Category: trip report

Daywalk: Waiohine Gorge, Reeves, Tutuwai and Cone Hut

Looking inwards from near the top of Mt Reeves.

For the first time in a while I had a free Sunday, as well as time to think about it in advance. With some minimal effort I was able to convince Craig, my neighbour, to come along for a walk around a loop in the Tararua.

Date: 16th November, 2025.
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Waiohine Gorge.
People: Craig and me.
Huts visited: Tutuwai Hut (0 nights), Cone Hut (0 nights).
Route: From Waiohine Gorge across Coal Stream, up Mt Reeves, down to Tutuwai Hut, along Tauwharenikau River to Cone Hut, then via track back to Waiohine Gorge.

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This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

We left Wellington at around 6.15am, expecting a drive of maybe an hour 45 minutes which was roughly accurate. After a brief rearrangement of attire, this enabled us to be crossing the bridge over the Waiohine River shortly after 8am.
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22 November, 2025
Trip: High Ridge and nav to Mountain House

High Ridge.

It’s been a while since I’ve been out with the WTMC, largely due to other things happening. I decided it was time to change that, and found a scheduled trip to High Ridge. I hadn’t been to High Ridge for around 12 years. The previous time was a memorable experience for multiple reasons. It’s a navigation trip, and also one that can work in moderately wet weather as long as it’s not prohibitively windy, so a forecast for some rain in the Tararua wasn’t a huge concern. The forecast had rain clearing about mid Saturday.

Dates: 11th – 13th January, 2019
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road End.
People: Peter, Heather, Tony and me.
Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Mountain House Shelter (1 night), Powell Hut (0 nights), Totara Flats Hut (1 night).
Route: From Holdsworth Road up to Mountain House Shelter on Friday night. Then beyond Powell Hut to .1330, and south-west along High Ridge to Flaxy Knob, and nav down to Totara Flats Hut for Saturday night. Then follow the old track north-east of Totara Flats Hut, along Totara Creek. Near the headwaters of Totara Creek, navigate up spur to above Mountain House Shelter. Then back to Holdsworth Road.
[Photos]

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This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

We arrived at the end of Holdsworth Road at about 7.45pm, combining transport with another group who were aiming to navigate up the Atiwhakatu river catchment.

I pulled my camera out and quickly discovered that not only were the recently charged batteries flat, but my spare camera batteries were also flat. That served me right for grabbing and charging some random batteries I’d found lying around, and trying to use a camera I’d not tested for a couple of years. My weekend with electronic devices was not going to be simple, but right now there was no time to figure things out.
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7 April, 2019
Trip: Dawson Falls, Waiaua Gorge and Lake Dive Loop

Stupid Tarn, Egmont National Park.

Modern media convention is to include a picture of Stupid Tarn with any and every reference to Egmont National Park, even when Stupid Tarn has no relevance.

Below this picture I enclose a trip report for an occasion on which I visited Egmont National Park. I did not visit Stupid Tarn. I was generally on the far side of the mountain, but I was within the boundaries of Egmont National Park. Therefore I enclose this Stupid Tarn photograph so we can all bask in its reflective alpine glory as if we’re a real part of the juggernaut of Instagram following camera wielding visitors who must have visited Stupid Tarn on this day. Also, it’ll make it clear that I’m writing about Egmont National Park, which is really little more than Stupid Tarn surrounded by a rich culturally deep mountainous diversity.

This trip begins at Dawson Falls carpark, and probably gets no closer to Stupid Tarn than that. More accurately it begins in New Plymouth which is even further from Stupid Tarn.

Dates: 29th – 31st December, 2018
Location: Egmont National Park, Dawson Falls Visitor Centre.
People: Just me.
Huts visited: Hooker Shelter, Waiaua Gorge Hut (1 night), Lake Dive Hut (1 night), Kapuni Lodge.
Route: Dawson Falls carpark upwards past Kapuni Lodge, then across high route to Waiaua Gorge Hut for the night. To Lake Dive Hut via lower track for another night. Then up to upper track, across and back down to Dawson Falls.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/20181231-dawson-falls-waiaua-gorge-lake-dive-loop.gpx%5D

This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

On Thursday morning I pulled on my right sock and immediately felt it tear around my heel. I haven’t even used this sock that many times. I guess the modern incarnation of this brand is not what it used to be. I didn’t have any spare socks, so I taped my foot. The previous night I’d finished packing. It’s been a while since getting out tramping due to some interventions of real life, but I helpfully found some two year old jelly beans and chocolate in an isolated pocket of my pack. Jelly beans and Chocolate mix really well in one’s mouth. The left sock was fine.

