Pudding Basin Falls and Wednesday Falls
Pudding Basin Falls.
How to get there
The waterfalls track can be accessed from the Ngamarama/Te Tuhi Track, which is an East-West traverse of the Kaimai Range. This side trail is closer to the Ngamarama end, which starts at the end of Whakamarama Road, on the Tauranga side of the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest. Most of the road is sealed, except for a short section of Whakamarama Road which turns into a one-lane gravel road before you get to the carpark. It's a decent sized car park and there's also a long-drop toilet.
I walked in from the Ngamarama Track at the end of Whakamarama Road - look out for the DoC track sign to the right of the car park. It's tucked away in the corner of the grassy area with the wooden picnic tables. There’s another entrance about 50m away, but there’s only room for one car there, so you're better off walking in from the main car park (it’s on your right as you are driving towards the car park). I actually walked in from the tiny car park as I didn’t see the sign the first time - this part of the track was narrow with long grass and gorse, but it eventually meets up with the main track after five minutes.
The forest section is a lovely, gentle downhill on a well-formed track. I reckon this was the last time my socks were dry. Here's the thing about hiking in the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest - you don't have to love walking in mud, you just have to be ok with it. Tall gaiters also come in handy in the tall grass on the way down to the waterfalls and the stream crossings. You will come across remnants of the old tramlines - even though the track itself isn’t too challenging as a hike, think about trying to transport giant milled Kauri back in the day. A lot of water pools between the tramlines, keeping the track wet and muddy for most of the year.
Oh stairs, bloody stairs!
Like most tracks in the Kaimai-Mamaku, there's a lung-busting section with wooden steps in various degrees of usefulness. It took me about 15-20 mins to get through it, after this, the terrain is mostly flat.
It’s always a good day when an adventure comes together and you find the first trail marker.
The trail to the falls is marked by a white wooden sign on your left. It took me about 1.5 hours to reach this junction (approx. 3km from the car park I think), and if you don’t get a bit lost like me, the waterfalls are just another 30 mins downhill. While the Ngamarama Track is marked by orange triangles, the trail to the falls is marked mostly with pink trail tape, scattered with some lavender Mother’s Day ribbons. If you know how to follow traplines, you should be able to find your way through this section. After about 10-15 mins, you will pop out into a clearing. Watch your footing as you head downhill - look for trail tape in the long grass. I could already hear Pudding Basin Falls from here.
It can look daunting, but the walk down isn’t too bad. You can already hear Pudding Basin Falls from here.
After the clearing, the track heads back into the bush and becomes narrow and overgrown in some places. I’m not sure exactly where I lost the trail tape, but as I could hear the waterfall, I just kept walking down towards the river until I found the top of Pudding Basin Falls…bonus! After a few photos, I walked back uphill until I found more trail tape that led me to the wooden waterfall signs.
I had already been to Pudding Basin Falls before I saw these signs.
Wednesday Falls is about 10-15 mins downriver from Pudding Basin Falls. The trail tape ends at the river, and you’ll need to cross it to get to the bottom of the falls. It's a lovely spot to enjoy the falls and eat your cheese - definitely worth it getting your socks wet!
Wednesday Falls
This isn’t a loop track, so I followed the trail back uphill towards the Ngamarama Track junction. It was definitely more straightforward than on my way down. I do remember crossing the part with the large treefall the first time, so I must have lost the trail tape sometime after this section.
The terrain isn’t too challenging, but the track to the waterfalls after leaving Ngamarama Track does become a trail and overgrown in some places. You can also check out the Kaimai Tracks and Hut Users on Facebook for more info from the locals.
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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