Tapuae-o-uenuku

Here's a wee recap on our time up the highest mtn outside of the Southern Alps! Tapuae-o-uenuku - (Tapi) This was a second attempt for us so all very stoked to have knocked it off this time! 4 days / 2400m elevation gain / 50kms total

〰️〰️ Day1: We accepted a ride from local farmer Hugo that would take us 3kms further up the valley before we dropped down to the Hodder River. (Saving us 1.5hrs of walking!). Normally you would cross the Hodder River 65+ times but because the river was so low we did about 40 crossings. Absolutely stunning scenery as you head up the river - kids were well distracted by all the goats - 96 🐐 were counted! 9hrs in total to Hodder Huts - always a welcome site seeing them perched on the hill! Two huts side by side sleeping 16 in total. 〰️〰️ Day 2: rest day in the mtns- lots of monopoly deal played in between chasing goats & picking totara berries. Kids were determined to spear a kid (goat!) so they could have goat stew for tea! This kept them entertained for hours - and no they never did quite catch one! 〰️〰️ Day 3: Summit day. Beautiful frosty morning. Perfect conditions. 6am start for us along with 5 others also heading up to the top. Started off with head torches - always quite exciting walking in the dark! Kids were steaming ahead with all the excitement of maybe knocking it off this time (also helped that we had a strict turnaround time of 2pm). They did manage to keep the pace which both Ad & I were surprised at. This was helped by an awesome bunch of folks Joe, Gavin & Yellanda who the kids adored so were desperate to keep up so they could summit with them! (Next time thou they'll carry their own supplies (!)- we had all their gear in our packs just for summit day to make them faster....but I was struggling to keep up!!) There was lots of scrambling up scree and over boulders - with rocks tumbling down after each step. Luckily we were spread across the mountain as to avoid anyone being hit. As the sun rose we had stunning views towards Nelson / Motueka. Just 160m off the top the steepness got a tad scary as it was very exposed especially down to the Clarence - with just one main route to the top we had to be extra careful with rocks coming down. After giving the kids a wee prep talk and asking them just to take their time (as they'd been virtually running up to now) we split into 2 groups - Ad with Charlie and myself with Jazz & Mahe. The kids did listen and took it seriously thank goodness. There was a bit of climbing involved and plenty of scrambling. Constantly reminding the kids to take their time & look where you want to go as looking where you didn't want to go was pretty frightening. There was definitely a few moments of wondering why we were climbing 'this' mountain and not another one that was just as cool but less intimidating. Having to regain my focus and just have faith in the kids footwork which up to now had been pretty impressive.

After 30 minutes we summitted 👏👏 (6.5hrs in total from the huts).I could relax but still reminding myself and the kids that we were just halfway!

Kids were buzzing - they'd done it and still had oodles of energy!

Absolutely incredible 360 degree views!! Even spotting Mt Cook in the distance. The coastal and mountain views were outstanding 🤙definitely worth all the effort. In total we had 18 of us on the summit! There were definitely a few shocked faces as they realized kids had made the climb too!

Could have stayed a lot longer on the summit (as is the case most times in good weather) but was also keen to get down and be safe again!

The descent was slow to start with but by the time we hit the scree the kids were running.

The kids are constantly amazing us with what they are capable of....they honestly didn't even seemed puffed at the end of the day while I was knackered - mentally and physically 🤔

Maybe the youngest kids to have ever summitted Tapuae-o-uenuku?!?