Taranaki bergwandeling.. – Carmen Down Under

I took a van from the eco-hostel to the North Egmont Visitor Centre. That's where the 25km Pouakai Circuit on Mount Taranaki starts. It's a 2-3 day hike, and I'm going to split it into three. It's 7.5km to Holly Hut, 4.5km to Pouakai Hut, and then a 13km return walk. All neat paths and bridges over rivers. Hmm, sometimes...but not always.

The photo above is from the website, in good weather. The weather doesn't look great for me in the coming days: 13 degrees Celsius, rain showers, strong winds of 65 km/h, and possible thunderstorms.

The huts are basic, with basic services: a wood-burning stove, rainwater (not drinking water, so boil/purify it first), and bunk beds—so bring your own sleeping bag. And food for three days. Oh yeah, and no Wi-Fi; maybe there's 3G, otherwise it's off the grid.

30-12-2025, 6 p.m.: First report from the mountains, near hut 2 (Pouakai)

Hello!

I hope this sends, but I'm still alive. Woohoo! It was raining, but it's dry now, and it's raining and it's dry and it's raining and it's dry. Now it's dry, just now it was raining.

I didn't go to Holly Hut because the shuttle guy said pickup [the day after tomorrow] is at 3 a.m., not 5 a.m. And 3 a.m. is pretty early, because the 4-hour trek to Holly Hut took me 6 hours with this *thick* backpack. I think it's about 18 kg or so. Because it was 14 kg at first, but that was without all the water and the stuff. So it's possible it's 18 kg. And then I have a tote bag, so it's heavy stuff. But I didn't go to Holly Hut because the third day is the longest. I think it's about 7 hours, they said. I thought it was 5 to 7 or 7 to 9, I can't remember. But yeah, if I just take one and a half times as long, I'll already be up, I don't know, 10 hours or so. And it's still dark at 5 a.m., and I'm not getting up at 4 a.m. No, I just refuse to do that.

So I walk on to the Puakai Hut. The woman at the visitor center said if the river to the Holly Hut gets too high from rain, they shouldn't walk through it, which is possible after a lot of rain. There were two other people there, and they came back and said, yes, the river was up to half my thighs, so that's quite high. I think it's dry now. But I thought, it's an extra two hours to the Puakai Hut, and it was about 4 o'clock when I got to the Holly Hut. It's 6 o'clock now, so I'm not there yet. I'm taking a few breaks because my back is cracking and breaking, and, well, it's not cracking, but ouch. The woman said there were all these cancellations due to the weather, so there's room at the Puakai Hut. Otherwise, if there's no room, I'll just tell those people, can I please please please just sleep here? I don't even need a bed. I have my mat. I just need the ground. Is that okay? Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And then I can just take my time tomorrow, either the second or the last trip. And then yes, I'll be at the visitor center a day earlier, but there's a campground there. So I can celebrate New Year's at that campground. Yes, I'd actually prefer New Year's in New Plymouth, but I'm not going to catch that 3 a.m. shuttle. It just won't work. I don't know how they came up with that, because then you'd have to leave in the middle of the night. Or walk at a ridiculous pace, but with 18 kg on my back, it's a bit heavy, isn't it? So yeah, that. Small update. But I'm going to move on, I think.

Bye!

A nice, varied trail, sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky. 44 steps along the way, which is great for a 19 kg backpack.