By Dave Scoullar
Kayaking on a tarn in Egmont National Park? Surely not. Yes, it happened on a Wanganui Tramping Club weekend trip around the Pouakai Circuit. Read on and find out how this came about.
Day 1: A snow-flecked Mt Taranaki is clear as we reach the national park and trek to the Kokowai Track. The Kokowai is getting rather overgrown in places and it takes 3 and a half hours to climb to the Round the Mountain Track. Now we are in low cloud for the final 1 and a quarter hours on the RMT to Holly Hut.
After a quick brew it's down for a look at Bells Falls, a first for some party members. Back at the hut we fire up the wood burner and after our somewhat strange dinner (leader is still learning how to cook pasta), the cards come out. We share the hut with two couples.
Day 2: Another clear day following an overnight frost. The board walk over the Ahukawkawa swamp is icy and treacherous. The mountain is clear and magnificent as we puff up the hill, lamenting some truly awful muddy sections. Pouakai Hut is reached in 2 and a half hours. Lunch is taken beside the tarn, about 20 minutes beyond the hut.
This tarn is often photographed with Mt Taranaki reflected on its surface. The big question is how to get an original photo of the tarn with the mountain background. Then we find a small kayak in the tussock and Michelle Mackenzie goes for a ride using walking poles as paddles. That's original!