New Zealand Great Walk - Lake Waikaremoana
04/12/2021 - Lake Waikaremoana has been closed for most of the year, and it’s been said that a lot of the huts in the Great Walk have been vandalised and in disrepair. It’s a jewel in Te Urewera, so it’s really sad to hear about this. Make sure to check the Department of Conservation website for track information as well as the Ngai Tūhoue website for news of a possible reopening.
It was a drizzly Sunday when I drove along the gravel road towards Lake Waikaremoana. There were a few days left of 2020 and this was my last adventure to see in the new year. I had never driven past Ruatāhuna before that and was told to expect a windy gravel road...a lot of narrow corners and dust.
Lake Waikaremoana is in the Hawke’s Bay region, about an hour from Wairoa. I think it took me about four hours from Whakatāne (SH 38), and that’s with a few photo stops. It was slightly faster on the way home, or at least it felt like it. Ngai Tūhoe (the iwi/tribe of Te Urewera) call themselves the children of the mist. The mist certainly followed me all the way up the Panekire Ranges towards the hut.
I had booked a campsite for the night at the Waikaremoana Holiday Park, which is also a DOC campground. You can book online and cost me $18 per night. I stayed three nights in total, which gave me plenty of time to recover from the Great Walk. The holiday park had hot showers, a communal kitchen, small shop and just down the road from the new Te Urewera Information Centre (the old Aniwaniwa Info Centre still comes up on Google searches). There’s no reception at the holiday park, but there’s free Wi-FI at the info centre as well as Vodafone/2Degrees reception. There’s also Vodafone/2Degrees reception at Onepoto.
BOOKING THE WATER TAXI: This can be booked through Te Urewera Information Centre. In my experience (and all the people I met at the huts), there was often a delay in emails getting answered as well as getting a dead dial tone when you ring the phone number supplied on the DOC website. This was frustrating as they also state that water taxi bookings would be cancelled if not paid 48 hours before pick up. If you can’t get hold of them via phone or email, you can also pay at the info centre.
For booking info email teureweravc@ngaituhoe.iwi.nz or call +64 6 837 3803.
Day 1: Onepoto to Panekire Hut (5 hours)
The Waikaremoana Great Walk is a 46km backcountry hike in the Te Urewera National Park. All huts and campsites have to be pre-booked, and this can be done online through the DOC website. It isn’t a circuit track, so you need to plan ahead how to get to the start and a pick up at the end. I went with the water taxi option, being dropped off at Onepoto and being picked up at the end near Whanganui Hut. The track actually ends at Hopuruahine Landing, but due to low water levels, I was picked up near Whanganui Hut instead.
Another adventure begins at Onepoto, getting ready to start the Great Walk.
I decided to take the track south to north, starting at Onepoto and being picked up at Whangaui Hut (approx. 42km). At the time I did the walk, the water taxi jetty didn’t have any clear signage - it’s one of the jetties by the toilet block at the DOC car park. The boat ride took about 20 minutes. Fun fact...there’s reception on the lake!
People who had done the walk before told me to take my time as I headed up the Panekire Ranges. It was a steep, hard slog with my pack. The lake was a white out for three-quarters of the way towards the hut, so there was no chance of recreating the famous Pancake Rocks shot. The mist rolled in and out, which somehow brought out an ethereal glow in the surrounding Beech trees. As I was doing the walk solo, and another hiker was nice enough to take this photo of me.
Hangin’ with the Beeches in the Panekire Ranges.
It took me about 5 hours to reach the Panekire Hut, which already had plenty of guests. Many were boiling water for hot drinks and were hanging clothes to dry. After claiming my bunk, I made myself coffee and sat down to chat with other hikers. It was my first experience in backcountry hiking, so it’s always nice to get tips and what to experience in the track ahead from those who walked from the opposite direction. I was pretty tired so went to bed at 7.30pm.
Day 2: Panekire Hut to Waiopaoa Hut
(3 hours)
Waiopaoa Hut, Te Urewera National Park
The big group from Tauranga were up by 7am, and out the door by 8.30am. I knew it was going to be a short day so I decided to sleep in until the hut grew quieter. I felt a bit clumsy trying to put my gear back into my pack, but in the end it all went back in eventually. I wasn’t quite the last one to leave, but I did walk the track mostly on my own.
