Windy Tops

Tag: daywalk

Checking out the Paekakariki Escarpment Track

Iconic coastal scenery, albeit without the
iconic coastal exposure to the elements.

[Note, 23rd April 2016: If you’ve stumbled on this page whilst looking for an account of the newly-opened track, I’ve more recently posted a more complete trip report of the entire thing.]

Another of the things I found myself doing during the recent visit, besides this Easter tramping trip, was to check out the new Paekakariki Escarpment Track, one of the contributing sections of the Te Araroa Trail. When completed, this route will provide a dedicated walking corridor between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay, alongside the coast north of Wellington. It’ll make the most of both iconic coastal scenery and iconic coastal exposure to the elements, and it’s completely accessible at both ends by Wellington’s metropolitan commuter train network.

I’d not even considered visiting this track until I noticed in the DomPost that the access was about to be partially opened, although its pending construction has been in the news since at least mid-2011. My only available day was Saturday 23rd March, so I bought myself a Day Rover ticket, hopped on a train to Paekakariki, and went off to hunt for it. As an aside, the Kapiti and Johnsonville metro lines in Wellington are both very interesting tourist lines when you’re not a daily commuter.

As is typical for me when I do things on a whim, I messed this up. It was a few days before the Te Araroa Trust had posted this on their website, which would have been useful information to have had in advance. In my haste I’d assumed I knew where I was going without making the effort to check. I mean, I’ve been to Paekakariki heaps of times, and I imagined that the obvious starting point for such a track would be near the intersection of SH1 and the Old Paekakariki Road. There was nothing obvious there, however, and I spent an hour walking around Paekakariki searching for a vantage point on the hill across the road, thinking it must somehow begin from further north. Failing to find it, I then spent 40 minutes walking up the Paekakariki Hill Road before I finally decided I was going the wrong way.

Part of Kapiti Island.

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12 May, 2013
Daywalk: Up Mount Reeves

Meow.

With a day to spare in Wellington, I had a thought of attempting to find Snowy Hut in the Tararuas, which I’d be keen to see some day simply through virtue of it not officially existing. To do so would involve some river travel, though, and with a forecast that would allow little if any room for error or mistake, lest becoming totally screwed by a severe storm due to come in by evening, I reluctantly decided it’d be a bad idea. This led to plan B, which was a jaunt up to Mount Reeves, which is mostly under trees, involves no rivers, and should be easy enough to retreat from if the storm came in early. I’ve never been up Reeves Track before. (Maybe there’s a reason.)

Thus on Friday morning, I drove to the end of Waiohine Valley Road, behind Greytown and near Woodside Railway Station, and parked next to a herd of unrestful cattle. So far, so good. No sign of stormy weather, and a little sunshine.

Date: 2nd March, 2012
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Waiohine Valley Road.
People: Just me.
Huts visited: None.
Route: From Waiohine Road, up the Mt Reeves Track past Rocky Knob to Mt Reeves, then back again.
[Photos]

[Download GPX file] [View GPX on NZTopoMap]

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.

Leaving behind the farm.

Soon after sorting my tramping outfit, shortly after 10am, the local farmer drove up on a 4 wheel motorbike. It turned out he was about to move the moo moos to a new paddock. He reckoned where I’d parked the car was fine, but I soon found myself being closely followed up the farm track. There would’ve been a few nice scenic photos of the Waiohine River down below, if I hadn’t been stumbling with camera batteries.
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10 April, 2012
Daywalk: Hovering around Pouakai Hut, Henry Peak and the Pouakai Summit

Looking back from
near Pouakai Summit.

Returning from the West Island for a week and a half, I found some time to wander more in the vicinity of Eggie—also one of New Zealand’s cultural centres of insane mountain running.

I’d been up to the summit a little over a year ago, and this time the weather wasn’t exactly cooperating for that. Instead, I decided to wander up an easy route towards Pouakai Hut and find somewhere to read my book for the day. For a more complete description of the area, there’s a write-up of a variant of the Pouakai Circuit in late 2010, during which anyone who reads carefully will note it did not rain at all.

Date: 28th February, 2012
Location: Egmont National Park, above Mangorei Road.
People: Just me.
Huts visited: Pouakai Hut (0 nights).
Route: Up from Mangorei Road past Pouakai Hut, up Pouakai Summit, then back and up Henry Peak, and down to road again via hut.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/20120228-hovering-around-pouakai.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.

Having parked at the end of the public part of Mangorei Road (there’s a 350 metre walk along a non-public driveway to the park entrance), I sorted things out and began the climb up the Mangorei Track at about 10.15am, just as the rain began. No matter, as it’s under trees for some time yet and I waved to one of the nearby residents as they drove past whilst I struggled with my raincoat.
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17 March, 2012
Daywalk: Climbing Mount Taranaki from North Egmont

I’ve visited Taranaki a few times in the past few years, and I used to think that clouds stuck to Mt Taranaki in the middle. Now I know that it’s really the entire Taranaki district that’s clouded over, but the mountain’s as clear as a bell. Of course, you have to be up the mountain to see this.

