4 minute read
Adventure
by WildTomato
Standoff on the Heaphy
Pete Oswald bikes the renowned trail, and meets a swarthy recluse in the dark.
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PHOTOGRAPHY SOPHIE STEVENS & PETE OSWALD
With no moon and no wind, I stopped walking. The only sound – the crunch of stones under my biking shoes – ceased. The massive void of the Gouland Downs plateau in Kahurangi National Park was completely tranquil.
I stood alone, motionless on the trail, listening. A thin strip of bright stars separated the stunted-height native alpine trees either side of me.
64 The silence was slowly swallowed by the life of the night. My ears created images that my wide eyes chose to believe. I felt I could see even the smallest beetle scampering, digging and chomping. Suddenly there was a blundering rustle. I tracked the racket as it headed towards the trail. From the shrubby grass out popped a small, dark creature. It fell onto the path, picked itself up, then waddled across it like a drunk. My ready finger pressed the button on my head-torch and ‘woosh’ – the drunk froze mid-step as if being busted for petty theft. I was no less stunned.
Kahurangi National Park is arguably the most remote part of New Zealand – more isolated than Fiordland, according to one source. Tucked up in the far northwest of the South Island, it is our second-largest national park (behind Fiordland).
No roads go through Kahurangi. Access stops at the perimeter. The western edge is 100km of savage coastline to the Tasman Sea. The Heaphy Track is one of 10 Great Walks of New Zealand, but it is a world apart.
A mountain-biking detour Sophie and I drove from Queenstown to Blenheim up the West Coast and thought we’d mountain bike the Heaphy on the way. That still entailed a 1.5-hour, dead-end drive from Westport to the tiny town of Karamea. The track stretches 78km from nearby Kohaihai to the upper Aorere River valley near Collingwood.
Whichever direction you choose to do the track you end up 450km (a 7-hour drive) from your car so Sophie and I opted to leave
our vehicle at the West Coast end and take a flight over the park to the start of our ride. With bikes strapped to the underside of the wings of the six-seater Cessna 206, and great banter from our pilot Mit of Adventure Flights Golden Bay, we gazed at the vast and pristine wilderness below. Even from 450m up we couldn’t see any evidence of human existence, apart from glimpses of the trail and huts.
After landing in a farmer’s field, Mit unclipped our bikes and continued his great yarns as we prepped our steeds for adventure. Then we slogged up from Browns Hut, grinding and sweating but savouring the serenity that intensified with every
Above: Clockwise - Sophie on a downhill; the sky’s no limit; great spotted kiwi; Sophie takes a break
Opposite page: Clockwise - Pete Oswald and Sophie Stevens; Sophie puts her back into it
pedal-stroke away from civilisation. The track negotiates gullies and ridges at a friendly gradient – we never needed to put a foot down.
Cresting the peak At 920m we hit the highest point of the Heaphy, then flowed through altitude-stunted forest towards the Gouland Downs plateau. We arrived at Saxon Hut by late afternoon to find we are sharing the shelter with three recently introduced and endangered takahe and five friendly ‘senior’ trampers. The lovely old folk told us that the takahe were not the only rare wildlife in the area, and if we went out at night we might just get lucky …
So there I was, frozen in shock with my headlight beaming at a great spotted kiwi, also frozen in shock. Who knows how long the standoff lasted. The clumsy bugger finally broke pose turned and bolted back into the bush. I stood there for some time longer, savouring my first sight of our reclusive national bird.
The next day we biked 12km of insanely fun, fast-flowing downhill track. We met many lovely people at the huts and on the trail, stopping to talk to them all. Our second night, at the Heaphy Hut, offered a location to equal a five-star exclusive island resort. We then biked along raw and beautiful coastline where nikau palm forest crashes into the wild Tasman sea.
The Heaphy Track, in my limited experience, is the best of New Zealand’s Great Walks. This secluded little jewel, far from the rush of the beaten tourist path, boasts many wonderful qualities, but my favourite experience was that meeting with my clumsy kiwi friend. (See also page 24)