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18 January, 2019
Daywalk: Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit

Friday was the beginning of a long weekend, but circumstances meant I could only negotiate a single day out. I chose to spend it the the Tararuas, visiting the Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit. I walked this in a day back in 2010, but that was with a group. Then it took around 9 hours including about an hour’s stop. This time I thought I’d just go ahead and do it by myself.

Driving up from Wellington and turning left just before Masterton, I arrived at the road-end a little before 9am. The place was already buzzing with holiday-makers, and families emerging from large tents which I guess had been put up the night before. There was still some parking left in the main area, but it was a popular place.

Date: 30th March, 2018 (Good Friday).
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road End.
Route: Start at Holdsworth road-end, around Donnelly Flat to the base of the River Ridge Track, up to Mountain House, then to Mt Holdsworth (.1470) via Powell Hut. North to Jumbo (.1405), Jumbo Hut, down Raingauge to Atiwhakatu Hut, and back to Holdsworth road-end via the main valley track.
[Photos]

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This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

Despite the stirring buzz around the campgrounds, there were fewer people around soon after I started moving beyond Holdsworth Lodge and across the bridge over the Atiwhakatu River. The previous evening I’d noticed the River Ridge Track marked on the LINZ Topo50, which I’d seen previously but never with a name. Some brief asking around had suggested it was steep and muddy, with lots of slippery tree roots. I decided to check it out as an alternative to climbing via Rocky Lookout, which I’ve already been past a few times. The base of the track is a short set of very steep, narrow steps, but it rapidly levels out slightly.
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30 May, 2018
Daywalk: Dobson Loop and Lower Marchant Ridge

Thursday and Friday were remarkably sunny days. This made the browsing of the surface pressure and rain forecast maps more annoying: they showed rain approaching for the weekend. Not that I mind walking through wind and rain, but it can complicate plans, and my free time’s been limited lately. I had a day of free time, nevertheless, and with that free time I resolved to visit the Kaitoke end of the Tararuas. Saturday looked like the better day.

I’d not been there for a while. The most recent occasion was whilst walking out from a moonlight Southern Crossing. Earlier than that I’d been for a walk around the Dobson loop. This time I thought I’d try something similar, but would try to leave earlier and get a bit further than I had previously.

Date: 7th October, 2017
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Kaitoke Road End.
Route: Start at Kaitoke, walk to Smith Creek Shelter (via Puffer Saddle), then check out the Tauherenikau. Back to Smith Creek Shelter, up to spot-height 656, hover around Marchant Ridge for a while, then back to Kaitoke via the main Southern Crossing track.
[Photos]

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This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

It rained. Not torrential. Just steady. The forecast had it getting worse later in the day.

The base of the track from the current car-park.

DOC has created a better car-park since I last visited. Previously the Kaitoke road-end was an isolated dead-end, and subject to repeated vandalism. The new car-park is directly outside the gate of the YMCA campground. I’m unclear on whether it gets much vandalism, but it doesn’t feel as isolated. It’s behind a gate, but not a locked gate.

There’s always been an informal track from the campground up to the main Marchant Ridge track. With its replacement car-park, DOC has connected into it and formalised it.
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30 November, 2017
Daywalk: The Complete Paekakariki Escarpment Track

Typical.

Saturday 9th April 2016 was the official opening day of the Paekakariki Escarpment Track—a new connecting track between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki, above the railway line along the coast. Intense interest meant that organisers had to restrict entry for the initial day, but it’s now fully open to the public.

Date: 10th April, 2016
Location: Paekakariki to Pukerua Bay.
People: Just me.
Route: Walk south from Paekakariki to steps under the SH1 road bridge, onto the Paekakariki Escarpment Track, then follow it to Pukerua Bay.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20160410-paekakariki-escarpment-track.gpx%5D

This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

I never felt the desire to follow a narrow, steep track with squillions of other people on Saturday 9th April… or 400 as it turned out. I did, however, spontaneously decide to jump on a train on Sunday the 10th of April, to go and check it out.

For me, this track is a welcome addition to the network of walking options in the Wellington region. It naturally connects together two locations (Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki) which, until now, really had no practical on-foot connection short of walking alongside State Highway 1. I’ve walked that stretch several times. It’s not very exciting.
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23 April, 2016
Trip: Blue Range Nav to Ruamahanga, Cow Saddle, Cow Creek

Eleanora dropping to Cleft Creek on Saturday.

