Bay of Plenty: Hiking the Western Okataina Walkway

No matter how quiet you try to be at 5.30am, everything just seems louder somehow. It was an early start because I was on my way to Rotorua to meet up with Senior DoC Ranger Mayer (has quite a nice ring to it doesn’t it?), my hiking buddy for the day.

We planned to walk the 17km Western Okataina Walkway starting at the Okataina Outdoor Recreation Centre and finishing up at Millar Road at Okareka. The track can also be walked from Te Ruato Bay in Lake Rotoiti, but we decided to save ourselves a couple of hours and go from the recreation centre instead.

Discover Our Local: The Onepu Wetlands Boardwalk and Lake

I have to tell you something, the Onepu Wetlands Boardwalk isn’t an Insta-ready location...yet. In fact, a lot of the track is currently overgrown. The trees and plants are still a fews years away from being fully grown so that we can truly appreciate the beauty of this area. If you’re a mountain bike rider, you should also check out the Onepu Community Mountain Bike Park which is in the same area. Many of the tracks are multi-use, including horses and walkers/runners.

Dune Trail On The Motu Trails Cycleway

Richard and I go way back to mid-2000s, where he was already doing a lot of youth work in our community. Over the years, I would run into him through my graphic design work and teaching dance. He was already a cycling advocate back then, but it’s only recently that I finally took him up on getting me back on a bike. I haven’t been on a bike since 2007 - maybe somewhere in the back streets of Vietnam.

The dune trail of the Motu Trail Cycleway is in the township of Opotiki, about 40 minutes drive from Whakatane. Now, when he told me that we would be biking 9km, I thought he meant in total, not one way! He did give the option to turn around at various points, but I figured I wouldn’t be this way for awhile, so decided to make the most of it.

© 2015 Five Foot Ronna

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