent at a DOC cabin just outside the park so that we could get an early start on our hiking in the morning. This enabled us to have a full kitchen to cook with in the evening and the following morning (bonus). We decided to spend our first day walking to what the park describes as 'Points of Interest'. Not so interesting. No offense Pureora...but we tried to find beauty in the burried forest - which was almost impossible to separate from the actual forest, an old steam hauler and tractor, only deserted around the 1950s - so not so historic, and probably the better point of interest was the forest viewing tower sitting 12 m above the ground (not above the tree level). That was neat - but not worth the hike through the logging roads.

It's quite unfortunate to see how desolate the logging has made this forest. :(

We spent the night playing cards - as camping folks should. :)


The morning came. We packed up our stuff, took Huntington for a little drive before parking him and deserting him for the duration of our time on the trail.

As usual, it was very wet. Actually, we can't complain - the weather in Waitomo was beautiful and clear. I'd rather be hiking in the bush in the rain then spending time in the cities/towns in the rain. In the bush, we're in full gear - gaiters, rain pants, rain coat. It's either that or pure misery.

The walk was supposed to take 1.5 hours to the summit of Mt. Pureora and an additional 2 hours to the Bog Inn Hut. The first stop on our tramp. Again - the timing of these hikes is off. We spoke to the DOC people at the information centre at the head of the park the day before and they claimed that the timing of the trails in Pureora take into account the average backpacker with gear.

Still, we are not convinced. It took us 5 1/2 hours to make the first hut that day. It was a really wet and steep hike. The climb up to the mountain top was strange because it is also a shared walking track - which means it's easier to hike. They literally put in stairs to get you through the steeper parts. There are some points where you are trudging up mud hills when you wonder why the parts you're fighting through weren't considered for the simpler option.

Mt. Pureora - the tallest mountain of the King Country sitting at 1165m high. The view - well, cloudy. We're not having much luck on mountain peaks yet. We couldn't see anything. But apparently, on a clear day, you can see the mountains of Tongariro National Park and Lake Taupo as well as Mt. Taranaki. Amazing.

In our heads. We can only dream of the view.

There must have been a lot of rainfall recently as the hike down the southern side of the mountain was trecherous and slick. There were slips everywhere and bogs all around us. Deep pockets of murky water with mud flooring that end up being MUCH deeper then you think.

I was having a blast hoping through the area - we have the right gear on, so getting wet and muddy isn't too bad. Plus, with our trecking poles, you can foresee where the mud is really deep. Brent wasn't having as much fun - for some reason, he just didn't like getting his feet dipped too far into the mud or water. I was very amused by his annoyance. :) You can sometimes forget that you are in full gear and able to battle the elements, no matter what may come.

The hut couldn't come quick enough. We came upon the luxurious Bog Inn around 4pm that day. Our first hut. Fantastic. And of course, we were alone, as no one really trecks through these parts during the winter.

Or so you would think. We had the unfortunate pleasure of spending our first experience in a hut that had been used by hunters. Now - I'm not offending you hunters out there - I have many friends who are hunters and are much tidier then these gents were (you can read the Visitor log - that's why I know they were men). Backpackers work on a "Leave No Trace" mentality, you pack in and pack out EVERYTHING. But our lovely hut predecessors were wonderful enough to leave us with clusters of food all over the hut.

Clusters of food + unmaned hut (it was over a month prior to our visit that the hut had been used) = buffet for local animals.

The place was a disaster. Rat feces everywhere - like EVERYWHERE. Potatoes rolling around the floors and counters, snacked on by forest dwellers who have figured out how to get into the hut, OLD MILK left in a half emptied container, Sugar bags ripped open and enjoyed. Just gross. But a hut none the less, and we were happy to be staying at the luxurious chateau.

Dinner. We were so excited for dinner. Especially after failing to make the hut the first hike and needing to ration our water (which meant foregoing a cooked meal). We had everything. Our stove, daylight, firewood, matches....

Waterproof matches.

In waterproof cases.

So protected and sheltered.

So un-strikable.


Oh my goodness. Don't ever underestimate the waterproof match - and don't ONLY carry water proof matches. So this is what I did wrong. We took the matches out of the boxes and put them in our cases - way back in Auckland. Haven't needed them yet. And if we HAD reached the first hut, we would have already found this out. You then take the box that the matches are in and you MUST rip off the striking element and BRING it with you. Otherwise, your matches will NOT work. Because I get paranoid about strange things spontaneously combusting in my bag, I didn't want us to put the striking element in our waterproof cases with the matches. That to me sounds logical.

Unfortunately, we have no idea where I did put them. :(

We tried everything. For over an hour and a half. We pulled everything we had out of our bags, used every surface from plastic to glass to every piece of wood and metal in the hut and around. Nothing would let us strike up a flame. Then we resorted to searching everywhere for ONE single match possibly left behind by a friendly hunter/backpacker. We even looked in the outhouse.

Nothing.

So once again, no warm meal, no fire, no candle light.

Yay wind up lantern and flashlight. My brother picked out the best flashlight for us - this thing lasts soooo long!!!

