Friday This tramp was in the NE Kaimanawas which we understand the club has not visited for a very long time. Our group of 7 departed at 5pm Friday and after 1.5 hours in motorway gridlock our journey to Taupo progressed well (with a dinner stop at Cambridge). We arrived at Taupo Baptist church for the night soon after 10pm. Saturday After porridge in the church kitchen we departed at 7.30am next morning. We had arranged for some friends of Kelvin and Jan Trim to drive our vehicle to the drop-off in Clements Mill Road and look after the vehicle at their place before picking us up on Monday from our exit at the end of Taharua Road. We set off on the Te Iringa track to Oamaru Hut at 9.10am The track rises gradually from the Te Arero Stream until it traverses a ridge and enters the watershed of the Mohaka River which runs out towards the east coast. The bush is predominantly beech forest with the tallest and straightest specimens I have seen in the North Island but at first we are higher up where there are mountain beech trees which have strange twisted shapes similar to Waikaremoana. We had a stop about once an hour and had a lunch stop. At another stop Murray shared a devotion about the creation all around us and the wondrously complex relationships between the creatures and plants. He also spoke of the water of life which is God’s Spirit which he pours out if we seek Him. About half way we crossed a swing bridge and then followed the Kaipo River the rest of the way – forest all the way except the grassy flat for the final few meters below the Oamrau Hut. The track to Oamaru Hut is variously shown to be 17km or 19km and is estimated to take 8 hours. Ours was not a fast group and with our stops we took 9 hours, arriving soon after 6pm. The weather was warm with a little drizzle in the morning but fine and sunny in the afternoon. This was a strenuous day for our group and seven tired people enjoyed a hearty meal in the hut. There were 4 other trampers and 4 hunters at the hut, however we were most fortunate that the hunters seemed to relish the idea of sleeping outside and therefore the 12-bunk hut had plenty of room for all our group of 7. If we had needed to use our Trios tents there was plenty of space below the hut on the grassland. Sunday We did a day walk up the valley of the Oamaru River (6 hours return) with some of us reaching the top where the track leaves the river toward the Boyd Hut. Beautiful sunny weather and huge trees. There were some great camp sights half way up amongst the trees by the river. We spotted a brown eel about 2m long. Ruth led a devotion on prayer, trusting God and stepping out. Monday We departed 7.30pm walking eastward across the grassland to cross the Kaipo River near the confluence with the Oamaru River. Shortly before that Jeff called out quietly that there was a deer on the far bank. The deer was a light fawn colour. It had been grazing but it pricked its ears up high and the after half a minute it scampered off into the bush. The river was not up to our knees and easy to cross. The track climbed across a bush-clad headland and then we were walking across the farmland of the Poronui Station – partly on farm roads and partly across grassland and gum forests, with views looking across the Taharua River valley. The air was soon full of the sound of helicopters moving loads (hung from wire) and moving hunters back and forth from the helicopter base at the entrance of the station – the end of Taharua Road  - where we ended our walk at 11.30am. We passed many red deer being farmed near the station headquarters. It was a beautiful morning walk. We ate our lunch watching the helicopters take off and land on a grassy area shaded by gums. Our vehicle and the club trailer arrived at the appointed time of 1pm and after thanking our drivers (Kelvin and Avery) we drove home to Auckland courtesy of Paul Campbell – after stops at Wairakei and Tirau, arriving at Bracken Avenue about 6pm.