Posts tagged fulldaywalk
Bay of Plenty: Hiking the Western Okataina Walkway
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.

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The Local Tourist, North Island, Free, Forest, Bay of Plenty, CyclingRonna Grace Funtelarthelocaltourist, newzealand, nznatural, hobbyhiker, femalehiker, nzhikes, northislandhikes, fulldayhike, lakeokataina, lakeokareka, westernokatainwawalkway, mtbtrack, nztramps, daytramp, fulldaytramp, fulldaywalk, fulldaytrek, sharedusetrackComment
Tongariro Alpine Crossing: The hobby hiker's Goliath
Tongariro Alpine Crossing: The hobby hiker's Goliath

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is in the Tongariro National Park and about 3.5 hours drive from Whakatane. We had a house in Turangi for the weekend, which was a bonus, especially as we got home late on Saturday night after the walk. Our day started early (I was up by 5am) - we managed to leave the house just after 6am and made our way to the Ketetahi End car park.

We had booked a one way shuttle with Tongariro Crossing Shuttles, which cost $30 each. You can book a two way shuttle pick up, but we wanted the flexibility of taking our time, and in hindsight, was the best option for us (you’ll read about it later!). There is very limited parking at the Ketetahi End car park, so many sure to arrive 30 minutes before your shuttle is due.

There were four of us on this adventure: Myself, my friend Jem and another hiking buddy, as well Jem’s son, Joe, who was my road trip buddy from Whakatane. I have to mention that Joe’s only 12 years old and was the only one in our group who didn’t wake up with aching legs the next day!

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The Local Tourist, TongariroRonna Grace Funtelartongariro, tongariroalpinecrossing, tongarironationalpark, hobbyhiker, thelocaltourist, newzealand, nztrails, naturewalksnz, nznatural, fulldayhike, fulldaytrek, fulldaywalk, mustdo, nzmustdoComment