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The Magic Flip Flops
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
October, 2004
It was my last day in Rarotonga and I had yet to do the Te Manga Trek because of the weather. Te Manga is the highest mountain on Rarotonga rising to 653 Meters. The peak had been in the clouds and rain, but on my last day the weather was perfect. My friend James from the International Backpacker led the hike and 6 other guys from the hostel came along. It was a long hike up the mountain and it took us 3 hours to get to the peak. James was a good guide, but a local dog also came with us all the way to the top. The dog also seemed to know the way, but he did lead us off the track a few times. The track is not very well marked and in the low lands it is easy to stray off the trail.
The scenery was stunning. There were great views of the different mountain peaks on the Island, lush and green. You also could see all of the different beaches and reefs. Towards the top, the hike got pretty difficult, but there were ropes and metal spikes to help up the steep rocky inclines. On way up I noticed a pair of Flip-Flops in the middle of the trail. No one picked them up because we still had a long way to go up. We were already carrying food and water so why increase the load.
After the long 3 hours we finally reached the summit. Unfortunately, the view from the summit was not very good. In America we would have a great viewing deck to see all around. Not the case. The summit was just a bunch of high brush and there was barley enough room for all of us to sit down and have lunch. I ended up sitting and eating surrounded by grass and couldn't see anything at all. After I was done eating, I started back down the track alone because I wanted to get some film footage and photos and there was nothing on the top.
I hiked down and found a few good places where I could set up my tripod. Really nice. About a half hour later the rest of the group caught up with me. The decent was easy. Some of the rope/spike spots were much more difficult, but we all made it fine. We were really moving fast. So fast, in fact, that towards the bottom we lost the trail.
James and I mulled over the situation. We could hear water; we did come up from a little stream so we decided to head straight down through the brush and then follow the stream down. The problem was that when we finally made it to the stream, I realized it was not to same stream that we had followed up. The water was flowing in the wrong direction from the side of the mountain we came down. At that point everyone took a rest and I scouted up stream to see if I could get perspective of where we were.
No luck. I used a stick to clear the way as I went, but I could tell it was not the direction we wanted to go. It would take us forever to get anywhere. I proceeded back down to the rest of the group. They were all discussing what to do. When I arrived, the general agreement was that if we followed the stream down, we would eventually find out way out. Streams always lead to the ocean, so we would have to find the road. I thought about it, looked down stream that was blocked by tons of vines and grass and had to disagree.
"I hate to say this guys, but we have to go back up and find the trail. We don't know where this stream leads. It might be the right way, but I'm not going to be stuck out here tonight. My flight leaves at Midnight!" I said light heartedly.
There were some groans, but in the end everyone agreed. So we stared back up. Some of the guys were pretty well worn so James and I went way up ahead. I just wanted to find high enough ground to get some perspective on where we were. It was easy to go down through the brush, but going up was not that easy. We were slipping and sliding, basically going up on all fours. Soon I was way out in front and couldnit see anyone behind me. James and I kept in communication by yelling to each other every 10 minutes.
"Find anything Ron?"
"Nope."
"Find anything James?"
"Nope."
This continued for about 45 minutes until I was finally high enough to see the peak. I could pretty much tell witch way we could go to find the trail.
"Hey James, I can see the top. Come over this way." He was way down there to the left so I wanted him to start getting the group to side track a bit. Then I looked down. I was literally standing on the Flip Flops I saw on the way up! I was on the trail.
"James! I found the flip flops. The trail is here." I yelled. They were pretty far down so I followed the trail down while yelling so they wouldn't have to climb and higher. I was nearly out of water and quite pooped so I was really stoked to be back on the trail.
Soon the group was back together again and we were careful not to lose the trail again. It turned out that we could have followed the stream down because it did connect to the main river, but who knows how long it would have taken to get through the growth. We were all just happy to be going in the right direction.
When we finally made it to the bottom we hiked right to the general store and bought some drinks. James felt a little bad, so he bought everyone in the group a beer. Boy, that beer tasted great after 7 hours of hiking.
I had not been sore in a long time but for the next three days I was worked. I flew that evening back to New Zealand and spent the next day relaxing. I was so sore that I could only squat down half way. What a wild day!
Go to the Photo section to see the group and the Magic Flip Flops.
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