Looking down on Fanthams Peak and Syme Hut.

Having dragged myself out of bed in New Plymouth at 5.40am, I spotted at least 10 rabbits along North Egmont Road leading up to the visitor’s centre. I guess it’s difficult to control rabbits, and they repopulate so quickly.

Date: 26th December, 2010
Location: Egmont National Park, from North Egmont Visitor’s Centre.
People: Mostly me.
Huts visited: Tahurangi Lodge (0 nights).
Route: Follow the road from the visitor’s centre up The Puffer past Tahurangi Lodge, then up Lizard North Ridge to the summit.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/20101226-climbing-mount-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.

The name of the mountain has an interesting recent history. It was been called “Taranaki” by local Maori long before James Cook first visited and named the mountain “Egmont”, after a British politician who’d promoted Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand, but who never set foot in the country. In 1865, during the Taranaki Land Wars, the New Zealand Government confiscated the mountain and other land from local Maori and distributed it between settlers for farming. The exception to this distribution was the radius around the mountain itself, which became a National Park in 1885. The name “Egmont” might have stuck for this reason, even though the mountain itself was symbolically gifted back to local Maori in 1978. Details of exactly what occurred and how it occurred are still controversial in some quarters.

In 1986, the official name of the mountain became “Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont”—including the word “or”—thanks to an alleged naming mistake that was signed at the time by the Minister of Lands. Supposedly it was meant to be officially named “Mount Taranaki” or “Mount Egmont”, allowing for dual naming and recognition of the historic Maori name. I’ve heard informally that the name of “Mount Egmont” is due to be officially removed 50 years after 1986, but can’t find an online reference for this and I’m not convinced it’s correct.

The only prominent modern publication that seems to use the exact modern naming (complete with the word “or”) is Land Information New Zealand’s Topo50 Map BJ29, happily titled “Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont”. These days official circles and media typically refer to it as Mount Taranaki, while some others (often locals who’ve grown up with the name) still refer to it as Mount Egmont.

Personally I prefer to call the mountain Eggie.
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11 February, 2011
Drawing a line with daywalk safety

I’ve been following the recent story in the news about a man who spent a night in the Tararuas, ill-equipped. He’d planned to walk around a loop within a day, apparently near the northern end. For some reason, reportedly cloud, he became lost, and eventually ended up coming out the other side of the range. From the description, he appears to have had only light clothing, and not much else within a small daypack. He was fortunate on this occasion, but it got me thinking.

Sometimes it can be a thin line between having a great day out and a potentially serious accident. As with any overnight or longer excursions, all sorts of things could occur that might prevent a person on a daywalk from reaching an intended destination. It’s common with overnight tramping to have safety plans such as alternative routes and back-up shelter, or at least give the environment and terrain more respect. I think such considerations are often overlooked with daywalks, especially with the temptations to cut weight and volume, and fit things into a smaller and less encumbering day-pack.

All this said, it’s not too unusual for same-day trips to be treated differently, or somehow less likely to result in problems, even though the amount of safety equipment being carried is typically much less than a multiple-day excursion. I guess it’s the same decision making logic that causes people not to bother taking portable shelter when the plan is to stay in a back-country hut, as per The Hut Fallacy. Presumably, the man described in the news didn’t seriously consider that a mis-hap could occur and he might not make it out on the same day. Maybe he’s done the same thing 100 times before—plenty of people have favourite walks of a similar nature, and nearly every occasion they’ll have no problems. If this is the case, though, he’s not alone in making that judgement.
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5 January, 2011
Spooky Friday

It’s lacking in plot, and provides no explanation of this “Fred” person who’s suddenly been inflicted upon the protagonist. I don’t rate the narrative aspect of this novel highly.

On the other hand, consider the correct use of full stops, apostrophes and capitalisation, as well as impressive adherence to keeping between the lines. Visible evidence of text erasure also shows the author’s commitment to appropriate spacing between words, despite battling with his own impatience to express ideas. Added together these elements ensured a star-spangled reception from the public.

6/10.

7 November, 2010
Skimming the Akatarawas

Yesterday, being bright and sunny, I was looking for something to do, and thought I might attempt to find the proposed location of a new water catchment dam on the Whakatikei River in the Akatarawas. Such a dam is one of three options being put forward as part of the Wellington City Council’s Draft Water Conservation & Efficiency Plan, which is being consulted on until 15th October. The other two options are to make everyone install water meters to encourage everyone to use water more efficiently, or to live with periodic water shortages in the region.

Unfortunately my plan didn’t work very well. I started with this great map (below) of the proposed dam site from page 28 of the plan’s PDF discussion document, and I think my admittedly slim knowledge of the Akatarawas didn’t help too much.

Maybe they thought nobody would bother to go out and try to look for this proposed dam site.

Wainui Stream.

From the map, I thought it looked as if the dam site was somewhere off the end of Bulls Run Road, a few kilometres off Provincial State Highway 58 between Pauatahanui and the Hutt Valley, so that’s where I started. The road’s nice, it ends in a gate followed by a short walk to an almost immediate stream crossing (not the Whakatikei — I think it’s the Wainui Stream). It’s actually a ford for vehicles, but still at least knee deep and today at least it was flowing quite fast, despite there not having been much rain for a day or three.
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4 October, 2010
Daywalk: Colonial Knob to Kaukau

Spicer Forest.

