Walked from Mount Donald McLean to Whatipu and back, staying overnight at Whatipu Lodge. Weekend was forecast for no rain so we thought we should take advantage. But set out in drizzle and cloud just the same - luckily it did clear up later.
Took Donald McLean track north from the carpark, diversion via Bob Gordon track to see the site of an old kauri dam (no traces of the dam to be seen), then followed the Walker Ridge track and Gibbons track to Whatipu. 4 hours, mostly in bush until we got towards the end of the Gibbons track, when we were rewarded with some lovely vistas of forest, beaches and Tasman Sea. Much slipping and sliding on some hard pale brown surface - a bit like mud halfway to becoming rock.
Whatipu Lodge was really special (photos here - the red-roofed white buildings are the lodge). Facilities were a bit like a backcountry hut (bring your own bedding, food and a torch) but atmosphere very different. It is an old homestead with pretty bedrooms, old furniture and lamp shades, plates decorating the kitchen walls, and a full-sized snooker table. Someone was having a 70th birthday party there. This time we had toted a bottle of wine in and were glad of it. We will definitely go back, probably walking from Karekare next time (one way through the forest, one way along the beach).
Back to the car along Omanawanui track, a series of peaks beside the sea. Views fabulous, taking in hills, beaches, sea and the enormous Manukau harbour. Best view Tim has seen since Ben Lomond on a really clear day last April. Also lots of young kauri trees. 3 hours. We'd love to go back with a few friends.
Kura track also looks fun. We're told the Whatipu end can be so wet as to be impassable, so best to start it from that end.
Sunday, 31 August 2008
27th August 2008: talk by William Pike
Saw William Pike give a talk at Intrepid Travel in Newmarket. William was near the summit Mt Ruapehu in September 2007 when it erupted, and was trapped under rock and ice in the Dome Shelter. He survived despite severe hypothermia and multiple injuries, and had one leg amputated below the knee.
Very interesting to hear him speak. He comes across as a very simple, straight-up nice guy who is a complete outdoors nut. He's already been climbing and cycling with his prosthetic leg and aims to go and finish off his mountaineering trip next year if possible.
Bought his book and am very much enjoying it. It's very readable and gripping, if not a flight of literary style. Particularly interesting to read it having heard him speak a year later and see how far he has come.
Very interesting to hear him speak. He comes across as a very simple, straight-up nice guy who is a complete outdoors nut. He's already been climbing and cycling with his prosthetic leg and aims to go and finish off his mountaineering trip next year if possible.
Bought his book and am very much enjoying it. It's very readable and gripping, if not a flight of literary style. Particularly interesting to read it having heard him speak a year later and see how far he has come.
Sunday, 24 August 2008
23rd-24th August 2008: Matakana region
Forecast was for rain and more rain, so we had a driving and sightseeing weekend north from Auckland with Kate Moses.
Whangaparaoa Regional Park - pretty. Moist. Reasonable waterfall and a pleasant amble. Saw a sheep giving birth and later saw her with the new lamb.
Waiwera thermal pools were good - natural hot swimming pools ranging from 31 to 48C, and some good water slides to keep Tim amused. Slightly funny place - was definitely in need of doing up. Even just surfacing the ground with something less pointy than tarmac would have been good. Very chilled out by the time we had spent a couple of hours there.
Stayed the night in Warkworth at Walton Park Motor Lodge. Two-bedroom unit for Kate and us was affordable and comfortable. Not stylish but we weren't expecting that. Enjoyed a good beer selection and knowledgeable landlord in a bar called Tahi, followed by tasty Thai dinner.
Started this morning with coffee in Matakana and looked round some crafty shops in the village (Sophie narrowly avoiding spending many dollars on cool jewellery). Back to Tahi to pick up my phone which had, er, wandered, then off to Ascension winery to taste and buy some delicious things. Tim enjoyed the Old Tawny (can't call it port because it's not from Portugal) but resisted buying any. Ascension have a concert in Feb which Kate wants to go back to.
Headed south to Puhoi, via the Honey Centre which had, well, some bees and some honey. Puhoi is an interesting historic village founded by Bohemians, with some pretty houses and well-preserved buildings like the general store and local school. Museum was interesting and attended by a knowledgeable and chatty local lady who gave us a personal tour.
