HAWDON HUT
MY FEELINGS, WORRIES & WONDERS.
PRE-TRAMP!!! MY FEELINGS, WORRIES & WONDERS.
FEELINGS
I’m really nervous about the tramp, I need to do some more walks, I’m thinking about doing Mt Grey this/next week, it will also tick off the second mountain box.
Excited because It will be my first William Pike challenge, glad because I won’t be the only one doing it!!!
WORRIES
I really hope that the weather’s okay, if it’s raining, it won’t be very fun. WASPS, does Hawdon Valley have lots of wasps? I hope not.
WONDERS
I wonder how long the tramp is??? Do we walk back up the valley on the way home??? How many to a bed, I find it really hard to sleep when there’s another person sleeping in the same room, I wonder how must rest will I get that night?
Let's say that the weather is rubbish and we turn around and go home, do we do the challenge another time or not??
Not my photo.
Is the water cold? Do we have to squelch our way back to the minivans in sodden clothes? How dark is it and will it have flooded because all the recent rain? Are there any fish or eels in the water?
Picture of Cave Stream. Not my own photo.
HAWDON HUT & CAVE STREAMPost Tramp
We then began our journey. Along the way William Pike asked me some questions and I answered them as best as I could. He lives in the North Island and is not very familiar with the scenery down here. We finally arrived at the Hawdon Shelter where the Army and the Navy were doing a course. We took some photos and then headed off.
Our first river crossing was within the next five minutes. When we reached the river William Pike gave us a short speech about how to cross it safely and gave us a hint that if you should avoid crossing a river if at all possible.
The way to cross a river is to link your arm underneath between a person's pack and their back and hold on to the strap of their pack. I linked up with Anna, Brooklyn and Derrin. We crossed the river safely. The water was half way up our thighs. After that we continued walking for about half an hour and had our next river crossing. We still linked arms but we did it in small groups seeing as last time we did it in groups of four it was rather hard to cross. I linked up with Haylley.
After that we walked for about another hour and a half and had lunch. Here we all looked at the maps we had been given to try and find where we were. We were about a third of the way there. We then walked over to the forest and continued walking through the trees. At some points there was no path you just had to walk along fallen tree trunks. Once I jumped down from a certain tree and got a bit of a scratch and bruise on my leg. We all started getting rather tired at that point but walking for another two hours or so which included at least two to three more minor river crossings that we did on our own.
Some time later we had to climb down into a river and had a group photo. Just before this my group had lost contact with everyone else because we were a bit behind. We then heard shouting and screaming. I thought they'd reached the hut but it turned out they hadn't as they had found the river and were having a bit of a swim. Some people had completely submerged themselves because it was so hot. I eventually convinced myself to do it and it was very cold! We hopped out and carried on for a while and climbed down a small rock face and had to decide if we climbed up next to Mr Priddy or tried to squeeze up a small rock that looked easier. I kind of fell over in the water and my pack nearly got soaked. Fortunately it didn't! Marcus had squeezed up between the rocks and was about to help me up. I took my pack off and handed it to Marcus and he tried to help me up. Holly Prickett gave me a hint but I still got stuck. I eventually got out and William took a photo.
Some time after that we reached the hut. It was very disappointing!!! It was very small and the toilets were long drops outside with lots of sandflies! The window wouldn't close in the girl's room and let the sandflies in. Dinner was delicious though! After tea we went down to the small river for a play then went up another valley climbing up some rocks and rivers for fun. When we got back to the hut William talked to us about what happened on Mt Ruapehu the night he lost his leg. We then had a milo that was very hot and after that we went to bed. It took us ages to get to sleep.
We woke up the next morning and had yummy porridge, repacked our packs and put our disgusting wet socks and boots on and tramped all the way back up the valley. Very tiring but we made it!!!
Then we had lunch which was delicious buns and muesli bars and went on the half hour drive to Cave Stream. We put all our thermals on and tramped down to the exit. It took forever, here's a hint for anyone planning to do the walk, put your thermals on AFTER you've checked the water height!
After checking the water level was ok we tramped back up to the car park and all the way to the side of the hill to the entrance. It was a very steep downhill walk. After walking one metre into the cold water it got very, very deep. It was already up to my hips and a few seconds later it was up to my chest. I promised myself I wouldn't scream but eventually I squeaked. It was very cold. After moving on from the deep part the water became instantly warmer and shallower. Cave Stream took about and hour and the rock formations were fantastic! I could only dream of such formations in an ice cave. It was even better than the Waitomo Caves, and they were pretty awesome! At some points you had to climb up mini waterfalls which was really cool. About half way through we all turned off our head torches to see how dark it was. Pitch black! William took a couple of photos and we carried on. Eventually we reached the end and Mr Priddy told us that instead of the rungs that were there today, back in his day there was only a rope with knots. I am so glad there are rungs today because I would never have been able to pull myself up that rope. While I was waiting for the others to get up the rungs, I started swimming around. People say it is hard to swim with shoes on, I found it fun! And not that hard, maybe because I could touch the ground...
Some kids who were also waiting got others to hold on to their head gear and completely submerged themselves in the slightly warm water. I even put my head under the waterfall. We were not carrying packs in Cave Stream which was just as well. I climbed up the rungs and once I was in the warm daylight I almost immediately slipped over the slimy rocks.
Dear Reader, if you ever get the chance to, please go to Cave Stream. You will seriously enjoy it :)
Then it was time to head home and I was very lucky and got to sit next to William again. And when we got to Sheffield Mr Priddy shouted us all an ice-cream! We deserved it!
Photo of me with William pike after completing Hawdon hut/cave stream.
Not my photo.
CAVE STREAM, MY FEELINGS, WORRIES & WONDERS.