I haven’t been up Colonial Knob for some time. It happens to be on the one Topo50 map in the Wellington Region that I never got around to buying, being just a corner around Porirua. At 468 metres, Colonial Knob is the highest point along Wellington’s western hills, it’s home to a radar outpost of the Airways Corporation, and on a nice day there are some good views over to the south island, including features like the Kaikoura Range. There’s a loop’ish track that leads up from Porirua, but recently thanks to negotiations with landowners towards the establishment of Te Araroa — the project to connect a continuous walking route along the entire length of New Zealand — it’s now possible to get through some private land and onto the side of Mt Kaukau. Actually this has apparently been possible for some years, but I hadn’t realised until now. I’ve walked out to Porirua and beyond several times, but always through suburbia, and I was really keen to see where Te Araroa would direct people. It turns out there’s a 6km road walk in the middle of the Wellington section, but at least it’s rural roads.

Date: 29th August, 2010
Location: Wellington Region.
Route: Starting at Elsdon (Porirua), get up Colonial Knob, then follow the Te Araroa route through Spicer Forest to somewhere in the vicinity of Mt Kaukau.
[Photos]
[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/20100829-colonial-knob-to-kaukau.gpx%5D

I like getting to places with public transport where possible, and this walk’s a good candidate. I walked to Wellington Railway Station through 30 minutes of torrential rain, but still had hopes of a nicer day. Having caught a late morning train to Porirua, it took maybe 15 minutes to walk across various streets and arrive at the Elsdon Youth Camp (by now about 11.45am and only very light rain), from which the walking track entrance has an entire car-park alongside the camp and is quite well signposted.
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4 September, 2010
A miscellaneous Belmont and Hutt River walk

Yesterday was fairly sunny, as winter days in Wellington go, and I found myself on a fairly miscellaneous wander through parts of Belmont Regional Park and (eventually) Lower Hutt.

[map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/20100821-dry-creek-hutt-river.gpx%5D

One of at least four Kereru that were
very noisily flapping around near the
road at the Kelson entrance.

I thought I might catch a train out to the Dry Creek entrance to Belmont Regional Park (most easily accessible from Manor Park Railway Station), and see where I ended up. It wasn’t until after I’d bought my day-rover ticket that I remembered many commuter trains in Wellington are being replaced by buses right now, at least on weekends, while they’re continuing various line upgrades. So I hopped on the Rail Replacement bus to find that due to various road layout issues, it wasn’t going to stop at Manor Park railway station. Instead it’d drop me at Silverstream (the next station along) and I’d then have to look for a “dinky little purple bus” to get back to Manor Park. It turns out the dinky little purple bus wasn’t very well synchronised with the other buses, and the person driving it had never been to Manor Park Railway Station before. Myself and the other poor guy on that bus eventually ended up in the right place, well over an hour after the train-bus had left Wellington.
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22 August, 2010
Daywalk: Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit

Megan B on Mt Holdsworth.

I think the Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit (AKA the Powell Jumbo Loop, the Jumbo Powell Loop, the Jumbo Holdsworth Loop, and so on), is by far the most popular tramp in the Tararuas. The circuit is typically walked over a couple of days, and the three back-country huts spaced around it are supposedly responsible for some insanely high proportion of hut ticket revenue for all of Tararua Forest Park. (Higher than 50% at least.) The Holdsworth road-end is one of the Tararuas’ most accessible, and the loop attracts people from all sorts of backgrounds. For many people it’s their first experience outdoors.

Date: 15th May, 2010
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road-end.
People: Megan S, Megan B, Richard, Christine, Katja and me.
Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights, camping nearby), Mountain House Shelter (0 nights), Powell Hut (0 nights), Jumbo Hut (0 nights), Atiwhakatu Hut (0 nights).
Route: From Holdsworth road-end up to Powell Hut, over Holdsworth to Jumbo, down to Jumbo Hut, down the alternative track north of Raingauge Spur, then past Atiwhakatu Hut back to the Holdsworth road-end.
[Photos]

[Download GPX file] [View GPX on NZTopoMap]

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 walked the Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit as a daywalk, which is very feasible if you’re reasonably quick, and easier if you’re taking daypacks rather than tramping packs. We’d heard of others walking the loop in about 8 hours, but without much context to go on. With nobody being certain exactly how long it’d take, we drove to the Holdsworth road-end on Friday night to camp in preparation for an early getaway — staying at Holdsworth lodge would have been preferable, except that it’s closed for maintenance at present.

It’s amazing how much extra junk it’s necessary to take just for camping overnight, or perhaps it simply spread out because we didn’t have nice structured packs to stuff it all into. At least we were able to leave it behind in the morning. Christine and I both still forgot to bring inflatable mattresses in any case, so had to get used to sleeping on the harder ground, although it fortunately wasn’t too cold.
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16 May, 2010