Fly Fishing

A few last photos from Kuripapango- David fly fishing the beautiful Ngaruroro River.

As you can see the water is a beautiful green colour and very clear. It makes it hard to fish as they see you coming, but David did manage to catch a few fish but they were all ‘catch & release’. As much as I wanted to have at least one trout for dinner, I was happy they were returned, they deserved to survive after escaping the masses at Waitangi weekend.

From the lookout at the Cameron Carpark, looking down the river towards the DOC camp which is up high around that last bend.

Farewell Kuripapango, we had a wonderful two weeks enjoying the solitude (which was most days even with all those people passing by) and getting back to nature.

Up The River Without a Paddle

We're back at the summit again! We've just walked Blowhard Bush which is only up the road a short distance so it was opportune to post another blog! 

We decided to explore up river one sunny afternoon, David taking his spinning rod as we weren’t too sure how rough the going was once we got to the river, he didn’t want to risk breaking his fly rod if we had to pass through any undergrowth. I took my camera (no kidding) hoping to see some birdlife and to check out the butterflies & insects along the river bank.

There is a route to Cameron Hut along the river bed which takes 4-5 hours and involves 30 river crossings (I now know it would take us at least 7-8 hours with all the fluffing about we both do, checking for trout-him & photo shooting-me). If the river is in flood or if you don’t fancy clambering over river boulders and slipping & sliding over the rocks each time you cross the river, the longer route up and over Mt Kuripapango takes 5-6 hours. We weren’t going to Cameron Hut but I wanted to at least walk around the small oxbow I had seen from up on Mt Kuripapango.
We walked the kilometre or so from the campsite to the Cameron Carpark and then down the track alongside the river that I’d walked a few days before. This time I stopped to shoot the small concrete structure beside the flying fox over the river.

And once at the end of the track I took a photo looking down the river. I still don’t know what the flying fox is for but I did see a flood measurement pole on the edge of the river, maybe there’s a sensor here that reads the river level and going by the height (above my head) of the debris I saw caught in the trees nearby I think a flood would be an impressive sight roaring through here.

At the end of track there was a nice gravel beach and beautiful crystal clear, deep, emerald green pools- just perfect for swimming in. Until David spotted a couple of trout circling. This was where I’d seen the fisherman the other day. David decided we’d walk as far as we were going to go and then he’d fish on the way home.

We crossed over to the other side, this was the easiest crossing by far although it was still quite swift in the middle. We followed the edge of the river up stream, carefully stepping & picking our way over the rocks and boulders the whole way. David was also checking all the time for likely trout pools and feeding positions.

I could hear a few birds in the bush and up high on the cliffs on the other side of the river but there weren’t any to be seen close by. But the insect & bug life more than made up for it. The rocks ahead of me came alive with movement as we approached, grasshoppers of all colours, shapes and sizes sprung from rock to rock or disappeared down the gaps to escape my approach.

It wasn’t until I got down low for a closer inspection and a better shot that I realised these tiny hoppers were locked in a romantic embrace. No wonder they hadn’t sprung into action as I moved closer, they were fully involved in their own bit of action. But I pushed my luck by getting in their face with my lens, just as I moved my eye to the viewfinder the female sprung off carrying her amorous passenger with her.

It’s amazing how much life there was in and around the rocks; I need to research some of these, they aren’t in my bug book. Along with the grasshoppers of different colour variations, there were Boulder Copper butterflies, a red wasp type insect, maybe a ichnemonid of some sort(?) and a green flathead, actually a green flatbody too; maybe a  praying mantis or perhaps a katydid. I missed the focus on his eyes which was a pity.

More insects; the ever present & noisy cicada, an unidentified beetle, a female Boulder Copper, that red wasp again and a male Boulder Copper with his lovely purple inserts.

We cross the river again just up past the rapids and work our way around the inside edge of the oxbow, the boulders are getting bigger and our way is blocked often by water. The rocks are very slippery and while David has a walking pole I haven’t, so he finds me a suitable manuka stick with a good grip at the top and a fork on the bottom so it can locate as I check for depth and rock movement before stepping forward. I make sure my camera strap is around my neck just in case I take a tumble into the water.

Famous last words as I get my foot caught between rocks underwater and fall forward whacking my kneecap on another rock, with one arm disappearing beneath the water up to my shoulder and the other one stretching high holding my camera clear. Close call but no harm done- and all David could say was ‘How’s the camera?’

