Windy Tops

Category: trip report

  • Daywalk: Point Dorset and Wellington’s Eastern Walkway

    3352245195_9e07a2e99c_m-6219588
    Waves breaking north of Point Dorset.

    I haven’t been tramping for over 2 months thanks to some logistics, and it feels like ages. I hoping to get away to the Ruahines next weekend, and that’ll be nice. Meanwhile however, I had reason to drop Stacey off at Seatoun near Wellington’s south coast and next to the harbour entrance, and I thought that I might go for a walk around there rather than heading straight home. It was really only a 2 hour walk, but I’ll label it here as a daywalk because it could consume a day for someone who wanted it to do so.

    Seatoun is a Wellington suburb out past the airport. It lies on the eastern edge of the peninsula jutting into Wellington Harbour. It’s very accessible to the coast, and there are a few walking tracks nearby which provide a really good experience of interaction with the sea both from beach-level and from the hills above, especially during a strong southerly where the wind comes directly over the sea from Antarctica and thrashes the coast. There was something of a southerly today but not a strong one and it was rather pleasant wind mixed with the sunshine and high cloud. My basic plan was to go for a wander around Point Dorset somehow, then come back along the coast to Tarakena Bay near the Wahine Memorial, and back to where I started (Seatoun) via what Wellington’s city council calls the Eastern Walkway.

    Date: 14th March, 2009
    Location: Wellington’s south coast.
    People: Just me.
    Route: Looping clockwise around Point Dorset starting from the Pass of Branda, then looping clockwise around the coast and up over the Eastern Walkway.
    [Photos and Videos]

    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.

    (more…)

  • Daywalk: Pencarrow Head and Lake Kohangapiripiri

    One of the places in the Wellington region that I’ve never properly visited, which I’m almost embarrassed to admit, is the area around Pencarrow Head within East Harbour Regional Park. Though it used to be remote, it’s now very accessible from Wellington, just down the road from Eastbourne on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour. It’s still very unpopulated though, despite the accessibility.

    3289242739_11fa459da3_m-8311170
    Lake Kohangapiripiri.

    I arrived back in New Zealand from the USA at 8am Tuesday morning and it was an awesome day for blue sky and sunshine. As I’d already decided not to go to work, I thought I might try and go out for a walk instead rather than just sit around at home and try to sleep off any possible jet-lag. I’m very glad I did, because I think I needed the recovery time after being trapped in a concrete jungle for so long. I like coming home.

    I think it’d be possible to catch a bus to Eastbourne and do the entire thing with public transport, but I drove there on this occasion. The legal part of the road ends a few hundred metres south of Point Arthur, at a gate called Burdans Gate. From here it’s necessary to get permission from the Hutt City Council to drive any further, but it makes more sense just to park a car and start walking.

    Date: 17th February, 2009
    Location: East Harbour Regional Park, Wellington.
    People: Just me.
    Route: Along the coast to the Pencarrow Lighthouse, around Lake Kohangapiripiri, and back the same way along the coast.
    [Photos]

    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.

    (more…)

  • Trip: Lake Dive to North Egmont

    I visited Eggie between Christmas and New Year, and stayed a couple of nights on the mountain. More specifically, I started around Lake Dive and Dawson Falls on the southern side, and made my way around to North Egmont via the eastern side. If you’re after a remote wilderness experience then Egmont National Park isn’t the easiest place to get one. It’s quite small, and very few parts of it (if any) are out of reach of daywalks, especially during the long days of summer. On the other hand, I think it’s definitely worth visiting. Egmont National Park is an isolated circle, literally. It’s as if someone took a compass on a flat topographical map, and drew a circle around the centre of the mountain to define the national park. Trees and native bush outside this line have been removed, and generally converted to farm-land.

    3162781788_bc396e274f_m-3497286
    Lake Dive in front of Egmont
    and Fanthams Peak.

    Dates: 28th – 30th December, 2008
    Location: Egmont National Park, Dawson Falls to North Egmont.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: Lake Dive Hut (1 night), Kapuni Lodge (0 nights), Hooker Shelter (0 nights), Waingongoro Hut (0 nights), Maketawa Hut (1 night).
    Route: Lake Dive Loop from Dawson’s Falls (lower track then upper track), then around the eastern side of Egmont from Dawson Falls to Maketawa Hut on the lower track, and out via North Egmont.
    [Photos]

    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.
    3162714028_bca194a43c_m-3029183
    Mt Egmont seen from New Plymouth,
    with the Pouakai Range to the right.

