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.