Ngatuhoa Lodge: Adventures down a gravel road

I had planned an overnight camp at Ngatuhoa Lodge to explore three waterfalls that weekend: Te Rere i Oturu, Ngatuhoa and Tauwharawhara. Betty, my trusty RAV4, have been down some gnarly gravel roads in our time together. The drive into the lodge had some hairy blind corners, but as far as gravel and forestry roads go, it wasn’t that bad. Bumpy enough that your passengers are best to save sipping a cold one for later, but also in the words of a 1-star Google review, “...the drive into the camp was horrendous so don't take a new car here!”

Ngatuhoa Lodge is on public conservation land in the Kaimai Mamaku Forest, but access is through private forestry roads. Don’t just rock up, there’s a large locked gate about 20-30 minutes drive from the lodge. There’s little to no mobile reception in the area, so make sure to organise key access before you go. To make your booking and organise key access, go to ngatuhoa.org.nz | Google maps: Ngatuhoa Lodge

This was a solo adventure, a pre-Christmas hike chasing waterfalls and to get a baseline for my current lack of hike-fitness. It was also the first day of New Zealand’s summer, but the constant drizzle and a few heavy downpours reminded me more of the rainy season in a tropical country. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Te Rere i Oturu this time round as the rain would have made river levels rise and there were several river crossings on the track. You can also access the falls by driving 5km from the lodge down a gravel road.

Here's why Mount Tauhara is definitely worth the climb

Mount Tauhara is a 65,000 year old dormant lava dome volcano, the gentle giant that stands as gatekeeper to Lake Taupō. The 2.5km track to the summit (1,088m/3,570ft) is popular with locals and visitors alike. At the top, the tall fella and I were treated to panoramic views of the district, and even as far as the peaks of Tongariro National Park.

After a weekend of foodie indulgence for our anniversary, a walk up Mount Tauhara was a must-do before heading home to Whakatāne. After downing coffees and bacon butties at the Sunday market (Aaron was stoked that the butties came with HP sauce), we drove the 10 minutes out of Taupō to the Mount Tauhara carpark. The car park is at the end of Mountain Road, just before a gated working farm.

A rainy day hike on the Tarawera Trail

Grey skies greeted us at Te Wairoa carpark. I knew we were in for a wet afternoon, but I was hopeful we would be closer to Hot Water Beach by then, and even planned a quick soak before catching the water taxi at 3pm. I’ve walked the Tarawera Trail twice before (from both directions) and was pretty confident with my five hour walking estimate. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of major storms since I last hiked the Tarawera Trail, and the large windfalls and overgrown sections did slow us down. I was still pretty close - it took us 5.5 hours and made it to Hot Water Beach with just three minutes to spare!

Even though it’s called the ‘Tarawera Trail’, I reckon it’s still a well marked track and beginners shouldn’t have too much trouble. When you leave the carpark, the trail will begin to narrow as it climbs up towards Te Wairoa viewpoint. There was a lot of grass and ferns growing over the track, which slowed me down a lot. Being just five feet fall, we had a good laugh as I bush bashed my way through, and the tall fella cruised through it. Is it even hiking in the backcountry without a bit of bush bashing?

Women’s weekend overnighter at Daly's Clearing Hut

Saturday night was pretty special - it was warm enough to spend a couple of hours looking up at the Milky Way, telling bush stories and laughing at life. We even spotted a few shooting stars that I later learned were the tail end of a meteor shower. There is a fire pit in front of the hut, but with all the recent rain there just wasn’t any dry wood around. One by one people started going to bed, and I seriously thought about sleeping out on the deck. But I knew rain was coming too, and I was glad to be warm in bed when I heard it dancing on the roof at 5am.

This was the biggest group I've hiked with ever - four newbies and my regular adventure buddies, Katri and Tia. I organised a beginner’s overnighter for the weekend - an idea that came from some followers on Facebook who I already knew through different circles. Whakatāne is a small town with two degrees of separation after all. I have hiked most of the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest before, and Daly's Clearing Hut is definitely the most accessible for beginners. The quickest route is less than two hours from the car park.

Our group met at the Franklin Road car park around midday. The plan was to walk alongside the Waitawheta River, the same track I’ve taken to Waitawheta Hut previously. It's lovely flat terrain that's really more of a walking track. You can see remnants of the historical tramway, which were used to transport the giant Kauri they were milling. We walked for about an hour through farmland and bush until we reached the Daly’s Clearing Track junction.

Rogers Hut via Moerangi Track in Te Whirinaki Pua-a-Tāne

I stopped by at Volk & Co to grab a takeaway soy mocha for the drive to Te Waiti. Early mornings usually meant fog on the roads, and I had plenty on the way to Murupara. There was some lingering fog as I hit the gravel section on SH38, but the morning sun was actually more of a hazard, especially on the corners. I felt a sigh of relief as I turned into Okahu Road.

The 35km Moerangi Track is shared use for MTB and trampers. For MTB, the ride starts at Okahu Road and ends at River Road. Trampers can walk the track in either direction. I walked in/out to Moerangi Hut from River Road last year, and geez that was a big hill! The great thing about this section of Moerangi Track is that it’s mostly cleared of roots and runs alongside the river. It was incredibly peaceful walking on my own.

Somewhere before I reached Whangatawhia (Skips Creek) Hut, I came across the only people I met on the track that day. It was a group of five that had stayed at Rogers Hut the night before. One of the men in the group stopped for a chat, asking if I was walking in on my own. I sure was! They had met four women on their way to Moerangi Hut earlier, but being a Sunday, there was a high chance I could have the hut to myself. Lucky me.

Upper Whirinaki Hut in Te Whirinaki Pua-a-Tāne

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.