    As with most parks in New Zealand, Egmont has its own colour and character; this park is sharply defined by a solo cone-shaped volcanic mountain in the middle. There is actually a mountain range going through Mount Taranaki/Egmont, which is the consequence of a slowly moving volcanic centre of which remnants can still be seen poking out of the sea off the coast of New Plymouth, then climbing to the south into the Pouakai Range, continuing through Egmont’s discrete 2518 metre peak, and finishing at Fanthams Peak on the southern slope, which is the consequence of the most recent volcanic action. Although it’s been relatively dormant in the past few hundred years, the park is dotted all over with massive domes and bluffs, all of which are symptomatic of the mountain’s violent and continuing volcanic history.

    (more…)

  • Daywalk: Pouakai Hut from Mangorei Road

    I’m presently in Taranaki, where Stacey’s family lives, so I’ve been going for walks around here in the last short while. A few days after I returned from a 2 night solo walk around another part of Egmont (which I’ll write up later), Barry (Stacey’s dad) took me for a quick walk up to Pouakai Hut this morning. I’ve been there before and it’s not really a daywalk so much as a before-lunch walk, but haven’t really written much about it so I thought I might note some things here for the record.

    Date: 1st January, 2009
    Location: Egmont National Park, Mangorei Road end to Pouakai Hut.
    People: Barry and Me.
    Huts visited: Pouakai Hut (0 nights).
    Route: From Mangorei Road up to Pouakai Hut and back.

    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.

    (more…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Te Hekenga, Howletts and Heritage

    We finally managed to get around this scenic loop in the Ruahines, which is almost entirely made up of tops travel. It was a weekend of very nice weather, even though a light easterly in the Ruahines meant walking through some clag. For me personally, it was the first time I’ve connected the dots between two different sides in the Ruahines, having reached the same place from two different sides, and this felt quite rewarding.

    3092447970_02b24fc4d6_m-8040450
    Alistair collects water from one of the
    tarns on the way up Te Hekenga.

    Dates: 5th – 7th December, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia road-end to Heritage road-end.
    People: Alistair, Dirk, Paul, Amanda, Harry, Steve, Roger, Bernie and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Howletts Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Up to Rangiwahia on Friday night. On Saturday, walk past Maungamahue, around the back of Te Hekenga, then to Taumataomekura and Tiraha, and down Daphne Ridge to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. On Sunday, continue to Taumatataua, Otumore, and Tunupo, then descend to Heritage Lodge and out at the Heritage road-end.
    [Photos]

    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.

    Levin is a good place to stop for dinner when driving north of Wellington up SH1 on Friday night. People often want to stop at Bulls because it has a kebab shop which some people like, but this time everyone agreed on Levin, and that suits me because I think there’s a wider variety of choices. There’s also a supermarket, which suited Alistair who was last back to the van, carting a 12-pack of toilet paper after he’d realised he never packed any.

    (more…)

  • Daywalk: Walking the length of the Kaiwharawhara Stream

    I was supposed to be going up to Mt Ruapehu this weekend, but pulled out at the last minute because I’ve not been feeling too well over the last week. I wanted to try and get some fresh air when I woke up yesterday morning, though, so I thought I might have a go at walking along as much of the Kaiwharawhara Stream as I was able to.

    http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881
    Bird songs near part of the Kaiwharawhara
    Stream in Otari Wilton’s Bush.

    The Kaiwharawhara Stream is one of the main water catchments flowing into Wellington Harbour, and it’s named after the suburb of Kaiwharawhara, where it finally exits into Wellington Harbour. It collects most of its water from around Karori and (especially after joining with the Korimako Stream) from many of the western suburbs of Wellington below Mt Kaukau. Its path through that part of Wellington is quite diverse. Some parts of the stream have a mildly remote feel to them, whereas others are heavily affected by built-up areas and the engineering projects that have caused it to be diverted and re-routed. Walking along it is a joining-the-dots exercise that I’ve wanted to do for a few months, and I’ve been waiting for a convenient time. Ultimately I found several places where it was impossible to follow because it was piped underground for long distances. In several places the stream had no formed track, and I gave up on following it directly once it seemed unlikely that it’d go anywhere except into another underground tunnel.