There are lots of beautiful Bush Giant dragonflies flying around looking & sounding like mini helicopters and one lands on a rock just in front of us. He must be tired as he doesn’t move when David puts his hand near so I can get a size comparison shot. I failed to notice he had a few legs missing until I uploaded the photos. No wonder he was tired.

One more crossing ahead of us and this one through thigh deep, swift flowing water over lots of slippery boulders. We umm & ahh about the route to take through them and I lead the way a little up stream of where we initially think we’ll cross. We’re now moving up the other side of the oxbow with Mt Kurikapango and the ridge I walked along ahead of us.

Off in the distance we see four tiny figures approaching from the other side of the river (top right). We call out greetings as they pass and I ask where they’ve been. They’ve done the circuit to Cameron Hut, up and over the top, staying at the hut overnight and then making their way down river today. I think one of them thought we were trying to get to the hut also as he was very keen to point out that there were over 30 river crossings and sections of unmarked track along the way. I reassured him we weren’t going anywhere near that far and in fact would just be going to the point ahead of us.

Shortly after, they disappeared into the bush beneath rocky cliffs of the finger of land that the oxbow formed around. It was then that I realised a track cut off the corner, we’d have to look for that on the way back so we didn’t have to fight our way over the boulders and along side the rapids again.

In the sandy soil along the river margin the prolific flowering Ragwort, a major pest, grows in abundance and while it might be a pest spreading it’s seeds far & wide it obviously provides a lot of food for the locals- a female Common Copper butterfly, a beady eyed fly of some sort, a Kowhai Moth caterpillar, a bumbling bumble bee and a first for me, a Magpie Moth. Yes a day flying moth.

We get to the point and where the river takes a sharp turn out of the oxbow and heads upstream for quite a distance in a near straight line. It’s taken us over 2 hours & three crossings to get this far and if David wants to fish on the way back it’ll be another 2-3 hours before we get home- I can’t imagine doing 30 crossings! This is the oxbow from high up Mt Kuripapango, we walked a little further off to the right. That hill in the centre looks pretty small but is in fact rather high with steep rocky cliffs nearly all the way around it.

We find a large boulder each to sit on while we have some lunch and then David heads off to have a fish while I take a swim. There are plenty of deep clear pools (away from the fisherman) and the water is quite warm considering we’re up in the mountains.The only problem with this idyllic setting are the persistent sandflies; thousands of the little buggers swarming around my face and legs and especially around my ankles and exposed areas on my feet.

I know I’m going to pay the price for the next few days no matter how much bug spray I squirt over me. I knew I needed the stronger stuff- it’s sitting in the shoe box back at base. Here, the only option is to keep on the move- they’re slow fliers, or find a breeze- they don’t like wind- but it’s a still & calm afternoon. Next best thing is to immerse yourself in water. Right up to your nostrils- and they still flit about around your eyes. I’ve become very adept at the ‘Aussie Wave’.

David has no luck and I’ve had enough of swimming & rock hopping trying to dodge the pesky sandflies so we decide to head for home. We cross back over and find the beginning of the track where the guys disappeared into the bush. There’s no markings indicating the start other than an overgrown dirt track underfoot. We saw muddy deer prints at the waters edge further on and it’s possible they use this track too. The track weaves it way through the thick bush and luckily we can see where the guys have moved through earlier on as there are broken twigs and flattened grasses. In places the undergrowth thins out and the track is easier to follow. It’s here that I have my very first sighting of a very elusive bird, but you’ll have to wait for another post to hear about that!

The track finally breaks out on the other side of the inside curve, we’ve cut off rock hopping and wading right around the inside edge. We missed the entrance on the way up because we were exploring along the water’s edge but I can now see there’s a rock cairn and a tiny pink ribbon tied to a branch marking the track entrance (marking unmarked tracks if that makes sense). Perfect and we’re now near another spot David had picked out to fish; a deep narrow swift section of river that exits the curve along a rock face. Hmm...he looks rather wet don’t you think? My lips are sealed! 

Thankfully I didn’t find this guys alive mate while I was exploring, this is (or was) a huge spider, it’s legs were as long as my little finger and I think they used to belong to a nursery web spider.