It’s Saturday night, before 8pm. I’m hunched below a top bunk of Cow Creek Hut, feeling very well fed and trying to scribble these notes by torchlight. Debbie and Eleonora are already trying to go to sleep. Debbie’s had the wood-burner going, and it’s toasty enough for me to have switched to a downstairs mattress, even though the mattresses don’t fit properly. We’re expecting rain overnight. A typical early winter’s evening after a fun-filled day.

Dates: 28th – 30th August, 2015
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Kiriwhakapapa Road-end.
People: Debbie, Eleanora and me.
Huts visited: Blue Range Hut (1 night), Cow Creek Hut (1 night).
Route: Kiriwhakapapa Road to Blue Range Hut on Friday night. Then skim around Te Mara (along marked track) to .970. Navigate along ridge past .790 and .775 towards .655, and find a way down to Ruamahanga River track. Back to Cow Creek Hut via Cow Saddle for Saturday night. Out to Kiriwhakapapa Road via main track on Sunday.
Also includes: A side trip up towards .1390 near Table Ridge above Cow Creek Hut on Sunday morning.
Also see: The Friday and Saturday portion of this write-up make up part of a trip report published in the WTMC newsletter.
[Photos]

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This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

The original idea had been to visit Table Ridge of the Tararuas and drop to Mid-King biv, but forecasts of strong gale-force winds swayed our intentions before leaving home. Instead, Debbie proposed a nav trip centred on Blue Range, which we hoped would be sheltered from the west.

Blue Range Hut on Saturday morning.

So it was that 24 hours ago, having arrived at the Kiriwhakapapa Shelter, Debbie, Eleonora and I strolled up the 600 vertical metres to Blue Range Hut with torches, arriving about two hours later. Blue Range Hut was empty, helpfully allowing plenty of space for the three of us.

Debbie had water boiling this morning before Eleonora or myself had bothered to sit up. It’s great when someone does that. After some uneventful breakfasting and packing, Eleonora and Debbie left me behind to sweep out the hut before I also left at about 8am. After just one obsessive compulsive moment, needing to sprint back and check I’d bolted the door, I caught them on the slope on the marked track which skirts around the side of Te Mara: the high point of Blue Range.
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12 October, 2015
Trip: Tapokopoko Kotumu Loop

Alistair in typical surroundings.

It’s easy to overlook the Orongorongo Valley and surrounding Rimutaka Range, especially with additional tramping options so nearby, notably the Tararuas. That’s something I’ve often been guilty of. Until relatively recently, my most common perception of the range has been from the parts which are easy to reach without much commitment like Mount McKerrow, Cattle Ridge and Turere Stream. Generally that corner of the range, up and down the Orongorongo River with its lolly scramble of locked private huts and batches hidden in the trees. It’s great for accessibility, but comes with a feeling of being less remote.

Last November was a wake-up call, when (mostly on Alistair’s inspiration to re-live his childhood) we didn’t just walk across to the Wairarapa coast so much as found an interesting way to do it. That time we climbed to Tapokopoko, then headed north before dropping into a less visited valley of the Tapokopoko Stream. More recently, in the effort I’m about to describe, we ventured into chapter two of Alistair’s inspiration, following the ridge line south of Tapokopoko.

Our exact plan wasn’t clear until close to starting, but with no significant rain for weeks and with fully clear, sunny days in the forecast the potential for being ambitious was encouraging.

Dates: 23rd – 25th January, 2015
Location: Rimutaka Forest Park, Catchpool Valley Road-end.
People: Alistair, Maarten, Bernie, WeiMin, Jessie and me.
Huts visited: Paua Hut (2 nights outside)
Route: In to Paua Hut for Friday Night, nav up to Tapokopoko (.843), south to .703, up The Peak (.864), further south to sidle under Kotomu (.786), down Red Rocks Stream back to the Orongorongo, and Paua Hut again for Saturday night.
Also see: Maarten wrote a trip report for the WTMC newsletter.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20150125-tapokopoko-kotumu-loop.gpx%5D

This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

On a summer’s night, there was still plenty of daylight available when we began the easy walk at about 6.45pm on Friday evening, towards the club’s Paua Hut on the true left of the Orongorongo River. Along the way we kept an eye open for the junction with Browns Track, but I can never remember the details of where it begins. Expediency won out over attention to surroundings.
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18 February, 2015
Trip: Waiaua Gorge to North Egmont

The Stony River catchment.