Waiopaoa Hut heads downhill in the Panekire Ranges and sits lakeside. The DOC guide says it takes about 3-4 hours, but a steady pace got me there in three. It was around lunch time when I arrived at the hut and saw plenty of familiar faces from the night before. There was the big group from Tauranga - some of the kids playing ‘Piggy in the middle’ with a tennis ball or inside playing cards. There was also the family of three from Porirua, who ended up staying at the same huts I did. It was a sunny day and people were littered all around - on the grass, on the deck or coming back from a swim.
Since I had so much free time, I did a bit of exploring around the lake. I had never seen prickles so big! There were plenty of swans enjoying the calm waters, and now and then I would get a fright from a Tui flying across trees. We were hopeful for a bit of stargazing, but the clouds had other plans and it got cloudy after sunset. I went to bed around 8pm.
Day 3: waiopaoa hut to marauiti hut (5 hours
+ 1 hour detour to korokoro falls)
I loved this stream crossing on the way to Korokoro Falls.
The hike up to Panekire Hut was a lung-buster, but the walk to Marauiti Hut tested me more. It’s approx. 12km with plenty of rugged sections that included fallen trees, boggy mud and uphill that seem to rise out of nowhere. It was the only part of the walk that I felt my dodgy knee get wobbly, so I put on my knee support and took my time in the downhill sections.
A real highlight for me was taking the detour to Korokoro Falls. The turn off to the falls is about an hour from Waiopaoa Hut on the way to the Korokoro Campsite. It’s only 30 mins to the falls, and it’s definitely worth it! I left my pack and hiking poles in the bushes and before making my way to the falls - best decision ever! There’s a stream crossing on slippery boulders and it was so much easier without a pack.
Korokoro Falls is a detour worth taking.
The gut-buster part of the track is when you get near Maraunui Campsite - there’s a sign that says Marauiti Hut was only 30 mins away. “Great, I got this,” I told myself. Then the track starts going uphill, and starts winding round until you realise that the hut isn’t 30 minutes away at all. That beast of a hill was bloody hard, but damn it was beautiful.
When I got to the hut, I was greeted by the delicious aroma of Dom and Rose cooking lunch on the deck. Both are young health professionals from Wellington who I had met at Waiopaoa the night before. Dom is originally from Sri Lanka but grew up in New Zealand, and Rose is a native of Scotland. They were cooking a lunch of pasta, tuna and mushrooms. I’m a foodie, but I settled for quick, dehydrated meals. Not these two - not only did they bring fresh produce and cooked each meal, they even brought Dom’s Sri Lankan curry spice mix in a glass vial!
We said goodbye to them after lunch and I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to the family from Porirua.
View of Marauiti Hut from the swing bridge.
Day 4: Marauiti Hut to Whanganui Hut
(water taxi back to te karetu) - 5 hours
I had booked the water taxi pick up for 2.30pm, and this was the only day that had any time restriction. I left the hut along with the family from Porirua at 8.30am, as we were told that as long as we left by then we should make our pick up. The pick up point isn’t actually at Whanganui Hut, but on the way there - keep an eye out for a corflute sign on the track.
The track took you mostly lakeside for the first 30 mins, climbing large rocks and a few boggy parts. Be careful of the slippery moss, especially when you’re close to the edge. The terrain is very similar to the day before, with even longer sections of boggy mud. I had to stop a few times on the way up to the Saddleback Ridge as my knee started to hurt a bit. I felt relieved when the track headed downhill and eventually opened up to a glorious view of the lake. The sun had come out and the water was like a turquoise coloured glass.
I arrived at the pick up point an hour early, but the family from Porirua wasn’t there. I started walking towards the direction of Whanganui Hut but decided to turn back. I didn’t know how far away the hut was, and what if the boat came early and I missed it? Luckily for me, I did! The boat pulled up less than five minutes after I sat down by the water. Turns out he had already picked up a few groups before me, including the family from Porirua.
I was alone on the boat as it made its way across Lake Waikaremoana back to Te Karetu jetty near the holiday park. “I actually did it…” I whispered to myself. My first solo, multi-day hike...done. What did I do to celebrate? I bought myself a steak and cheese pie and a nice, cold L&P!
fivefootronna is Ronna Grace Funtelar - a thirtyish adventurer, graphic designer and writer.
A woman with a curious mind who lives for hiking mountains, outdoor adventures and eating pizza. She has a unique brand of optimism that is a combination of her great enthusiasm for life and cups of coffee during the day.