How to get to the start of the track

We drove to the Plateau Road car park via Minginui, which is over 40km of gravel road. The road up until Minginui Village is sealed. It usually takes me 1.5 hours to drive from Whakatāne to the River Road car park in Minginui, I say add an extra hour (2.5 hours total). You don’t necessarily need a 4WD on this section, but definitely take how well your car will travel on a long stretch of gravel road if you want to start from Plateau Road. If you’re just planning to go to the hut, this is the most direct route, but if you’re doing the circuit, I would recommend parking at River Road instead.

Day 1: Plateau Road to Upper Whirinaki Hut (via Ridge line Track) - Approx. 4.5km, 2.5 hours

It was slow going along the gravel road in Tia’s people mover - in hindsight it was probably more suited to Betty, my RAV4. Then again, there were four of us, a dog, and our packs, Betty would have been a tight squeeze. There were clunking noises as the stones were hitting something below, which kept our speed to about 30km for the most part. I was surprised at how well the road to the car park was signposted - I suppose most people who used this road were either in forestry or heading into the Whirinaki Forest.

I guess you could call this a ‘girls’ weekend tramp, though partners were invited, they didn’t end up coming in the end. Tia, Katri, Jasmine and I planned an overnighter to the Upper Whirinaki Hut, with Diesel, Katri’s dog, joining us on this adventure too.

When we finally reached the car park, we decided to have lunch before starting the tramp. It was only a couple of hours to the hut via the ridgeline track. Besides, Tia and I had been talking about eating lunch for the last hour. She had Havarti cheese and crackers, and I was looking forward to my breakfast bap. There were already a couple of cars parked up when we arrived, which made us wonder if we would end up using the tents after all.

In my research of the track, I read that it was mostly downhill with some undulating sections, but no major hills. As we faced yet another steep uphill climb, I wondered what they meant by ‘major’ if this wasn’t it. After we got to the hut, I realised they were actually talking about the track we ended up taking the next day, which would have been mostly downhill, at least to the cave anyway.

It took us a bit longer than the estimated two hours, mainly because the last kilometre downhill was steep, rooty and generally not that steady underfoot. There are also a few minor river crossings before you get to the hut, but the water was low so we got through them pretty quickly.

At the hut, we were greeted by one of three hunters staying there. I forgot to get his name, so let’s just call him Jim. Jim had been there a week with his sons James and Joe, with Jim flying in and out by helicopter. It must have been his sons’ cars we saw at the car park earlier. He already had the fire going, and even better, we had bunks for the night! His sons came back from hunting about an hour after us.

The smell of the beef bourguignon and drop dumplings filled the hut, while Jim shared his memories of the Whirinaki over the years. In his younger days (I’m guessing he’s in his late sixties) he was paid to cull deer, even spending a year living in the old Upper Whirinaki hut. I thought I did good with my rice and chicken adobo, but the hunters definitely gave me foodie envy. Luckily they had plenty and let us have a taste. 

We had already finished dinner when we saw a couple of head torches outside. It was a couple of guys who had come from Central Whirinaki, about three hours away. I knew it would be packed, being ANZAC weekend, but by the sounds of it there were almost 40 people there! The 26-bunk hut is serviced, but not bookable, and long weekends are always packed. The guys were very happy to claim the last two bunks.

Day 2: Taumutu Stream, the cave and Plateau Road (approx. 12km, 5.5 hours)

I gave the girls the option of taking Taumutu Stream or the more direct route to the cave (which the guys said had more river crossings and Ongaonga / stinging nettle). As we had Diesel with us (Ongaonga aren’t great for dogs) and felt we had the energy, we went via Taumutu Stream. Depending on your fitness and pace, allow 1-2 hours extra.

The track is mostly flat as it follows the stream, with most of the river crossings when you get closer to the wooden bridge near Central Whirinaki. It was still the same boggy mess I remember when I did the Mangamate Loop (about ankle deep of glorious mud). As we still had at least a couple of hours of tramping to the car park, we decided to stop for a decent break. Tia boiled some water and we finished the last of the Oreos too.

After the wooden bridge, the track will go up, and up and up. The pumice cave is 200m from the swing bridge and definitely worth the side trip. We didn’t know how Diesel would react to crossing the swing bridge, but after four hesitant tries, he was safely across. What a cool adventure doggo he is!

I’ll be honest, that section felt more than 7km from the signpost. Maybe it was because my knees hadn’t fully recovered from doing Around the Mountain Circuit the week before, or it was just a bloody big hill I hadn’t mentally prepared for. So yeah, I was happy to see the junction signpost that told us we were about 15 mins from the car park. 

We still had a long drive home, so after a quick snack, we started the slow drive home along that familiar gravel road. I think we got to Murupara about 6pm, where Tia got some petrol and she and I got some fish and chips. Turns out the fish and chips shop was the place to be on a Sunday night. Around this time our phones started beeping - texts, missed calls from people back home. We made sure to let them know we were already out, but wouldn’t be home for a while yet.

It was great to spend the weekend in the Whirinaki Forest with the girls. We probably spent as much time driving than we did tramping, but that’s ok. Thanks for the memories girls, looking forward to the next adventure!

Ronna Grace Funtelar is a 40-something desk-fit creative, weekend explorer and cheese enthusiast in Whakatāne, New Zealand. She has a big butt, chunky thighs and shakin’ more jelly than Destiny’s Child. Her creaky knees discovered an appreciation for Type 2 adventures in the bush and mountains in her thirties, and she’s been hiking ever since.

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