Tramping!!

Over the wkend, I went on a tramping trip to Waitakere Ranges in West Auckland, a 1hr drive away from the city. It was fun, fun, FUN!!! One of the best experiences in my life. I’m really proud of the fact that I managed to complete the whole trek without relying on anyone. I carried my own bag pack which was around 4-5kg. Why so heavy? In it was a sleeping bag, a roll mat, 1.25L of water and lots of warm clothings.

Me and me bag.

We left for the Waitakere ranges on sat (12th Aug) at 10pm. The weather was holding up really well until we reached our destination and then it started to rain! Then, I was thinking to myself, how unlucky can we get!! I was pretty ill-fated in other ways as well. Before the trek even started, I bruised myself badly while trying to get up onto a frame to take a picture. This is what happens when u overestimate ur height and jumping ability.

The frame I jumped onto.

Thankfully, the rain stopped when we set off. For the 1st half and hour, the path we took was similar to the one in Mac Ritchie. Later on, it became much tougher. It was muddy and slippery. The Causacians were all very gung-ho. They bashed through the path as if there was no mud or that it didn't matter that their shoes and pants got muddy. Throughout the trek, I was desperately trying to keep my shoes clean. So, I would maneuver thru the paths, meticulously avoiding the muddy areas, making detours and bashing thru the forest instead of walking into the terribly deep muddy pools. I think that’s what made it even more so challenging for me. The tree barks and branches were my pillars of support when I hopped from one 'dry' ground to another. It was like an obstacle course. Now I understand how a monkey feels. Haha..Eventually, I successfully achieved the cleanest pair of shoes in the entire hut. Milly was so shocked when she saw my shoes and said that she’s never seen anything like that before.

Yes, we took the experienced trampers trek!

Guess which is my shoe! hehe...

We trekked for 4 hours, with just a short lunch break. Daryl was pretty nice, he looked out for us girls and waited for us cos we were going quite slowly, trying to avoid the mud as well as taking pictures along the way. Although it was not absolutely necessary, we really appreciated the fact that he was waiting for us and making sure that we were alright. Along the path, we saw many silver ferns. They are the all blacks emblem. The fern is green on the top and the underside is silver. Really fascinating. Milly told us that it's used as a marking for trampers. What you would do is to flip the silver fern upside down, with the silver side facing upwards as a marking for the people behind.

The underside of the Silver Fern

Our packed lunch!

Upon reaching the hut and throwing down our backpacks, we left for a second trip. We were suppose to go and see a river but that would require us to climb down a very steep and slippery path.Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily. The group that went out before us had alr reached the river and were on their way back up. They met us along the way and the guide of their group advised our guide not to continue because it’s not worth it. He told us that we’d be very miserable and dissatisfied it we did go down cos it’s really muddy and slippery. I was actually still alright with going ahead, since we had alr come all this way but our guide told us to turn back. Although a little disappointed at first, I was later grateful because the rain really started to beat down and my supposedly waterproof jacket was not so waterproof and I was getting wet and cold. The only good thing was that the rain cleaned off all the mud on my shoes. One other consolation was that back in the hut, I saw the pictures taken by Sebastian, my Insurance paper classmate, who was in the group that went down to the river. When I asked him how it was, he quoted Mark Twain: I’m glad I did it, partly because I have never done it before, chiefly because I’d never have to do it again. Haha…I tot it was funny how he said it, he made it sound so bad. And he complained abt how his clothes were all muddy. He did seem quite miserable.

That night, we had an energy rich dinner, spagatti. I ate a big portion, one that I’d normally not have been able to finish in Singapore. I attribute it to the cold. When u’re cold, u just keep eating and eating, even though u’re not hungry. It’s quite amazing how the organizers managed to cook the food. The hut was completely dark because there was electricity. What most of the experienced trampers had were head torches, the ones similar to what miners wear. Jiayu borrowed such a torch from her friend and it was real good, bright and convenient. At the hut, I relived my Yunnan days by relieving myself in the bushes again. Hehe..

