OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
“EIGHTY DAYS!” The words started as a warning and mellowed into a mantra of gratitude. Much has been written of Tararua’s weather, but a DOC sign at Mt Holdsworth Road end spells it out starkly. The tops experience just 80 clear days a year. I am forever grateful that I experienced three of them on my first visit to the notorious range.
The reputation of Tararua tramping has long kept me from making a date with it in my calendar. So far from my home in Auckland, and with the odds of a joyless, viewless trudge firmly stacked against trampers, it was never in my plans. However, a few days of fine spring weather presented a rare opportunity to tick it off, so with three others I made the long drive south.
