Hiking the Paparoa Track New Zealands Great Walks Episode 5

In rugged terrain of New Zealand's West Coast lies a hidden gem. Spanning 55 kilometers of lush wilderness, the Paparoa Track weaves through some of the most beautiful landscapes the West Coast has to offer. However, true to the West Coast reputation, encountering weather is almost a given, and this trip was no exception. Starting from Smoko Car Park, we begin the 20 kilometer trek to Moonlight Tops Hut. With a weekend forecast of heavy rain and winds, the start of our adventure was far from what we had envisioned. But with the rain comes a unique beauty, transforming the forest into a symphony of vibrant greens and breathing life into the waterfalls and streams. After a 10 kilometer slog uphill, as soon as we come out into the open, we get hammered by heavy winds. We seek shelter at the nearby Says Clark Hut and contemplate continuing. Says Clark is a beautiful little hut and on a nice day would have spectacular views of the coast. Warming our bodies with a hot drink, we decide to wait out the weather for a bit. But as more people arrive, the hut started filling up and it was time to attempt the crossing. So this is the plan. When we first arrived at the hut, it was just like howling with wind. The whole place was shaking. But we did look at the weather forecast and it did say the wind was supposed to be dying down this afternoon, which it has. So we're going to continue on. It's another 10 kilometers, but it is over the most exposed section. So that's why we were a bit concerned about doing it, if the wind was going to be that strong. Wind has died down. The rain has died down a little bit as well. So I think we'll be all right. A group of 10 cyclists showed up at Says Clark Hut, but there is still two spare mattresses. So if it gets bad or if we feel uncomfortable, we can always turn around and head back. Probably would have stayed at Says Clark Hut, but we don't really want to do 30 kilometers tomorrow. So we'll give it a go. Should be all right. Turning the corner now, so it's getting a bit more exposed. All right, let's do it. That was a bit wild. A little calmer on this side. You can only imagine what we're missing right now. Maybe I can edit in some mountains in the background. Oh yeah. Just one final dousing before we get to the hut. Why not? I was starting to dry now. I'm just going to get stuck and wet again. Oh yeah, just keep going. Yeah, pour it on. That's all right. What a day. Not exactly what we were hoping for. Well, we have not awoken to clear views like we were hoping, but it's not raining and there's not much wind. So we'll take what we can get. We've got another 20 kilometer day from Moonlight Tops to Porerari Hut. Mainly going downhill, not much incline, so it should be a bit more of a cruisy of a day. Hopefully the weather holds and we can take a bit more time, take some nice shots of the flora, because we're not getting any shots of the views, that's for sure. No, it's over there now. I'm back. Spirits were pretty low yesterday, not going to lie, but feeling a bit better today. Now we can take our time and kind of enjoy the hike a bit more. Jenny has disappeared into the fog somewhere. We'll find her. There she is. She's taking photos. Taking photos of all the flowers. I guess I should do the same. Thank you. This is all I wanted. Thank you. We have left the alpine behind and we're back in the forest, starting the descent to the hut. Should be pretty steady the whole way. This forest feels a lot different than the other forest. Seems a lot drier, bit more scraggly, but we'll see if it stays that way. The gentlest waterfall in New Zealand. What a completely different experience than yesterday. What a difference a day makes. Today was really good. Just about to ride to the hut. We're going to chill out. Hopefully there's a deck we can sit down and enjoy the views. I'll see you in the morning. Forecast says heavy rain, but we finish tomorrow. It's all going to be downhill, so it shouldn't be too bad. All these huts are like super fancy. The hut looks exactly the same, sleeping in the same bunk. It's like we never left. For about two seconds and then Dani put all her rain gear on and then it stopped. So now it definitely looks like the rain is coming. It is 7 30 in the morning and we've already left the hut. Everyone gets up so early. I don't understand, but at least we'll get an early start. Hopefully beat the rain. Got 16 kilometers pretty much downhill to Punakaki beach, Punakaki town or wherever. There's a pub. That's all I really care about, but we're going to have a beer. Here we go. 16 kilometers. Forecast says 60% chance of heavy rain and it's sunny. This perfectly encapsulates New Zealand weather and New Zealand weather reporting. Just can't predict it.