I visit Taranaki often these days, but rarely have lengthy amounts of time between commitments to devote to lengthy tramping efforts. I’m gradually working on visiting the different sides of Egmont National Park between other commitments, though.

Between Christmas and New Year of 2014, I manage to visit another small section of the park where I’ve not previously managed to see. This time I’ll be generally around the western side. The plan? To be dropped off at the end of Ihaia Road and hop up towards Waiaua Gorge Hut for a night, then make my way clockwise around the western side ending at Holly Hut for a second night, before finally sliding out via North Egmont and being collected.

Being all on fairly highly used tracks it’s not a complicated navigation route, unless you count repeated climbing up ladders and down ladders on typical Egmont sidling tracks to be complicated. My main concern is the potential rain, and a possibility of being blocked by side creeks, or (most annoying case) trapped between them.

The forecast suggests a big drop of rain today (Monday), followed by a Tuesday without much happening, probably meaning the typical murky overcast sometimes-light-rain type of weather, and then a Wednesday with more rain and high winds starting to kick in. Also, the predictions have been changing lots over the last few days, which is often a sign that meteorologists aren’t very confident about what a system’s going to do, exactly where it’ll go and when it’ll go there. I’m arranging things so that the most uncertain and lengthiest part of the trip, with multiple big side creeks, will be on Tuesday. Hopefully that’ll work out.

Dates: 29th – 31st December, 2014
Location: Egmont National Park, Ihaia Road to North Egmont Visitor Centre.
People: Just me.
Huts visited: Waiaua Gorge Hut (1 night), Kahui Hut (0 nights), Holly Hut (1 night).
Route: Up from Ihaia Road to Waiaua Gorge Hut for the night. Then clockwise around Eggie, via Kahui Hut, ending at Holly Hut, then out via North Egmont.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20141231-west-of-taranaki.gpx%5D

This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

For logistic reasons we leave New Plymouth much earlier than I’d planned. Before lunch. The end of Ihaia Road is not much, but a couple of other cars are still crunched up against the grass-covered ditch. From here it’s a short walk over farm land, along a marked fence-line, then a surprisingly gentle walk up the 240 or so vertical metres towards Waiaua Gorge Hut, named after the nearby Waiaua Gorge and River.
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27 January, 2015
Trip: Rimutaka Mukamuka Runaway

The mighty Mukamuka River trickles through the lower parts of its catchment.

It’s Friday evening, and seven of us arrived at Catchpool Valley carpark at about 6.30pm. It’s quite a nice change to visit a place so near to Wellington, and getting into summer it’s quite light. After some brief orientation at the car-park, we’re walking towards the Orongoronga River: destination Paua Hut…. but outside, because nobody’s bothered to collect a key. Conditions are calm, but from the forecast I’m anticipating rain.

Dates: 14th – 16th November, 2014
Location: Rimutaka Forest Park, Catchpool Valley Road-end.
People: Alistair, Maarten, Bernie, Dan, WeiMin, Mister X and me. (I’m obscuring the name of Mister X for reasons that’ll become apparent.)
Huts visited: Paua Hut (1 night outside)
Planned route: In to Paua Hut for Friday Night, nav up to .797, then 1km NE to sidle across slip and SSE down ridge to west of Mukamuka, over .385 and down to confluence. Out to coast via Mukamuka, turn east and Corner Creek Campsite for Saturday night. Out via Mukamuka and South Saddle, main route to Orongorongo River and Catchpool Valley carpark on Sunday.
Actual route: From Paua Hut up to .843, then 800m NE and down scree gut into Tapokopoko Stream, then to confluence with Mukamuka.
Also see: Alistair wrote a trip report for the WTMC newsletter.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141116-rimutaka-mukamuka-runaway.gpx%5D

This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

Dan and WeiMin on Friday night.

We reach the Turere Bridge at about 7.50pm, then continue south-west along the main river bed in low flow to reach Paua Hut, looking for places to fly-camp outside. I hate trying to identify good places for fly-camping, but Dan and I eventually settle on a spot further down from the hut in the trees. In the end we have three 2-person flies, while Mister X sets up a tent some distance away.

It was soon dark, and with nothing much to do we drift off to sleep, listening to nearby Moreporks hooting. I’m anticipating rain to begin, and not really stop until midday Saturday, but that never happens. Instead there were some big gusts of wind overnight, showering leaves on the fly, but the structure itself barely rippled. It turns out not everyone’s been so lucky, though. Apparently the other guys have been up fixing tent pegs all night. I guess we got lucky…. I don’t even think ours was pitched very well.
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25 November, 2014