The colourful Crater Lake and the Maunga Kakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) summit tracks

I watched the raindrops bounce off the windscreen as I drove towards Waiotapu on SH5 for a spontaneous Saturday hike. Maunga Kakaramea, or more commonly known as Rainbow Mountain, is famous for the vibrant ochre in the soil and surrounding cliffs. It may not be as colourful as the other more famous ‘rainbow mountain’ namesake, Vinicunca in Peru, but it’s definitely a must-do walk when you’re in Rotorua.

The rain only made the steam on the mountain rise higher - there was no mistaking that Rotorua is very much an active geothermal zone. A wet hike was clearly no deterrent, because although the car park wasn’t quite full when I arrived, it was close to it when I came down.

Putting on my boots in the front passenger seat felt clumsy and cramped, and took long enough that the windows were fogged up by the time I left.

Sunrise at The Pinnacles, Coromandel

Watching the sunrise from The Pinnacles summit is the closest I’ve come to waking up on a mountain. We got lucky with the weather - even though we went to sleep with overcast skies, by the time we started walking to the summit just before 5am, the Milky Way was there in all its glory, daring us to turn off our headlamps.

Our hike to The Pinnacles started the day before, having met up with Kuya Rommel (my cousin) and his friend Ian at the Kauaeranga Valley Information Centre car park.

Turns out the track car park was another fifteen minutes away, and my poor Betty (my Rav 4) was to get an even thicker coating of the dusty gravel road. The car park was pretty much full by the time we got there, and I ended up parking on the side of the road a couple of minutes away.

It was already midday by the time we started hiking towards The Pinnacles hut. There was no rush really, the hut was three hours away and with daylight savings, we had plenty of light left. I was already sweating even before we started hiking - the temperature was in the mid-twenties but felt hotter because of the humidity.

Bay of Plenty: Rock Climbing In The Mangorewa Gorge - Part 2

Even before I got into climbing, March has always been one of my favourite months, more so because it’s the start of autumn. Autumn, especially in the Bay of Plenty where it feels like a lingering summer. The bush and vast coastline is a playground you can’t help but be drawn to.

This was my second time at the Mangorewa Gorge and we somehow picked a day that wasn’t only dry and sunny, but a fairly quiet one in terms of other climbers. Last time it was only Jim and I, but this time we had Alec join us too. Jim and I drove to Alec’s house in Papamoa, then the three of us drove to the gorge together. Our small crew was growing! We decided to call ourselves the Whakatāne Climbing whanau.

Bay of Plenty: Rock Climbing In The Mangorewa Gorge

I looked up - there were three, maybe four quickdraws left on the route before the anchor. The slight wedgie from my harness reminded me that I was already closer to the anchor than I was to the ground. My arms were pumped. The sounds of the Tuis were all around, and below me I could hear the crunching of Dorritos from my climbing partner, Jim. At the pace I was climbing, he probably could have read The Lord of the Rings and I would still be up on that rock.

A Summer Tiki Tour Of Raglan

Summer in Kiwiland - what’s more Kiwi than the quintessential summer roadie? How did I decide on Raglan? I Googled where I could go rock climbing in the North Island, came across Raglan Rock’s website and planned my road trip from there. Simple as that, really. Turns out Raglan is just one of the many places on my ‘how come I’ve never been there’ gigantic list. Maybe, because I’d always considered it more of a surfing mecca, when really there’s so much you can do.

Bay of Plenty: Walk Amongst The Redwood Giants In The Whakarewarewa Forest

At over 5,600 hectares, the Whakarewarewa Forest is a giant outdoor playground - from locals walking their dogs, multiple walking trails or a day out on the MTB trails. Located just an hour from Whakatane and 15 minutes from the Rotorua CBD, it’s the kind of place where you can see so much in a few hours or spend the whole day. It’s one of the best FREE attractions you can do in Rotorua.

© 2015 Five Foot Ronna

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