Day hike to Mangamuka Hut on Te Tuhi Track

Mangamuka Hut can be accessed from SH 29 along the North-South track, or via Te Tuhi track, starting at Te Tuhi Road car park. The track is on the Te Aroha side of the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest, and takes about 1.5 hours drive from Whakatāne. From SH 24, turn-off into Old Te Aroha Road until you get to Te Tuhi Road. It’s a beautiful drive surrounded by farmland. The car park is at the end of the road (there are no toilets). The trailhead is at the bush edge, about 30-40 mins walk along private farmland. Walk past the gate and up the gravel road - there’s an official Depart of Conservation (DoC) track sign about 15 mins up the road. Follow the orange markers to the bush edge.

I don’t mind early starts, and the Sunday morning drive to Te Tuhi Road from Whakatāne was lovely. I missed the turn-off to Old Te Aroha Road the first time, but not far enough down the road that I couldn’t turn around. There was plenty of morning fog on the surrounding farmland, but nothing on the road. There was only one car when I got to the car park. I met the couple a few hours later as they were heading back.

Egmont National Park: Around the Mountain Circuit (well, almost) - Part 2

As you can tell from the title, I ‘almost’ made it around the mountain. Day four was massive, bloody hell it was 14 hours! The reality is, even though we only covered about 10km, the elevation gain was more than what my body could handle. We’re talking 1,300m from Waiaua Gorge Hut to Syme Hut. So yeah, here’s a run down of the day.

Mark and I left the Waiaua Gorge Hut by 7am - there was enough light to start walking the bush track to the Brames Falls junction. The group of eight were heading to Kopuni Lodge, which is a private lodge downhill from the Fantham’s Peak junction. It was just as well as there wouldn’t have been any room at Syme Hut.

The group of four ladies we met at the hut also told us to keep an eye out for wasps. “You’ll know they’re there when they find you.” She wasn’t wrong. We were climbing a typical uphill scramble, the kind that was steep enough that I might as well have been climbing a ladder. I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head, and I’m pretty sure the F-bomb came out of my mouth a few times. I never climbed so fast in my life! Mark was right up behind me and once we got onto a flat section, we bolted. That was the first time I’ve been stung when out tramping.

Upper Whirinaki Hut in Te Whirinaki Pua-a-Tāne

It was slow going along the gravel road in Tia’s people mover - in hindsight it was probably more suited to Betty, my RAV4. Then again, there were four of us, a dog, and our packs, Betty would have been a tight squeeze. There were clunking noises as the stones were hitting something below, which kept our speed to about 30km for the most part. I was surprised at how well the road to the car park was signposted - I suppose most people who used this road were either in forestry or heading into the Whirinaki Forest.

I guess you could call this a ‘girls’ weekend tramp, though partners were invited, they didn’t end up coming in the end. Tia, Katri, Jasmine and I planned an overnighter to the Upper Whirinaki Hut, with Diesel, Katri’s dog, joining us on this adventure too.

When we finally reached the car park, we decided to have lunch before starting the tramp. It was only a couple of hours to the hut via the ridgeline track. Besides, Tia and I had been talking about eating lunch for the last hour. She had Havarti cheese and crackers, and I was looking forward to my breakfast bap. There were already a couple of cars parked up when we arrived, which made us wonder if we would end up using the tents after all.

Egmont National Park: Around the Mountain Circuit (well, almost) - Part 1

We had nothing but clear, blue skies as we sat on Mark’s boot having an early lunch before setting off to Holly Hut. He had made me a beef and egg wrap with Kimchi which was going down a treat - what a good friend he is! After popping into the visitor centre to check the current track and weather conditions, we set off for Holly Hut under the midday sun.

This was our first multi-day tramp together, although we had done a winter Tongariro Alpine Crossing through the Pinoy Adventurers NZ group too. I learned early on that our definition of ‘steep’ is not quite the same. We had the option of taking the usual track or taking a more scenic route via Tahurangi Lodge. I asked if there was much difference in the elevation, especially since we had six days worth of food to carry. “It’s pretty much the same.” No Mark, it really wasn’t, because there was a beast of a gut-buster just before the lodge that he had forgotten about!

Mangamate Loop in Te Whirinaki Pua-a-Tāne

Depending on the time of day, Te Whirinaki Pua-a-Tāne is either rich in birdsong or so quiet that a band of kererū (wood pigeon) flying overhead actually gave me a fright. There were times that the canopy was so thick that I would only hear them flying from tree to tree, their distinct turquoise feathers acting as the perfect camouflage. I especially enjoyed coming around the corner and watching a flock of pīwakawaka (fantails) scatter in all directions, only to have some of them keep me company along the track, telling me about their day.

I was keeping a close eye on the rain forecast the week of doing the Mangamate Loop - especially since days two and three involved multiple river crossings. Being only 5ft tall (that’s 152cm), the deepest crossings were mid-thigh, and these were few and far between. We’ve also had a dry summer, so the crossings were mostly mid-calf. I’m used to those. I planned a three-day tramp, spending my first night at Central Whirinaki Hut (5hr/16km), then to Mangamate Hut (4.5hr/8.2km), then completing the loop at River Road (4hr/10km). You can walk the loop in either direction, but I personally recommend doing Central Whirinaki on your first day as river crossings on your third day makes for a much more interesting tramp.

The shorty's adventures on the Routeburn Track

The Queenstown CBD was pretty deserted on the morning of day one. It seemed like only trampers and tradies were awake before 8am. Katri and I grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast at the Ferg Cafe, right next door to the famous Fergburger. Our shuttle meeting point was just across the road, so I had enough time to enjoy my first coffee of the day.

The drive to Glenorchy was beautiful - I felt like a wide-eyed kid in a candy store. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the wrong side of the van to take any decent shots. We had a quick toilet and coffee stop in Glenorchy before taking the gravel road to Mount Aspiring National Park, where Katri and I would start day one at The Shelter. Routeburn is the only Great Walk that crosses two national parks - Mount Aspiring and Fiordland.