The train to Tauwharenīkau

Mt Reeves and Tutuwai Hut, Tararua Forest Park

On Thursday I sat in my office chair looking out the 11th floor window at the bustling world of the city and thought “I ought to plan a trip tomorrow”. The only problem was that my car had failed its warrant of fitness and I was left without wheels. Not to be deterred, I remembered reading about a train station that sat just three kilometres from the edge of the Tararua Range, Woodside. As an extra incentive, the Government’s half-price public transport fare scheme was ending at the end of the month. The embryo of an idea was beginning to form. I would take the train to Woodside on Friday, before climbing over Mt Reeves to Tutuwai Hut in the Tauwharenīkau Valley.* From there I would walk out down the valley, over the Puffer track and finish by strolling to the Upper Hutt train station some ten kilometres distant. Hugh, a third of a bottle of good-rum deep, replied to a message from me on Thursday night saying he was keen to join, but the earliest Friday train he could make was the 4.25pm. It would be a night walk.

*Note that the name Tauherenikau is not the correct Māori name for the valley, and following the Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tamaki Nui a Rua Treaty Settlement the name will be changed to Tauwharenīkau, meaning house made of nīkau (a type of palm).