Finished up with a brief visit to the Puhoi Art of Cheese Cafe. Sadly it was closing but we brought home a selection to try.
Home via a serious downpour, with Sophie struggling to see the road markings at times. We really appreciated being able to go from car to flat without leaving the building :)
Whangaparaoa Regional Park - pretty. Moist. Reasonable waterfall and a pleasant amble. Saw a sheep giving birth and later saw her with the new lamb.
Waiwera thermal pools were good - natural hot swimming pools ranging from 31 to 48C, and some good water slides to keep Tim amused. Slightly funny place - was definitely in need of doing up. Even just surfacing the ground with something less pointy than tarmac would have been good. Very chilled out by the time we had spent a couple of hours there.
Stayed the night in Warkworth at Walton Park Motor Lodge. Two-bedroom unit for Kate and us was affordable and comfortable. Not stylish but we weren't expecting that. Enjoyed a good beer selection and knowledgeable landlord in a bar called Tahi, followed by tasty Thai dinner.
Started this morning with coffee in Matakana and looked round some crafty shops in the village (Sophie narrowly avoiding spending many dollars on cool jewellery). Back to Tahi to pick up my phone which had, er, wandered, then off to Ascension winery to taste and buy some delicious things. Tim enjoyed the Old Tawny (can't call it port because it's not from Portugal) but resisted buying any. Ascension have a concert in Feb which Kate wants to go back to.
Headed south to Puhoi, via the Honey Centre which had, well, some bees and some honey. Puhoi is an interesting historic village founded by Bohemians, with some pretty houses and well-preserved buildings like the general store and local school. Museum was interesting and attended by a knowledgeable and chatty local lady who gave us a personal tour.
Finished up with a brief visit to the Puhoi Art of Cheese Cafe. Sadly it was closing but we brought home a selection to try.
Home via a serious downpour, with Sophie struggling to see the road markings at times. We really appreciated being able to go from car to flat without leaving the building :)
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
17th August 2008: Rangitoto Island
Spent the day on Rangitoto despite rain looking like it had settled in for the day.
Half-hour ferry trip from central Auckland. The only ferry options back were after 1 hour 45 mins, or 5 hours, so we yomped up to the top of the hill (50 mins) before deciding whether to yomp straight back down in the rain and catch the boat. Nearly did that, but got distracted by the lava caves - one you could walk through for 50m and come out in daylight - so we stayed.
Cool place - it is a volcano (now probably extinct) only about 600 years old, so basically still a big pile of volcanic rocks. Now fairly well forested but still feels strange and primeval.
For the rest of the day, wandered back to the wharf via a road, then went to look around some of the landmarks on the island (baches, black-backed gull colony, kidney ferns and kowhai). Tim attempted basket-making out of some strong grass and we proved that it could be done if only we knew how.
I'll be back at some point, in a kayak, thanks to the gang at MX Telecom. Apparently in summer the rock gets hot and it's like walking through an oven, so might try to do it before the weather gets too warm.
Half-hour ferry trip from central Auckland. The only ferry options back were after 1 hour 45 mins, or 5 hours, so we yomped up to the top of the hill (50 mins) before deciding whether to yomp straight back down in the rain and catch the boat. Nearly did that, but got distracted by the lava caves - one you could walk through for 50m and come out in daylight - so we stayed.
Cool place - it is a volcano (now probably extinct) only about 600 years old, so basically still a big pile of volcanic rocks. Now fairly well forested but still feels strange and primeval.
For the rest of the day, wandered back to the wharf via a road, then went to look around some of the landmarks on the island (baches, black-backed gull colony, kidney ferns and kowhai). Tim attempted basket-making out of some strong grass and we proved that it could be done if only we knew how.
I'll be back at some point, in a kayak, thanks to the gang at MX Telecom. Apparently in summer the rock gets hot and it's like walking through an oven, so might try to do it before the weather gets too warm.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
9th - 10th August 2008: Kauaeranga Kauri Trail
Walked the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail to Pinnacles Hut, and from there to the Pinnacles. Walk was listed in Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand" and on the DOC website. Photos here.