We made our way slowly back along the remainder of the river; David finally hooking some fish- two getting off and landing one which was returned to fight another day. Unfortunately I only heard David’s yells, I was busy looking for bugs and finding another track that cut off the next corner. It came out right beside the last(first) crossing. I made my way back around the corner to see what all the yelling was about missing the release.

Here’s the map of the area again and this time I’ve put a cross at the end of the oxbow, this was as far as we walked. The ‘You Are Here’ sign is at the Cameron Carpark, we walked from camp to the carpark and then along the little black line until reaching the river then following that upstream. You can see the Cameron Hut quite a bit further up stream tucked into the river valley. The guys we’d seen had tramped over the top following the yellow broken line along the ridges then dropping down to the hut and home back along the river.

We had a fabulous afternoon in the great outdoors and even though the camp was over run with people we only saw the four guys all day. We finally got back home around 6pm worn out and very tired with aching feet from all the rock hopping & boulder climbing. And with itchy ankles from those pesky sandflies- I’ve been paying the price ever since- ‘do not itch, do not itch’ has been ringing in my ears day & night.

Climbing Mt Kuripapango

Two posts in one day, you're getting spoilt!

At 1250 metres, Mt Kuripapango is one of the babies in the Kaweka Ranges although the taller peaks shown on the information board maps aren’t that much higher. I decided to see how far up Mt Kuripapango I could manage, it looked pretty steep and I wasn’t too sure how my fitness would stand up to climbing but decided to go as far as I was comfortable with and at least to the first little peak so I could see the view.

The track leaves from the Cameron Carpark which is just a short walk from camp. I’m rewarded with a small swing bridge across a stream not far from the trailhead and then the track follows the Ngaruroro River for a short distance before branching off on the Mt Kuripapango walk.

Before I start the climb (because you really can’t call it a walk) I follow the base track along the river nearly to it’s end; this is where I find a guy fly fishing. Just me, him and the wilderness. I feel a bit voyeuristic watching him from afar and because I don’t want to disturb him by bursting out onto the gravel beach to check out the river, I decide to turn around and head back to the track junction.

Immediately I’m thrown in the deep end and can see that this is going to be tough going, the track leads up and through loose scree slopes, some just exposed clay where the cascading rain water has washed everything away. Funnily enough it’s not as hard work as I think. I just take my time finding plenty of rock and root foot holds and small trunks to haul myself up with. All the while making sure that I have my camera securely tucked under my arm and the neck strap on.

There are plenty of opportunities to stop and take in the views (and catch a breath). This is looking up the river and now you can see the fisherman on the gravel bank on the other side of the river at the end. The structure & wire across the river that you can see in the foreground belongs to a flying fox. The platform was secured on the other side. I’m not sure who it belongs to or what it’s purpose is as there’s nothing to indicate it around the small concrete tower. Maybe it’s to haul communication/power gear for a tower or pylons atop the mountain on the other side?

This is looking back over the river valley and the way I’ve come, you can see the swing bridge in the bottom left of the photo and a motorhome pulling into the DOC campground road at the back left. The campground is along the road and off the end of the right hand side.

I steadily climb higher and higher, resting often and taking in the amazing views. The fisherman has crossed the river again in this shot.

And now you can see the track I’ve been following which levelled out for a short distance after climbing up to the first small peak on the ridge. You can now also see at the back right, part of the ‘Gentle Annie’, the narrow winding and steep road that takes you up onto the Central Plateau.

And here’s a close up of the ‘Gentle Annie’ cutting it’s way up the Kaweka Range. It actually doesn’t look too bad from this position. And look at all those rogue pinus contorta growing on the hillside above camp. That land forms the inside of the Kuripapango Oxbow, the river flow around it forming a tight loop.

The climbing is getting tougher but there are still plenty of hand and foot holds and I carefully make sure I have a rock solid foot hold before pulling myself up- it’s the coming down again that now has me worried.

My camera’s starting to get in the way so I put it in my pack and pull it out whenever I get to a level area with a view to take photos….which is often as the views in all directions are now spectacular. If you look carefully you can still see the swing bridge. It might not look it but I feel like I’m miles above the river.

With nobody to take a photo of me up there, I take a selfie with my mobile. I think I need to get myself a selfie stick!