After dinner, I had a long chat with Rami, the first person from the middle east whom I’ve met. He’s a Lebanese. It was really interesting because he was relating to me the political scene in Lebanon. I asked him abt his thoughts on the war in Lebanon and whether he was worried for his parents who are still residing there. He told me that they had seen worse times. Learnt quite a bit about the middle east.

A tent was set up by Milly and a few others. I really wanted to sleep inside it and asked Milly if there was space for me. She did save me a space but then, it started to rain at night and somehow, the idea of sleepin in a tent in the woods didn't seem all that appealing anymore. So, I slept in the hut. It was pretty cool as well. I placed my roll mat next to the fireplace. Rami, Wendy and I shared 2 mats. At first, it was pretty warm, because of the fireplace but into the night, the fire died off and it started to get colder and colder. I started pulling out more and more warm apparels. First came the gloves, then 15mins later, came the scarf and then 30mins later, my beanie. It was so cold and pretty uncomfortable that I didn’t sleep all that well. I was feeling quite bad cos I think I was kinda squeezing Rami to a corner. I think I kinda fidgeted the most amongst the 3 of us as well. Throughout the night, I could hear the intermittent heavy downpours and the howling of the wind. Everytime it rained, my heart would drop cos rain would only contribute more mud to the already muddy paths.

Everyone was wrapped up in their sleeping bags. Looks like cocoons doesn't it.

My artistic shot of the fireplace.

Rami and I. There's my roll mat too!

The next day’s trek was so challenging. The ground was extremely muddy, to the extent that I got stuck in the mud several times. This time, I could not be bothered about my shoes anymore, partly cos I knew that the mud would come off pretty easily and party because the path was so difficult to walk that u had no choice but to tramp thru the muddiest treks. It felt good not having to care about a thing and just stomping thru. As there were a LOT of down slopes, there were times when I was so worried abt falling off the path and tumbling down the mountains. My ankles were so strained from trying to grip to the uneven ground. The roots of the buttress trees were also hurdles. I acutally focused so much on the ground that I neglected looking out for handing branches. I actually walked straight into a branch and got a nasty bump. Boo hoo…

Group picture before setting off from the hut

We were so frustrated abt always being the last (partly cos we leave the latest too) that we just bashed thru the path and we were making good time. We took less than the expected time required for the trek that we took. So, we had time to go to the scenic look out point. It was so beautiful. We could see the surrounding mountain range and we overlooked the Tasman ocean. Also, we were the 2nd gp out of the 3 gps to arrive at the final spot. (yay!! Good on us)

Scenic Look out point

Look at the cute ferns on the ground!

The tramp had the PERFECT ending. We went to the beach belong the Waitakere range. It was sooooooooo beautiful. The pictures don’t do justice to the place. The winds were strong though. I got blown away a couple of times (not off my feet). Frank had to catch me while we were trying to take a photo. Some of the people in the group were so daring, they jumped into the sea, into the FREEZING sea!!

At the beautiful beach.

At the end of the tramp, my fingers were swollen. I have no idea what is the scientific explanation as to why there’s water retention there. The only good thing about my swollen fingers is that the ring I bought from the University Market fits perfectly with my bigger fingers.

Oh yes, I HAVE to mention Ah Song and Zhen Zhen. Ah Song is such a sweet girl, she lent me so many things for my trip. 2 sleeping bags, the roll mat, a bag liner, torch and safety kits. She's in the tramping club, that's why she has all these gear. Zhenzhen lent me her raincoat.

Btw, I totally endorse Timberland shoes for trekking, the Goretex series that is. They are soooooo good. My feet were kept dry thru out the trek. Having wet feet can be a really miserable thing. So, if anyone is planning to go for serious trekking anytime soon, buy TIMBERLAND!!