Day 1: Webb Creek track from Kauaeranga Valley road end to Pinnacles Hut, taking about 3 hours. Interesting walk on very well-made track (graded a Walking Track), taking in wire bridges, rock and kauri steps made by kauri loggers, and Hydrocamp (the old loggers' camp). Reached hut around 2:30pm, dumped most of our kit, and walked from there up to the Pinnacles (around 40 mins one-way). Top of the Pinnacles was completely in cloud but nice views on the way up.
Day 2: Clear morning so went up the Pinnacles again, this time for beautiful views of the Pacific and Table Mountain. Then back from the hut on Billy Goat Track (4 hours), partly along the route of the logging tramway. Found a way down to the top of Billy Goat Falls from the track, with a couple of short falls at the top which would make a fabulous lunch spot.
Hut had two bunk rooms (total 80 beds), a dining room with about 8 gas burners, and solar-powered lights. Apparently about as good as huts get. Sadly the stove heater had a blocked flue - shame, as it froze overnight. Sophie's new sleeping bag turns out to be pretty warm (still slept fully clothed though) but Tim needed more thermals.
Hut was fairly busy, including a group of scouts, half a dozen fathers with 7-year-olds, and some Irish people from Auckland. The Irish people were drinking whisky with lemons, cloves, sugar and hot water. Yum. Quite a few people had toted bottles of wine up there.
Lessons learnt:
Bring enough clothes to keep us warm in the evening / overnight rather than only enough to keep us warm on walks!
Slippers would have been useful - cold floors, and boots not allowed in the hut.
Quick, hot food was really good - cuppa soups definitely worth having. More hot drink options would have been good too since we had to boil all drinking water.
You can never have enough plastic bags.
Definitely a good one to do again, next time with some wine and meats for the barbecue.
Day 1: Webb Creek track from Kauaeranga Valley road end to Pinnacles Hut, taking about 3 hours. Interesting walk on very well-made track (graded a Walking Track), taking in wire bridges, rock and kauri steps made by kauri loggers, and Hydrocamp (the old loggers' camp). Reached hut around 2:30pm, dumped most of our kit, and walked from there up to the Pinnacles (around 40 mins one-way). Top of the Pinnacles was completely in cloud but nice views on the way up.
Day 2: Clear morning so went up the Pinnacles again, this time for beautiful views of the Pacific and Table Mountain. Then back from the hut on Billy Goat Track (4 hours), partly along the route of the logging tramway. Found a way down to the top of Billy Goat Falls from the track, with a couple of short falls at the top which would make a fabulous lunch spot.
Hut had two bunk rooms (total 80 beds), a dining room with about 8 gas burners, and solar-powered lights. Apparently about as good as huts get. Sadly the stove heater had a blocked flue - shame, as it froze overnight. Sophie's new sleeping bag turns out to be pretty warm (still slept fully clothed though) but Tim needed more thermals.
Hut was fairly busy, including a group of scouts, half a dozen fathers with 7-year-olds, and some Irish people from Auckland. The Irish people were drinking whisky with lemons, cloves, sugar and hot water. Yum. Quite a few people had toted bottles of wine up there.
Lessons learnt:
Bring enough clothes to keep us warm in the evening / overnight rather than only enough to keep us warm on walks!
Slippers would have been useful - cold floors, and boots not allowed in the hut.
Quick, hot food was really good - cuppa soups definitely worth having. More hot drink options would have been good too since we had to boil all drinking water.
You can never have enough plastic bags.
Definitely a good one to do again, next time with some wine and meats for the barbecue.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
2nd August 2008: Bledisloe Cup at Eden Park
Went to see the All Blacks play Australia at Eden Park for the Bledisloe Cup - part of the Tri Nations. With Mark Moriai and Kate Moses.
Bought tickets a few days in advance at $50, and were sitting in 2nd row behind one end of the pitch. Great view for the action near us, less so when it wasn't in our corner. Really enjoyed it. Exciting match and happy crowd when the All Blacks won 39-10. A bargain! We didn't even get rained on.
Bought tickets a few days in advance at $50, and were sitting in 2nd row behind one end of the pitch. Great view for the action near us, less so when it wasn't in our corner. Really enjoyed it. Exciting match and happy crowd when the All Blacks won 39-10. A bargain! We didn't even get rained on.
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