THE CARKEEK PICNIC (1997)

Well, the madness started at 4:00am on Saturday the 22nd of February, when Mike picked me up. It was a beautiful morning, just what the doctor ordered and things looked to be getting off to a great start. Still half asleep we drove to the bottom of Mt Pleasant road where Eric joined us, from here it was to the terrace for Dave (who naturally was still down at his flat). From here the four of us headed for Holdsworth and the most insane day of my life.

Unfortunately Eric forgot his Cyprus Hill tape and so we couldn’t listen to it. Once at the road end we got our gear together, posed for a photo for Dave’s camera and then headed of. Mike and I began walking off down the track to Donnelly Flats while Dave and Eric made some adjustments at Holdsworth Lodge. A few minutes down the track Eric and Dave suddenly turned up running. After a bit a persuasion Mike and I decided to join them and so we began our run down to Atiwhakatu Hut. Naturally Eric stormed off in front and left the rest of us to it. After 40 minutes we made it to the Hut and had a quick drink and bit to eat and then began the gentle walk up the Rain Gauge to Jumbo. It didn’t take the others too long to leave me behind and I lost sight of them within about 15 minutes. At this stage I began to wonder just what I had got myself into (I was later to find out in a big way). Every so often I saw the others after they had stopped to wait for me. It eventually took me 1hr 20min from Atiwhakatu to Jumbo and when I reached Jumbo, I found the others talking to some TTC guys. It was at Jumbo that the beautiful day decided to leave us and typical Tararua weather decided it would join us. In fact it graciously decided to stay with us for the rest of the trip.

As we left Jumbo the cloud came in and the breeze picked up. Along the tops to McGregor Spur we ran and walked quickly at the same time battling the wind that just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. We definitely weren’t going to see Taranaki or Ruapehu on this Carkeek trip. We made it down to McGregor Biv in just over 3 hrs and stopped there for a bite to eat and another drink. After a few photos we made tracks for the junction of Dorset creek and Waiohine river, with Dave saying that we wouldn’t have a problem finding our way down the spur because last time he went down it he took special care to note the correct track. Anyway it didn’t take us long to lose the track. After a while Dave said he had found the track again and so we headed off. Soon after which I noticed a rock that looked familiar and sure enough we had done a 180 degree turn and were heading back up the spur. Well after this slight mishap we shot straight down the spur, past Dave’s favourite bivvy spot and down to the junction.

Here we had a few of Eric sour gummy bears, took a few more photo’s and then set off to Park Forks and Carkeek ridge. Upon setting off up the river we quickly found out that sneakers aren’t better than tramping boots when you’re walking up a river. After half an hour we made it up to Park Forks, where I posed for a photo. We had some more food, filled up our drink bottles and then made tracks for Carkeek Hut. We eventually made it to the Hut around 7 hrs after beginning our journey. Once inside we had a well deserved picnic. Dave pulled out a couple of picnic bars and we all had our photo taken holding the wrapper under the sign at the hut, unfortunately we couldn’t convince Dave to give us any of the bar itself (tight ass).

After our picnic we set off for the second leg of the journey and this is when it really hit me just what I had got myself into. Everything began to slow down as I wondered up Carkeek ridge. The climbs up to Carkeek, Thompson and Lancaster were as big as the map said they would be. On top of Thompson we took a wrong turn and began to head down a steep ridge. Dave quickly realised our mistake when he came across a big bluff which wasn’t on the track the last time he came this way. So we went back up the ridge and got back on to the track.

It was lucky for me that the cloud covered the scale of the climbs because if I had seen them before I was actually climbing them I doubt whether I would have made it. From Lancaster it was down and up to Arete (another climb). On the way up to Arete Dave was worried that I had hypothermia, I didn’t, I was just absolutely shattered. On top of Arete the weather was really getting shitty. We made tracks for Te Matawai Hut and a change of pace. It was a huge boost to get on top of Arete because it was all down hill from there. Once we made it to the hut, I inspected the bog while the others rested inside - I joined them after a few minutes. From here we headed for the Ohau river via the Yeates 500. Upon making it to South Ohau Hut we found four people playing cards with a fire going. We explained to them where we had come from but it was lost on them as they didn’t know were Holdsworth was. This was a huge disappointment to all of us, as we were waiting for them to tell us that we were legends. Anyway from here it was, according to Dave, a gentle 1 hr walk out down the river. This sounded great as it meant we would be out before it got dark. However, Eric was quick to inform us that it was in fact a 3 hr walk out, you can imagine how stoked I was to here this. Well I can tell you walking down a river in the dark is no bloody fun at all. In fact, it was as much fun as watching a game of rugby league - probably involved more skill as well.

Eventually we made it out to the farm-land at the road end by 10:00pm that night, 16 hours after we began. We were greeted by Brendan, who was asleep in his car. A special thanks goes to Brendan because without him the trip wouldn’t have gone ahead and also for putting up with our smell - apparently we stank but none of us could tell. Well that was the end of the walk/run but it was by no means the end of the trip because we still had to get back to Holdsworth to pick up Mike’s car. We planned to do this via the Pahiatua track. Once inside the car mine and Eric’s knee began to let us know that they weren’t happy with what we had just put them through. Well because we had a long trip ahead of us we settled in for the journey. Eric settled in so much that when we passed the turn off to the Pahiatua track, he decided not to mention it. Needless to say we ended up going through the Manawatu gorge. On our way through one town we came across a guy showing some amazing talent. While going for a slash he was able to flick the bird at all the cars going past. When we got to Woodville we decided to have a break because our knees were killing us. Well to the amazement of some of the locals four guys rolled out of a car and were sober. After our little break in Woodville, it was off to Holdsworth. This part of the journey I have no recollection of because I slept all the way.

At Holdsworth Eric, Mike and I said farewell to Dave and Brendan, got into Mike’s car and headed for home. Again I fell asleep and only woke up when we were outside Eric’s place. It was then that Mike told me about his driving skills over the hill, which made me glad I had been asleep. It was then off to my house and bed.

Picnickers:
Dan Batten
Eric Duggan
Mike Judd
Dave Walker
Honorary Picnicker:
Brendan Mosely