Not all of us are content to lounge around a beach or Sun Club all day. Graham Macgregor is one such individual and he frequently gets together with groups of friends and goes tramping au natural in the New Zealand bush.

Graham is a good friend from Rotota Sun Club and has kindly contributed these stories of his hiking excursions for inclusion on this site. He can be contacted by email by clicking

We're hoping to get some accompanying photographs up soon.

Natural Tramping

Five Go Chasing Waterfalls - Waitaanga to Tatu

Four Go Nowhere - Mangapurua Valley

Other Tramping Location Reviews

Matipo Park, Wanganui

Natural Tramping

Copy of article sent to Federated Mountain Clubs Bulletin, part of which was printed

No, I don't take the wardrobe with me, just what I need to be safe.

I've been going bush for about 40 years, now. My early gear was all wool, and up in the snow on a bad day my skinny frame looked like a Shrek wannabe, before he was renamed Sean. On a hot day, with the excess clothing removed, there was no room in my pack for any other gear, (such as food, sleeping bag, fly, etc).

Then came polyprops, and goretex, which made uncomfortable times much more comfortable than the wool and japara.

Wow! The latest gear can just about be folded and stored in pockets, and still have plenty of warmth for serious conditions. Even in the middle of summer, I carry full storm gear at all times, with no weight or bulk problem.

For a number of years, with a group of friends (most aged 50 - 65), we have run "natural" trips, to some fairly rugged areas. Tramping naked lets the body sweat and cool naturally - no damp clothes clinging. Stream crossing? Not a problem. Carrying a pack? More comfortable on the shoulders, although a sweaty spot on the hips. Although we are naturists, we do have full storm gear with us, for safety. No problems with the (few) people we meet, usually hunters, and last trip, some bee-keepers! We prefer to be comfortable in the outdoors, without unnecessary encumbrances. (Phew! Big words!)

Life is wonderful. Thanks for your cookery column in the FMC Bulletin. I do enjoy the different subjects covered, and some have given me ideas.

Five Go Chasing Waterfalls

March 2001

We were in the shade of the high canopy forest, after leaving farmland, following the sleepers of an old bush railway up the valley, then a stiff climb to the ridge. The descent from the ridge brought us to this "Lost world" valley, with a 60m waterfall cascading from shear bluffs into a circular lake. New Zealand bush, as it used to be over the whole country!

For a number of years, Mark had been telling me of this mighty waterfall in virgin bush, west of Taumaranui and Ohura. We set the date , and met at Mark’s home : Mark, and Sharon from Taumaranui, Mike and Irene from Napier, and Graham from Tauranga.

We left at 6 am to drive to Tatu, where we left our vehicle. An hours drive with another group doing the same trip, took us to Waitaanga, the starting point for the cross-over trip.

The weather was fine and warm, so once in the bush, the clothes came off. The bush railway track we followed still had most of the sleepers in place, many with the steel spikes. This side of the range had been logged, about 60 years ago, but regeneration was well advanced.

A short stop at a Dept of Conservation hut, then uphill to the ridge. The rivers in this area are meandering, so the ridges are too, with very steep inclines to a narrow ridge, then bluffs frequently on the other side. The cameras were well used, or was it just an excuse for a rest?

The climb down the waterfall left all of us with aching knees. Wild goats grazing the grass beside the lake were not sure of these strange beings in their world, and faded into the bush. Sharon, Mike, and Irene went for a swim, and came out much cooler. Mark and Graham walked under the waterfall, and were blasted with the cold back spray, like a fire hose.

Lunch, a warm-up!, and more photos. (How many films did you bring, Irene?)

The walk along the stream continued what we saw earlier, and the next day. Rata were flowering, bright orange flowers, sometimes close to the ground. Native tree orchids were detected by their delicate perfume, sometimes up to 6m away. Toadstools were few and far between, with the bright red and sky blue easily missed, being about 25mm maximum size.

The trees ranged from seedlings to mature, with dead and decaying sinking back into the forest floor. I have never seen so many shades of green before, from the lime of kidney fern (with the sun behind), to the dark, almost black, of some of the mosses.

Our campsite for the night, was the only flat ground seen in the day, next to a bridge over a tributary stream. The log-jams here were huge, with a rimu about 1m in diameter under a totara slightly smaller, together with many smaller logs. Mark said that the eels are HUGE here, which made having a swim here an interesting exercise! The black water here could hide a taniwha!

The tent-fly between four trees, and dinner cooked over the fire, made it feel like home. Stew, with peas and instant potatoes, followed by fresh fruit and cream. It was only later after dark that we needed to put on shirts.

Up at daylight, well, a bit later, really. Our loads were lighter, with the dinner eaten, which was just as well with the climb up to the ridge on the other side of the valley. This is mature beech forest, with rata vines becoming trees themselves, and strangling their hosts. As well, rimu and totora were very evident. These huge trees are right up to the ridgeline, which is only 2m wide in places. As well, where a tree has fallen, either by old age, or with the ridge collapsing, the regenerated growth is fighting for the light, making travel through it difficult.

Lunch, high up on the ridge, near some of the other group of trampers on their way out, then after passing them (why did they look at us like that?), on the Tatu trig point. A short distant further on, still at height, we could see farmland and our vehicle in the distance, in fact, it took another hour to walk to it.

At the bush line is the Tatu coalmine, which closed in the 1960’s. The shaft is flooded, and the little village is mostly concrete fireplaces and dead cars. A massive slip from the bluff has wiped out the narrow road to the mine. The walk downhill was hell on the toes, but a soak in the stream soon eased that little problem!

