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Heels 1981

The Ascent of Tawirikohukohu and the Descent of Something Else

page 35

The Ascent of Tawirikohukohu and the Descent of Something Else

(Previously known as "Grovelling the Wilson Way")

It all began that cold June Friday night as 12 hardy individuals comprising the "medium" party and the "not quite so medium but I wouldn't go as far as easy" party headed into the dark and treacherous Ohau Gorge,our only guiding lifeline a simple torch. 1½ hours later we arrived at Ohau Shelter,also known as that funny little place with the guttering in the ceiling. That night it hosed down and the regular drip,drip on the end of a pit revealed the leaks in the roof;however Bruce said that on the table it had been very dry.

Up at 7-7.30 (depending on whether you're a trip leader or not) to plates of ...of,(I didn't want to mention this,but all the horrific atrocities committed on this trip would have come out sooner or later)... of MUESLI! While looking over Sue's map to see where we were headed someone (I won't say her name though it begins with F) commented "Hey wow Debbie! We came up a dangerous gorge last night!"

The rain stopped as the two parties set out,Sue's easy party a bit later due to compulsory instamatic group photos, So up the cold Ohau River we tramped with grim determination,under a heavy overcast sky,the easy party dodging 30 foot breakers with great skill. With relative ease we soon caught up the medium party at Ohau forks and Bruce,realising his party would be left in our dust,declared a morning tea break.

Andrew had started.

"Does anyone want some chocolate?","Does anyone want a packet of biscuits?";I think he had some phobia about bringing too much food.

It was inevitable that one party would pike (No,Sheridan wasn't on this trip) and it sure wasn't going to be Sue's energetic easy party. Yes,Bruce Wilson, author of many books such as "Wilson traverses the Andes",Wilson scales Everest" and "Wilson goes across the lawn to the toolshed" decided the easy route would be a lot better (ha ha).

Away up the North Ohau we went,in teaming rain,plunging from side to side of the river through jungles of cutty grass and scaling huge boulders until we finally reached North Ohau Bivvy around lunchtime,say,twoish. "Does anyone want some cheese?","Does anyone want some salami?","Does anyone want a sack of flour?" "No,no,it's alright Andrew,thanks anyway". Simon was put in charge of getting the primus going for a brew in the biv,and after a few incidents of huge sheets of flame shooting out the windows and door he got started and declared it safe to come inside.

Looking up the valley our leaders went into conference and after a lot of mumbling and rhubarb,rhubarb,decided we would spend the night on the flats below the biv. Sunday morning,and for a brief moment someone spotted some blue sky! We set out together,one big party now,our goal to be home that night (ha ha). Ten minutes later we were at the base of a bush clad slope that disappeared into the clouds. So up we went,through trees.vines and lawyer. Suddenly Bruce declares "We've reached the bushline";everyone heaves a sigh of relief. Oh yes,only 1½ page 36hours of leatherwood bashing to go now. But Bruce assures us that there are some deer tracks up here. Thank God,we think. It so happens though,that they belong to the 2 foot high Tawirikohukohu pygmy deer who can walk straight under leatherwood bushes. So with most of our party being over 2 feet tall we had to bash through it.

Finally we reached the top at lunchtime;most of us standing at elevation 3380 feet except Bruce,who was at 3390 feet. "Does anyone want a barley sugar?","Does anyone want some mealmates?","Does anyone want a freighter of rice?" "No,no,it's alright Andrew,thanks anyway". The cloud had moved right in so that you could only set about 20 feet in front of you. We dropped off the ridge into the bush until we didn't know where we were. Bruce and Sue conferred and came to the conclusion that we didn't know where we were,but I must hasten to mention that this brief lapse of knowledge did but only last a few minutes...say an hour...well okay,quite a bit of the afternoon,but the cloud was pretty thick or something was pretty thick. It was decided to drop down into the gully where we could hear running water.

Sketch of trees

After mass grovelling around steep waterfalls,down slippery banks and scaling slippery rocks we found ourselves going down Waiti Stream with a gradient of 50 in 1 and 70°slopes of bush on either side. At around 5.30 with the light failing rapidly we realised that getting home that night was not to be. The next problem was where to sleep 12 people. We found a bit of lane between two branches of the stream,and and hung the flys in the trees as it began to rain. Twelve people in their pits in an area 3 metres by 2 metres isn't as cosy as it sounds,so Russian politics were discussed to pass the time. After a meal of 2 spoonfuls of cold baked beans each (where were you,Andrew?) because Simon couldn't start the primuses (blamed the fuel) everyone tried to get to sleep,an abvious impossibility with your pit tied in a reef knot around three other pits,a Mt Vesuvius in your back and a rock up the rectum.

Monday morning finally arrived and we set off around 8. Four hours later we reached the road and Chris' car and Simon's motorbike. "Okay,one of you get us a taxi as you go out" were the instructions;the only thing was Chris thought Simon page 37was going to call the taxi,and Simon thought Chris was calling the taxi. This left us remaining band of transportless refugees at the road end dying for a frisbee. After an hour and a visit from the police ("You people okay for transport?" "Yeah,we're fine thanks,someone's gone out".) we realised we'd better start walking and another hour later reached the first house with a phone.

Finally we arrived in Wellington at 5.30 - and so ended our epic,somewhat longer than expected,Ohau trip. Reunion same time,same place next year folks? Medium: Cath Alington,Simon Leicester,Shelley Robertson,Brian Williams,Bruce Wilson "Not quite so medium but I wouldn't go so far as easy": Mary Allan,Andrew Cook,Susan Ensor,Frances Graham,Scott Patersen,Debbie Turner,Chris Wootton.