Night fell quickly - especially since we wasted all our time on figuring out the matches. It was getting colder, and we really were soaked this night as rain fell down our coats and dampened our fleece sleeves. When we tramp through the woods and it rains, we usually opt to not wear our hoods because you loose peripheral vision. Although today we did hike with our hoods for a part of the treck because it was hailing!!!

We curled up on the cleanest mat we could find and set up our sleeping bags and decided to play cards by wind up light until it got late enough to fall asleep. Snacking on delicious crackers and cheese and the mother earth granola bars we have grown to love.

Rustling.

It started slow. It was sporatic. Then way too frequent.

The residents of the Bog Inn were not very happy to see that someone had come in for a visit. We were the foreigners.

Gnawing away at the floor, on the potatoes I kicked out of the hut through the holes in the floor (that I then covered with firewood to keep out our dear friends), gnawing away at the canvas bag outside the hut door filled with previous hut goers rubbish. The rats of the forest came out to play.

All night long.

I couldn't sleep. I was just waiting for them to come inside and start gnawing on our gear.

They sounded like they were INSIDE. Brent and I each took turns flashing the light around the room to see if they managed to make their way inside the blockades we set up.

All night. They gnawed. On everything. When the rain rolled in mid night, the squeeking sounds stopped. I slept for a bit while I could, only to be woken up again by more gnawing and rustling.

The morning came. We feared there would be thundershowers. That was the only weather information we could get from the DOC prior to our ascent. The option was to sit the day out in the hut and head down the next day if the thunderstorms were too severe. After the night we spent, that was no longer an option.

The next leg of the hike on the 3 day tramp is an 8.5 hour treck to another hut. We decided not to follow through with the whole tramp due to the fact that we only have about 8.5 hours of daylight and we knew the timing of the hike would be incorrect for our pack weights. So we headed back out. We thought we would be able to take a different trail out to the road, but it would leave us probably 20some kms away from Sir Huntington.

Up Mt. Pureora we went - and again, no view. The walk today was better. It was drier on the south side, maybe muddier on the north side.

We didn't stop enough for water and snacks on this day. Probably why I got a little dizzy. Probably why I cocked my knee when I stumbled. Probably why I then tripped on a tree root and injured my left hand even more.

We'll do better next time.

Seeing the car is like heaven - we must admit. You just see trees and don't know too much about how much further you have to attain the clearing. We weren't relying on our GPS for this small tramp. So when you finally get a glimpse of that colour - it's like this big relief because you can offload the weight on your back.

Our backpacks, weight still unknown, were rather heavy on this tramp. Once again, we will be revisiting our gear and repacking to shed as much as possible as we get ready for longer tramps.

Cleaning off and packing up the car takes time. You're tired, you just want to stretch and eat. We didn't hurry. Probably turned out for the best in our situation.

We started on the road again to head back to Tamaranui to pick up our gear and then start on a coastal journey to New Plymouth. Sir Huntington, already misbehaving with the speedometer and stuff, started 'huffing' up the roads once again. It was a jerky ride that wasn't ending. The Overdrive button had turned on the day before - but I can't actually control it (that button was never working). We drove over a hill and suddenly the car just died. We continued coasting, so Brent didn't notice right away. I saw the engine light and thought "oh hell". Then I noticed the oil light and thought I had done something to the car by driving it with the stupid O/D light flashing. Then I noticed the parking brake light on. I looked over.

My parking brake isn't activated?

All the lights on the dashboard came on. The engine failed. Before rolling down the hill and getting stuck at the bottom (the road climbed back up steeply after the drop), I just turned off the car and popped the hood.

I don't know cars. I don't know what I'm looking for. I just looked in every cap I could open (except the radiator cap - I know you're not supposed to open that one). No sign of anything special. Brent didn't know what to do either. Lucky for us our AA membership includes up to 6 free towings anywhere (and we can even asked to be towed to any city of our choosing and our AA+ membership allows us 3 free nights in any hotel up to $120/night -- pretty sweet eh? All for like $100).

Along comes the DOC. Puttering down the trail in their newer, much nicer, 4x4 Truck. The woman stepped out of the car and laughed. "I thought you two would be in a hut tonight". She checked us into the cabin two night prior. She came to look at our car with her partner. None of us noticed anything with the car. They let us know they would follow us back to the road to make sure we were okay. It was the first time Huntington stalled.

That was nice of them. 12kms down the road we waved them good bye as they turned into the visitor centre and we continued on unmarked roads. We haven't had good maps to follow on this trip - so it's a lot of guessing where you're going. I guess it adds to the adventure. But one wrong road could set you off a good hour's drive (yuck).

We were worried that Huntington was only behaving with the DOC behind us. We got to Tamaranui as quickly as we could. Luckily with no trouble.

Now it was up to us to decide if we try to get to New Plymouth today or wait it out until tomorrow. No one in town could really help us if the car had a big problem - there were no KIA dealerships there. And it's not the most popular car in the country - although you do see them in the bigger cities.

After the wet hiking we had been doing, the ratty hut, and the fact that we have already explored the town of Tamaranui, we really wanted to set out on the road to get closer to the National Parks - and closer to the real tramping we came here to do.