This part of the country is beautiful, but fitness is essential, and it is no place for those poorly equipped. Natural tramping was very comfortable. Our bodies cooled with evaporation of sweat, without having clothes getting damp or scratchy, and our packs caused no problem with straps rubbing on shoulders. The only noticeable hot-spot was the pack on my back.

The track was fairly well marked with orange plastic triangle markers on trees. With the bush mostly open, (except where there had been windfalls), there were only a few places where we had to backtrack to the previous marker and look again for the next one. A wrong turn here could have huge consequences, and a few more days in the bush.

3-wire (enclosed) bridges cross many of the small side-streams. There has been a lot of DOC input in this area, considering it’s small use.

A great weekend, in beautiful country, with good friends. We plan some more!

Four Go Nowhere

Tramp Mangapurua – 12-14 March 2004

After crossing the Bridge To Nowhere, in the Whanganui National Park, and tramping for 2 ½ days up the Mangapurua Valley, we must have been to Nowhere! This was after drifting down the river in a jet boat, with the captain head-down, replacing a drive-belt in the engine. Which was after splashing through mud 10m above river level from the recent floods, to get to the boat. Which was after the four of us met up in Taumaranui : Mark-1 and Sharon from Taumaranui, Mark-2 from Wellington, and Graham from Tauranga.

The Mangapurua Valley was opened for settlement in 1917, with the river the main access. A road from the top was made, with the Bridge to Nowhere completed in 1936, just before heavy rains and floods caused great damage to the roads. The Government withdrew support, and ordered the settlers to leave, with the last out in 1942.

The landforms are highly eroded sandstone, mudstone, and siltstone, still prone to major slips. Mark-2 showed us a lot about the geology of the area, with evidence of a number of times the land has been eroded, sediments laid down, then raised, with the erosion cycle happening again. We were advised of a large slip, 300m above the bridge, which was impassable – loose rubble on a 45o slope, then 30m drop to the river. Using a rope from the boat, we crossed it, and started our trip, (and peeled off for comfort). The track follows the old road-line, with cuttings around the bluffs, and unclear across the grass flats. Around Battleship Bluff, the road is less than 2m with 100m drop to a side stream. The road here had been 4m wide.

The old farmhouse sites are marked by signs, with evidence of shelter belts around most of them. Our camp that night was at Bettjeman’s, the last place abandoned in 1942. Seeing the chimney standing alone, and comparing it with photos of the working farm, we had to admire the hard work of these settlers.

The valley rises steadily and closes in, which would have made the farming more difficult. Johnson’s house site shows two chimneys on the map. We found the second by crashing into a tight thicket. This was constructed of pumice and concrete, held up with a piece or railway track. Rapid erosion will topple this soon.

McDonald’s house site was showing recent storm damage, with six of their shelterbelt pines blown over. Ninety-year old pines are HUGE.

The view from Mangapurua Trig (663m),was bush and valleys in all directions. The ridge from here was the road out to Raetihi, still 3 hours walk to the current road-end. Sharon’s husband, Richard, joined us here, (with beer!). Some bee-keepers were checking their hives, and caught up with us on the road into the next valley, the Kaiwhkauka, which was a packhorse track leading to Whakahoro on the Wanganui River. Their 4-wheel drive stayed mostly on the road! They were a bit startled to see naked trampers, as were two hunters on the top road, but once their eyebrows came back to just above their eyes, all was well.

Our campsite, by Cootes’, had the best firewood, ever, dead manuka just waiting to be picked up. Such luxury – except for the very cold stream! Richard returned the way he had come, the next morning, and we followed the packhorse track through beautiful bush. From the top of a broken-off punga Mark-2 carefully removed a moss wig, which created a few Kodak-moments. It was carefully replaced, and watered, before we left. The river and side-streams have cut deeply through the papa rock, creating beautiful chasms and waterfalls. Logs and vegetation moved by the recent flooding would have made this a dangerous place to be in. A big slip had wiped out a section of the farm road we were now on, but was still passable, as the road had been undercut into the bluff, with most of the slip debris on the outer edge. The old one-lane trestle bridge has been preserved, with a new swing bridge for walkers, through and above the old bridge.

Further on, the farm road became a gravel road, then a country road out to Whakahoro, the end of our trip, and having to put clothes back on. My old boots had been pushing broken nails into my feet for most of the trip, so these were left on top of fencepost – may their soles rest in pieces!

While I admire the hard work of the farming pioneers, it is obvious that this land is not suitable for farming, due to its unstable nature. For wilderness and river experience, it has great potential for guided groups or independent people like us.

Another great trip, with a group of naturist friends.

Matipo Park, Wanganui

Reviewed by Mark who has visited the regularly, 12-Dec-2004

Directions

Head up toward Aramoho keeping the river on your right hand side turn left at Brunswick Road (Brunswick Store on the corner.) The park entrance is 1/2 a km past the fertiliser works on the left hand side the gate is just past the first house on the left hand side.

Review

Matipo Park is a recreational reserve owned by the Wanganui District Council it contains a mixture of native and exotic trees.

Park in the car park provided through a gate and walk up toward the railway line. Be careful to listen for trains when crossing the line. When clear of the line you can strip off your clothes and walk nude through the bush following the 4x4 track listening for the bird life at the pond take either the track up the valley or the hill track. Both end up at the same place at the back of the park you can take the 4x4 track down the hill at the northern end of the park. This passes through pine and native forest and open areas and comes out at the railway line about 500 metres north of where you went in. Once again listen for trains.

The tracks take about 45mins to an hour to complete, that's without stops to admire the views and listen for the birdlife.

Other users (or though not very often) include other walkers and mountain bikers.

Matipo Park is so close to Wanganui City yet not very often used.

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