I decide to press on to the next point on the ridge and then make the decision whether to climb any further. The going is a little tougher up this part as it’s right on the ridge spine with a big drop on one side, and the gravel is also very loose. A couple of times I slip and thank my lucky stars that I had put my camera away.

Finally I make it onto the top of the peak I was aiming for and now the views are amazing. I can see a long way up the river before it disappears around a corner and further into the range.

But the most impressive sight of all is the tiny oxbow below me, at the base of Mt Te Manihi. The river may look pretty benign with it’s thin and shallow ribbon of water and the land in the middle just a small hill but don’t be fooled, I’m a long way up. I’d love to be up here when the river was in full flood, going by the debris, I’ve seen, caught in the trees metres inland, it would be wall to wall water around this oxbow.

I sit on the rocks taking in the 360 degree views, I can’t quite see out over Hawkes Bay but behind me are rows and rows of the Kaweka Forest pine trees and I can hear the faint sound of a chainsaw followed by a earth shaking thud as trees are felled not too far away.

The summit of Mt Kuripapango is the second peak from the right but I decide to call it quits and head back down, the wind is blowing a gale now on the ridge and the temperature has dropped considerably. The summit is still quite a distance away, the track drops down and along another exposed ridge after this first peak and I can see through my camera zoom that the track is very steep towards the end. I’m happy I got this far and got to see the wonderful views.

Once again I take my time on the way down which is way harder on my legs and feet than going up. I only had one little fright when my foot caught under an exposed root on a steep bit and I tripped forward. Luckily I was holding a sapling for balance and managed to halt my fall. I had visions of broken toes or sliding to the bottom of the rocky slope on my face.

I took a close up shot of the map and marked with a red cross where I climbed to. It actually doesn’t look too far on here but believe me it was a steady and reasonably tough climb. You can also see the smaller oxbow that I saw from the top and the larger Kuripapango Oxbow and campground at the bottom left. And middle right are The Lakes, where we walked to the other day.

I may just get David to drop me at the The Lakes carpark one day so I can climb to the top of Mt Kuripapango from that direction and then walk back along the ridge and down. We’ll see….

Kuripapango DOC Camp, HB

Here we are arriving at the large & deserted DOC camp at Kuripapango which is located on the banks of the Ngaruroro River at the base of the Kaweka Ranges on the outer reaches of inland Hawkes Bay.

And here we are (top left) four days later on the Friday of Waitangi Weekend when nearly every flat area, alcove and nook &cranny in the large campsite has slowly been taken by arriving campers for the long weekend. And campers in tents & caravans were still arriving during Saturday and into Saturday evening.

And the trout have no chance- well actually I think they have a whole heap of chance, they will have been spooked into hiding- every camp site has at least a couple of hopeful fishermen and in some cases 5 or 6 men & children with fishing rods. Dad’s and their sons and daughters have been passing by morning and night on their way to the river, ever hopeful of catching that elusive fish. So far all we’ve seen is one little tiddler being paraded back past on the return journey.

Kuripapango is at the base of the infamous ‘Gentle Annie’, a steep climb over a range with many sharp switchbacks on the Napier-Taihape Road. We have yet to haul the van up the Gentle Annie, that’ll be when we leave in a few days time. At least it is sealed now, the last time I drove over the Gentle Annie it was gravel and a slow haul up and across the Central Plateau.

The road into the camp passes through a large field where a group of beehives (I wonder what the collective name for them is?) are strategically placed so the bees can harvest the highly sort-after & lucrative manuka honey from the surrounding bush.

The sign at the beginning of the track is a bit misleading, it indicates that the campervan site is near the beginning of the track when in fact motorhomes can set up camp throughout the area. I wonder how many don’t venture any future on through the narrow, bush covered track thinking they might not be able to turn around further down.

It always amazes us as to how many people believe the rules don’t apply to them; ‘Light No Fires’- there are old fire pits throughout the camp, ‘No Motorbikes or Four Wheelers’- a quad bike & a motorbike are somewhere in camp, ‘No Dogs’- we’ve seen at least three this weekend (correction seven, we just had a walk through camp. And a further correction now on Sunday; there have been at least 15 dogs scattered throughout the camp) Admittedly most have been on leads and well behaved but we’ve seen a few wandering including this black lab who, while only trying to say hello, frightened this toddler.