FEELINGS
Nervous, excited and worried, I’m worried about the last part of it, don’t you have to crawl along the ledge and then up a ladder? And somewhere in there, there is a waterfall, sounds like fun!
Excited because I like most things to do with water, not so much river crossings, but I’ve never done something like this before so I’m excited about that too! And I’m just nervous in general.
WORRIES
I’m worried about the last part of it, don’t you have to crawl along the ledge and then up a ladder? What happens if someone falls off?
But there’s no point in worrying myself to death so I’ll stop right here.
WONDERS
Is the water cold? Do we have to squelch our way back to the minivans in sodden clothes? How dark is it and will it have flooded because all the recent rain? Are there any fish or eels in the water?Picture of Cave Stream. Not my own photo.
HAWDON HUT & CAVE STREAMPost Tramp
I got to school at 7.45 and was really excited and also very nervous!! I dumped my pack and daypack outside the Mt Thomas room and had a bit of a chat with the other kids who were already there. William Pike suddenly turned up so I went over and said hi. He was a really nice guy! Mr Priddy turned up five minutes later and gave us a run down on what would happen when we got there. He then sorted us into our food groups and split the groups into two and we clambered into the mini-vans. I ended up sitting next to William Pike - bonus!!
We then began our journey. Along the way William Pike asked me some questions and I answered them as best as I could. He lives in the North Island and is not very familiar with the scenery down here. We finally arrived at the Hawdon Shelter where the Army and the Navy were doing a course. We took some photos and then headed off.
Our first river crossing was within the next five minutes. When we reached the river William Pike gave us a short speech about how to cross it safely and gave us a hint that if you should avoid crossing a river if at all possible.
The way to cross a river is to link your arm underneath between a person's pack and their back and hold on to the strap of their pack. I linked up with Anna, Brooklyn and Derrin. We crossed the river safely. The water was half way up our thighs. After that we continued walking for about half an hour and had our next river crossing. We still linked arms but we did it in small groups seeing as last time we did it in groups of four it was rather hard to cross. I linked up with Haylley.
After that we walked for about another hour and a half and had lunch. Here we all looked at the maps we had been given to try and find where we were. We were about a third of the way there. We then walked over to the forest and continued walking through the trees. At some points there was no path you just had to walk along fallen tree trunks. Once I jumped down from a certain tree and got a bit of a scratch and bruise on my leg. We all started getting rather tired at that point but walking for another two hours or so which included at least two to three more minor river crossings that we did on our own.
Some time later we had to climb down into a river and had a group photo. Just before this my group had lost contact with everyone else because we were a bit behind. We then heard shouting and screaming. I thought they'd reached the hut but it turned out they hadn't as they had found the river and were having a bit of a swim. Some people had completely submerged themselves because it was so hot. I eventually convinced myself to do it and it was very cold! We hopped out and carried on for a while and climbed down a small rock face and had to decide if we climbed up next to Mr Priddy or tried to squeeze up a small rock that looked easier. I kind of fell over in the water and my pack nearly got soaked. Fortunately it didn't! Marcus had squeezed up between the rocks and was about to help me up. I took my pack off and handed it to Marcus and he tried to help me up. Holly Prickett gave me a hint but I still got stuck. I eventually got out and William took a photo.
Some time after that we reached the hut. It was very disappointing!!! It was very small and the toilets were long drops outside with lots of sandflies! The window wouldn't close in the girl's room and let the sandflies in. Dinner was delicious though! After tea we went down to the small river for a play then went up another valley climbing up some rocks and rivers for fun. When we got back to the hut William talked to us about what happened on Mt Ruapehu the night he lost his leg. We then had a milo that was very hot and after that we went to bed. It took us ages to get to sleep.
We woke up the next morning and had yummy porridge, repacked our packs and put our disgusting wet socks and boots on and tramped all the way back up the valley. Very tiring but we made it!!!
Then we had lunch which was delicious buns and muesli bars and went on the half hour drive to Cave Stream. We put all our thermals on and tramped down to the exit. It took forever, here's a hint for anyone planning to do the walk, put your thermals on AFTER you've checked the water height!
After checking the water level was ok we tramped back up to the car park and all the way to the side of the hill to the entrance. It was a very steep downhill walk. After walking one metre into the cold water it got very, very deep. It was already up to my hips and a few seconds later it was up to my chest. I promised myself I wouldn't scream but eventually I squeaked. It was very cold. After moving on from the deep part the water became instantly warmer and shallower. Cave Stream took about and hour and the rock formations were fantastic! I could only dream of such formations in an ice cave. It was even better than the Waitomo Caves, and they were pretty awesome! At some points you had to climb up mini waterfalls which was really cool. About half way through we all turned off our head torches to see how dark it was. Pitch black! William took a couple of photos and we carried on. Eventually we reached the end and Mr Priddy told us that instead of the rungs that were there today, back in his day there was only a rope with knots. I am so glad there are rungs today because I would never have been able to pull myself up that rope. While I was waiting for the others to get up the rungs, I started swimming around. People say it is hard to swim with shoes on, I found it fun! And not that hard, maybe because I could touch the ground...
Some kids who were also waiting got others to hold on to their head gear and completely submerged themselves in the slightly warm water. I even put my head under the waterfall. We were not carrying packs in Cave Stream which was just as well. I climbed up the rungs and once I was in the warm daylight I almost immediately slipped over the slimy rocks.
Dear Reader, if you ever get the chance to, please go to Cave Stream. You will seriously enjoy it :)
Then it was time to head home and I was very lucky and got to sit next to William again. And when we got to Sheffield Mr Priddy shouted us all an ice-cream! We deserved it!
Photo of me with William pike after completing Hawdon hut/cave stream.
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