Windy Tops

Tag: daywalk

  • Daywalk: Dobson Loop via Smith Creek Shelter

    I’ve had a lot to do in the past few months. Not having had much of a chance to get outdoors in this time I’ve felt as if I’ve been missing out on some good summer tramping. I guess, at least, if you are going to miss out on good summer tramping, then the time around February, March and April is one of the best times of year to do it. It’s not without a good excuse, though. Stacey, my girlfriend, was happily married last month. This has meant much running around both before and after. I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the wedding, and it worked out really well. Certainly one of the nicest weddings I’ve attended.

    Lack of getting outdoors has been catching up to me over this time, though. A couple of weeks back, I got bored and went for a 30+ km walk around Te Kopahou Reserve and the nearby coastline. It helped me recharge a little, but was still fairly suburban, and so most recently I’ve been for a daywalk into the Tararuas.

    4530506652_284d96ee4b-4174669
    Dracophyllum near spot-height 656.

    Date: 18th April, 2010
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Kaitoke Road End.
    Route: Start at Kaitoke, walk to Smith Creek Shelter (via Puffer Saddle), then up to spot-height 656 and back to Kaitoke via the main Southern Crossing track.
    [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.

    I’ve never entered the Tararuas at Kaitoke before, just north of Upper Hutt, and I’m unsure why it’s taken so long. I think I considered it once, but was put off by the prospect of leaving a car overnight at the Kaitoke road-end, which has a reputation for being very insecure. In retrospect it’s usually possible to leave vehicles at the Kiwi Ranch Youth Camp, not far away for a nominal fee, and there’s even a connecting track up to the main route of Marchant Ridge. This time, given it was a daywalk (and also a Sunday), I figured it’d be okay to just leave the car parked on the side of the road for a while, and it worked out okay.
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  • Daywalk: East Harbour Lakes Block

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    Lake Kopangapiripiri.

    For some reason I never got around to posting about a walk around the East Harbour Lakes Block back in July 2009, so this report will be more photos and less report. The future mother in law was paying a visit, which was reason enough (as everyone involved agreed) for me to escape and do something else. Back in January 2009 I’d been for a walk out to one of the lakes shortly after hopping off a plane, and I thought I might go and do it properly.

    Date: 27th July, 2009
    Location: East Harbour Regional Park.
    People: Just me.
    Route: Walk along the coast to Pencarrow Head, walk clock-wise around both lakes, then back along the coast to the car-park.
    [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.
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    Pencarrow Head, with the older
    lighthouse in the top left.

    The only down side of the East Harbour Lakes Block is that there’s a good 90 minutes of walking along a long, flat, coastal road on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour, almost to the Pencarrow Head Lighthouses. There have been two lighthouses since 1906, when a second was built lower to the ground after it was noticed that the original 1858 lighthouse would sometimes be obscured by fog. Due to the long hard road, it’s probably nicer in some ways on a mountain bike than walking, or the getting there at least. Once actually to the lighthouse, the ground gets softer and the terrain more diverse, and the walking’s fascinating. Many people stop at the lighthouses, however, and make it a walk to the lighthouses and back. If you’re up early, though, there’s a wonderful walk around the Parangarahu Lakes Area of East Harbour Regional Park.

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  • No time to get out this weekend

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    Today I went for a walk with Shaun around Belmont Regional Park, starting at Korokoro and up to Belmont Trig, then over to Cannons’ Head and back through the valley. I’d taken annual leave from work, and it was a really nice day for it. More photos are over here.

    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/20100309-belmont-trig-from-korokoro.gpx%5D

    Shaun’s temporarily here from New York, to where he migrated (from Wellington) about 7 years ago, but it’s really cool that he’s come over. He did most of the work for organising a bachelor party last weekend, and I was able to drag some people along part of the Skyline Walkway. Everyone kept up.

    All this walking around, of course, was an ulterior motive to make it on topic for me to write that I’ll have a few other things on my mind over the next few weeks, and probably won’t get out walking or tramping much during that time unless things are hideously wrong. Not that this is a problem as far as I’m concerned. 😛

  • Daywalk: Ruapehu Crater Lake

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    The summit plateau during summer,
    Dome Shelter partly obscured behind.

