Down Under (& right a bit): Christmas Day With A View

It still feels a little strange to be celebrating Christmas during summer - hot sunny days in which the sun does not go down until almost 9pm. In the past we either celebrated with a BBQ at friends, or on the beach. This year we decided to take advantage of the weather and the lack of crowds and do something a little different.

Although not too different as it still involved friends and a BBQ, just 750m higher than usual.

A couple of winters ago I did the Pinnacles walk with my soon to be best-man and his wife. A rewarding if tiring walk, where the icing on the cake was abundance of stars visible in the clear night sky.

Being Christmas Day the hut at the top of the walk was less than half full; so an ideal time to ease Amanda into "Hut Life".

The weather forecast was also excellent with clear sunny skies and a clear night predicted also.

Unfortunately, this weather forecast was not very accurate and the clouds got steadily darker and the rain heavier as we neared the end of the 2h30 drive from Auckland.

And so the walk started with us trying to get the packs sorted whilst dodging the rain in the back of the car. Amanda was already a little apprehensive about the walk and so Pete and I had planned to share the bulk of the equipment between us. However the addition of rain had Amanda even more worried; and so we redistributed again in order to make Amanda's pack as light as possible.

Still, it was hard to be too morose; Pete's hat made sure of that.

The rain kept on coming for about the first hour of the walk and we got a little damp. Although given how heavy our packs were, chock full with festive treats, I think we would have been a little damp even if it had not been raining. That said we were still happy campers.

But happier once the rain cleared and we climbed above the mist.

But enough about the weather; here's some facts about the walk itself. Commonly known as the Pinnacles track it's official title is the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail and it traverses steep and rugged country along tracks built by kauri bushmen between 1870's & 1920's. There are a lot of steps (carved into the rockface by the bushmen and now somewhat eroded) and the track is spent almost entirely in ascent.

The lower parts are generally in and out of bush with several river crossings, which due to the recent (and current) rain we crossed using the "flood detour" suspension bridges, rather than boulder hopping. It took us almost 3h30 hours to reach the DOC hut at the summit - almost an hour longer than my last visit; but then our packs were that much bigger and the rain made the track slippery in places.

Once at the hut we claimed our bunks before stripping off wet clothes to dry them by the fire (stove) and then set about preparing Christmas Dinner. BBQ Steak & Broccoli, with an Orzo salad, mince pies and a glass of Rioja.

Suitably rested and fed we prepared a quick coffee then headed for the summit proper and The Pinnacles themselves - the clouds had cleared and been replaced with blue skies - perfect timing!

This part of the trail is even steeper than the main ascent and involves the use of metal steps and metal rungs embedded in the rock - I know Amanda found these quite scary and had to avoid looking down, so proud of her for making the top without any dramas.

Photo on the left is Amanda about halfway to the summit.
On the right you can see one of the ladders (open the image and look on the right)

The views at the top are amazing - 360 degree views of The Coromandel. Pete and I put our rock climbing skills to use and scaled the Pinnacles themselves, but this was a step too far for Amanda who was content with the views from below. Check 'em out!

With the light fading a relatively quick descent soon found us back in the hut, chatting with the Warden and sharing the last of the Rioja, some Stollen and some 15 year old single malt Pete had carried to the top (legend).

Below you can see the hut if you look real hard

Unfortunately the clouds came in again, which precluded the seeing of many stars and so with tired eyes and heavy legs we headed for our bunks.

Up early next day, the weather was fine, but we were all a little tired thanks to one of two snorers. Rather than descend the same way we came up we opted for the Billy Goat track, as it was more gradual and had less steps. However it turned out to be a long hard slog of almost 5 hours duration. Less steps, but loose under foot and with a couple of climbs of it's own.

The previous day's rain had also left it very slippery in places, which combined with our (still surprisingly) heavy packs made for slow progress. In fact Amanda found some parts particularly difficult under foot and so Pete and I took turns having her pack on our fronts.

Amanda also professed on more than one occasion that she could sleep right there on the spot - we did not offer to carry her though! But this goes to show how tough the walk was, particularly for Amanda and thus a great effort from her in reaching the end still standing.