Environment – Look up to the mountain

There’s a whakatauki (proverb) that means ‘Seek the treasure that you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.’ – Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.

The saying is about aiming high for what’s valuable. It’s also about perseverance and persistence, and not letting obstacles get in the way of your goals.

I had cause to think about persistence, endurance and keeping my eyes on a lofty goal, as I spent a few days tramping the Pouakai Circuit on Taranaki Maunga. He’s a lofty mountain alright. In mythology, he is an ancient Māori warrior. In geology, he is a 120,000-year-old stratovolcano and New Zealand’s most perfect snow cone. His bulk dominates the land on his own ring plain dais, and he pierces the sky. Taranaki Maunga has been legally recognised as a person in his own right whose name is Te Kāhui Tupua.

We spent months anticipating the walk. The planning was a fun part of the journey. We prepared by walking for miles carrying fully laden packs with dumbbells for extra weight. We read reviews, pored over maps, watched the weather closely.

But nature has its own plans. Covid took out two of our party, and almost claimed a third. But for us survivors, the first two days at least, were fine. The track from the visitor centre leaves at 978m above sea level. Mt Ruapehu, Ngāuruahoe and Tongariro could be seen in the distance across the Central Plateau. We hiked higher up the dramatically named Razorback ridge. The track wound around the spurs of Taranaki that seem to anchor the cone to the plain. The path was like a rock garden lined with lovely snow berries, alpine daisies and little nodding flowers. Mosses and lichen coated every surface of earth and trees, among the rocks and stones, and lining the path. New Zealand’s smallest bird, the rifleman, clung onto tree trunks for dear life.

We trudged below towering columnar basalt cliffs, crossed huge slips defying gravity, and boulder-strewn riverbeds. We cooked and (tried to) sleep communally at the hut with 30 snoring and sneezing strangers. Cloud came low and shrouded us and then disappeared like a will-o’- the-wisp. We crossed the golden 300ha Ahukawakawa mountain swamp, climbed the flanks of the Pouakai range and across its ridge. Taranaki wore a korowai and a cap of clouds. It took the climb of five vertical ladders to reach the top of Henry Peak that laid the world out before and behind us. And from there it was another five hours of goblin forest and wire bridges, ferns, orchids, mossy rivers and tree roots and steps to the end of the track and another two kilometres up the road to the van.

We had a perfect experience and our goal was achieved. Going back and revisiting that lofty mountain is a new goal.