Day 1: (Saturday 28th Feb 2009) On the way to Carterton, the weather forecast talked about heavy rain warnings and gail-force winds on the tops, so some of us thought we should delay the tramp a day but as the transport was arranged and we were tramping in bush, a (non-democratic) decision was made to continue. The next omen was when I looked back and saw the door of the trailer open - we stopped and John's pack was missing! This was found a few Ks back on Putara Rd!. The only damage was the loss of most of his Taranaki Ginger Wine!

The weather didn't improve and by the time we had climbed 385m to the "crossroads", we were all wet, beddraggled and looking forward to reaching Roaring Stag Hut 285m down the ridge. However, we were nearly at the hut when we began to notice a "Roaring Stream" on our left as an impossibly large amount of water was draining a very small valley. We then realised we would have to cross this to get to the hut but even using a fallen log, this looked a potentially fatal endeavour. The decision to head back to Herepai Hut was by consensus.

So it was back up the ridge, past the turnoff again and up to Herepai Hut (a 345m climb). I couldn't see through wet glasses so these came off and went in a zip pocket of my coat, only to find them missing when we got to the hut (zipped the wrong bit). It was dark and we were all "had it" by the time the welcome hut wall appeared out of nowhere. Unfortunately the last of John's Taranaki Ginger wine was also missing!

Luckily I had taken a spare pair of cheap ($5) reading glasses "just in case", so I could still see to cook! It was Back Country Chicken Tikka Masala supplemented by ChopChop! Chicken Cunks on Pams Long Grain Rice - real easy! The night cap was tawny port or whiskey.