    Date: 22nd November, 2008
    Location: Wellington’s Western Suburbs, from Karori Wildlife Sanctuary to Kaiwharawhara.
    People: Just me.
    [Photos]

    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 main part of the catchment starts well up within the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. There’s a charge to get into the sanctuary, and I’m also not 100% certain how accessible the stream is, so I instead decided to begin from just outside the sanctuary where the stream enters the free world. Note that I’ve put a lot more photos directly in this article than I usually do, because I think the photos tell much of the story of the changes in the stream from beginning to end.

    (more…)

  • Daywalk: Kapiti Island, from Rangatira Point to Tuteremoana Trig

    We finally got there. The third attempt wasn’t cancelled. Kapiti Island was sunny and with appropriate charm. Last Sunday morning we drove out early at the Kapiti Boating Club, from where both ferry companies leave, and caught our ferry over to the island.

    3001370121_6b91f15e06_m-5922008
    Looking South-ish from
    Tuteremoana Trig.

    Date: 2nd November, 2008
    Location: Kapiti Island, Rangatira Point to Tuteremoana Trig and back.
    People: Stacey and Me.
    [Photos]

    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.

    Kapiti Island has a varied and sometimes violent history. It was the base from which Te Rauparaha ruled much of the lower North Island and upper South Island of New Zealand. With the island being relatively central and accessible to the Cook Straight, he used its strategic location to secure trading opportunities with visiting sailing ships, and this gave him a huge advantage over other Maori tribes, as well as giving him a higher status. Most of the island has been farmed in the past, and the bush that covers most of it is still re-generating.
    (more…)

  • Trip: Rangiwahia to Heritage via Triangle and Iron Gates

    Honestly, who would have thought it’d be rainy fogged-in weather on Labour Weekend? Apparently not us, because we had a fairly intensive tramp planned that would have gone from Rangiwahia over to Howletts, then back via Iron Gates. Unfortunately it rained and it snowed and it didn’t really work so well, but it was still worthwhile and from a personal perspective, I was still able to see places I hadn’t seen before.

    2974845185_a010cf67d1_m-2406627
    Steve, Amanda and Paul
    north-west of Mangahuia.

    Dates: 24th – 26th October, 2008 (one day shorter than intended)
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia to Heritage Road-end.
    People: Steve, Amanda, Paul and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Triangle Hut (0 nights), Iron Gates Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Intended Route: Walk to Rangiwahia, then around Maungamahue and the back of Te Hekenga , over to Taumataomekura, Teraha and to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. Then via Daphne Ridge, Otumore and down to Iron Gates Hut (or possibly Triangle Hut) for Sunday night, before heading back up to Rangiwahia Hut and out again on Monday.
    Actual Route: Due to weather issues we went straight down to Triangle Hut and Iron Gates Hut on Saturday, before continuing to the Heritage road-end on Sunday and getting out a day early.
    [Photos and movies]

    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.

    After dinner from that Kebab shop at Bulls, we reached the Rangiwahia road-end at around 9.30’ish, I guess. At the very least, after the walk up the hill (which from past experience seems to take about 90 minutes), we were settling down at around 11pm on Friday night. The weather forecast was already dismal, without much suggestion that things would clear up until about Monday. Although we’d made plans to sleep in, Steve was still up and about at 6.30, and everyone followed.

    (more…)

  • Trip: Cone Peak, towards Neill and back

    We began the weekend with an ambitious plan to start from Cone Saddle, and walk to Alpha Hut during Saturday via Neill, Winchcombe and Hector. It didn’t quite work out, but we still had a good time.

    2855744654_e2bf28a702_m-2407949
    A Tararua Rainbow, looking
    south from near Neill Peak (1158).

    Dates: 12th – 14th September, 2008
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Walls Whare Road-end.
    People: Alistair, Sarah, Illona, Amanda, Bernie and me.
    Huts visited: Cone Hut (1 night).
    Intended Route: Walk to Cone Saddle and camp on Friday night. From Saturday morning head up to Cone, over to Neill via Neill Saddle, across to Winchcombe Peak, continue to Hector, then follow the Southern Crossing track to Alpha Hut for Saturday night. Out via Marchant Ridge on Sunday.
    Actual Route: We got to about point 1055 below Winchcombe Peak, then decided to turn around and head back to Cone Hut for the night and head back to Walls Whare on Sunday.
    [Photos and movies]

    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 Walls Whare in coordination with another club group that was indirectly aiming for Totara Flats, with both groups planning to walk the first leg of their trip on Friday night. The others intended to spend the night at Cone Hut, whereas we thought we might just camp up the hill at Cone Saddle, which was marginally closer to where we planned to go.
    (more…)