I’m not sure what the answer is, dogs are an important part of a lot of families and the Kiwi tradition of going camping in the great outdoors is taking your pet with you. I know some DOC campgrounds allow dogs & perhaps they should re-visit the Kuripapango restrictions as what they have in place now certainly isn’t working.

And as an aside one camping party had a pet magpie in a cage with them. I could hear a magpie calling but thought it must have been a wild one until our neighbours told us about it squawking all day (we were out so didn’t hear it much) As they said it’s all very well bringing the bird with them but they wondered if they realised that it’s squawking would have chased the native bird life away.

*Rant Over!*

Now back to us arriving last Monday. Being the only ones in camp we had the pick of sites and we found a reasonably level one near the road, facing east-west for all day sun and with a sheltered area on our outdoor side and also protected by bush from behind. Perfect!

A rainbow followed by a full moon greeted us on our first night.

Kuripapango camp is also known as The Oxbow. An oxbow is where a river forms a loop around a land mass and here the Ngaruroro River forms the loop around the campsite. Unfortunately the land mass the camp sits on is about 100 metres above the river and it’s a steep walk down to the river bed. This wouldn’t be so bad except that it’s the only water source in camp and as we’ve now been here for the better part of a week, we’ve had to make the trip down and back a few times carting 20 litres at a time for our tank. It’s all part of our lifestyle but still tough work sometimes.

The river is running very low at the moment but there are numerous deep pools to swim in and to fish. A helicopter has been flying in fishermen & hunters on a regular basis and a Taupo guide and his Australian client were camped for a couple of nights at the back of the camp earlier in the week. They, by all accounts, had a successful time, catching over 30 fish within a kilometre length of the river. We did see some photos but we wondered at the number. Their next stop was the Mohaka beyond Glenfalls for the holiday weekend. After complaining about the inconsiderate campers he comes across I wonder how he (the guide) got on with the influx of campers there over the long weekend.

At the end of the oxbow the river sweeps around and under the road bridge at the foot of the Gentle Annie heading east passing through the famous Gimblett Gravels wine area on it’s way towards it’s eventual exit into Hawkes Bay near Clive. I’d love to raft the river all the way down, I’m sure there can’t be too many Grade 5 rapids along the way?

After three nights virtually by ourselves- the first night totally on our own and the next two with just a couple of others camping out of sight- the promise of a fine long weekend had a steady stream of vehicles arriving to set up camp from early afternoon on Thursday. A large group of people set up in the dip across the road from us getting their tents up just in time before the rain arrived.

And well after dark we could still hear the odd vehicle passing by. In the morning a few more tents and vans had sprouted in the empty spots around the edge of the camp.

Friday morning dawned cold and wet, the sun made a brief appearance before disappearing and the rest of the day was spent dodging passing showers and heavy downpours. The weather didn’t seem to dampen the campers spirits though, especially the kids who, on a free reign, were off exploring, riding bikes, fishing or fighting battles with their water guns.

Other than a walk around camp and a trip to the river for water we stayed in, ever thankful for our warm & cosy home and, going by the queue & stench emanating from the long drops, our very own loo!

The sun came out on Saturday and so did the people, with nearly every available camping area taken, the overflow of campers were setting up in another clearing back near the road and beside one of the tramping track carparks (middle right) And look another dog bounding out to say hello- in fact there were two at this camp.

It’s now Sunday afternoon and it’s very hot & very still, most people have packed up and headed home although I can still hear the familiar ringing metal pipe sound around the camp as people pack up their tents. There’s still a few families about enjoying the last of the holiday weekend and we’re just about to go for a drive to find a signal so we can download and I can upload this. I suspect when we get back later in the day we’ll be just about by ourselves and the sounds of nature will slowly descend over the valley once again.

We're now sitting in the ute 13kms from camp, with the air conditioning on full and 4 bars of Telecom reception. We're parked in a gravel pull off area, high above and overlooking a vast expanse of Hawkes Bay's crisp dry farmland. Technology is a wonderful thing; I've been able to send this blog from my computer to my live blog on the internet via my phone's 'hotspot' and upload the photos and post it so you'll have something to read this evening! Enjoy- although excuse any errors as it's rather hard to proof read with my large laptop perched on my lap in the cab. 

Still to come from Kuripapango…
The Lakes
Climbing Mt Kuripapango
Up The River Without a Paddle
Avian First