Posts tagged nztramps
Mokaihaha Ecological Area: Mokaihaha Track
Mokaihaha Ecological Area: Mokaihaha Track

Weekend adventures with Senior DoC Ranger Mayer, it’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Mayer had mentioned a few weeks back that he would take me track marking if I was keen...of course I said yes straight away. Or did I? There was a fair bit of banter and negotiations that he wouldn’t use his ‘supervisor’ voice on me and whether or not morning tea was included. Happy to say that he was very patient and it was a fun day out.

Mokaihaha Track is 9.6km outside the town of Mamaku - I had never been there, so we did a couple of laps around the town before heading to the track. The town reminded me a lot of when I used to live in Te Araroa. It isn’t technically a loop track as you pop out of the bush about ten minutes down the road, but it’s easy enough to walk back to the car along the gravel road. You can walk the track in either direction - we walked it counter-clockwise.

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The Local Tourist, North Island, Free, Forest, Bay of Plenty, TaurangaRonna Grace Funtelarthelocaltourist, newzealand, nznatural, femalehiker, nzhikes, nztramps, mokaihaha, ecological, mamaku, mamakuplateau, trackmarking, rotohokahoka, gravelroad, hobby, north islandComment
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
East Coast road trip and climbing Mt. Hikurangi
East Coast road trip and climbing Mt. Hikurangi

Mt. Hikurangi stands at 1,752m.a.s.l. (5,748 ft) and is the first place to greet the sun in mainland Aotearoa / New Zealand. The trail starts at Pakihiroa Station in Ruatoria, 80 km north of Gisborne or 50km southwest of Te Araroa. The track to the summit wasn’t always as accessible as it is today, having listened to stories of bush bashing and backcountry orienteering. Nowadays the track is well marked until the final boulder/scree uphill to the summit, where a fair bit of scrambling is needed. We booked a night at the hut (1,250m.a.s.l.), then planned to summit and walk out the next day. My body was definitely not mountain-fit enough for the hike we had planned (we ended up walking for about 11 hours on the Sunday), and my legs especially found the steep downhill exhausting.

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The Local Tourist, East Coast, North Island, Coastal, HutRonna Grace Funtelarthelocaltourist, newzealand, nznatural, hobbyhiker, femalehiker, dayhikes, mthikurangi, ruatoria, pahikiroastation, northislandhikes, eastcoast, alpine, nzhikes, nztramps, nztrails, overnightComment