    If you followed his blog, you’d think that Craig never leaves his bike behind these days. He occasionally gets out in tramping boots though, which is great because he’s probably one of the most skilled people at off-track navigating who I know. Last week Craig mentioned that after riding his bike around Ruapehu in one of those cycling events, he intended to take advantage of a truly awesome weekend weather forecast and wander up to the crater lake of Mt Ruapehu for a look. I’ve not been up that way before, and it piqued my interest enough to convince me to gatecrash. The basic plan was to go up the easy way, which is to drive to the top of The Bruce (that road up to Whakapapa Skifield), and head up from there. As a side note, we visited in the middle of summer. In winter you’d likely need alpine gear and it’s nowhere near as straightforward. It’s an un-marked route in which people can and do get lost and have accidents, and I guess in alpine environments even small problems can have serious consequences.

    Date: 7th February, 2010
    Location: Tongariro National Park, from the top of Bruce Road.
    People: Craig and me.
    Huts visited: Dome Shelter, aka Dome Equipment Shed (0 nights).
    Route: Walk up from the end of Bruce Road to the top of the Waterfall Express chair-lift, then continue up Knoll Ridge to Dome Shelter at the Crater Lake. Down via Restful Ridge.
    Related bits: Craig also wrote about this walk.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/20100207-ruapehu-crater-lake.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.
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    Early morning Ruapehu from
    near Ohakune.

    Various weekend scheduling issues meant I couldn’t leave on Saturday, and the arrangement meant dragging myself out of bed to leave Wellington at 3am, so as to reach Ohakune at about 7am and wake Craig at DOC’s Mangawhero camp-site. I really wanted to stand outside his tent and blow a whistle really loud, but he was already packing up when I arrived, and nearby campers might not have appreciated it the same way I expect Craig would have with his understanding sense of humour. At least there was still a nice climb ahead during the day. A chap visiting the camp-side from Auckland, whom Craig had befriended, seemed to think we’d knock it off before lunch time. With a 1000 metre climb, I certainly wasn’t confident we’d be up and down within that time.
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  • Daywalk: Honeycomb Rock, Wairarapa

    I intuitively associate strong wind with exposed places at high altitude, but it doesn’t always work that way. Apparently Glenburn Station, up the south-east coast of the North Island from Honeycomb Rock, is one of those places that can be very exposed. I shouldn’t have been too surprised given that Castlepoint isn’t much further up the coast. This was my bail-out at my own pace walk on flat ground, as a compromise to keep me sane when my dodgy knee caused me to cancel a scurried weekend attempt at Neill Winchcombe in the Tararuas with Craig. Hopefully at a later time, though.

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    It’s a windy coastline.

    It turns out I was the only person walking the walk to Honeycomb Rock last Sunday. A family group of about four began a few minutes before me, but turned around within the first ten minutes. I don’t blame them but, having driven for a couple of hours to get there, I wasn’t about to do the same. I’d heard that Honeycomb Rock would be an interesting place to visit, but didn’t really know what to expect. Information about the walk is fairly scarce. This was combined with my general lack of research before I left. Being ill informed as I was, I ran into a few issues. The first was that aside form the starting point (Glenburn Station), I didn’t really know where to start. The second was that aside from somewhere around the coast, I didn’t really know where to go. The third was that aside from something about fancy rocks and a seal colony, I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t help that I’d for some reason been thinking it was “Honeycomb Rocks” instead of “Honeycomb Rock”, but I guess now I know better.

    Date: 13th December, 2009
    Location: Glenburn Station, Wairarapa Coast.
    Route: Walk to Honeycomb Rock and back, wherever that is.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20091213-honeycomb-walk-wairarapa.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 walk is administered by the New Zealand Department of Conservation in the Wairarapa region, but is entirely on the privately owned Glenburn Station (sheep and cattle farming). It’s officially closed when Glenburn Station is in baby-raising mode (ie. lambing season), but even the DOC signs only say that this is “usually” about September and October (despite the website info being specific about this), so if it’s near this time and you have any doubt you should probably contact an office in the Wairarapa to find out before going all the way out there. It’s not a major enough walk for much information to be available through DOC’s passive resources beyond a sparsely clad pamphlet downloadable from the website, and as a coastal walk it’s probably targeted mostly at people who live in relatively nearby places such as Carterton or Masterton. It’s not often that I go out for a daywalk and spend two thirds of the time driving, but I wanted to see what it was.
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  • Daywalk: Wellington to Whitby via Belmont Regional Park

    Yesterday I went for a walk, a week after returning home, to try and get back into the swing of things. It first took me to Ngauranga (I needed to buy something from LV Martin), but then I just kept on walking. It turned into quite a nice day, although by the end I had a couple of blisters on the soles of my feet, and ache in a few places. I think this is symptomatic of me having been a few weeks without much exercise, but hopefully I’m on the way to loosening up.

    I found a new way into Belmont Regional Park that I’d previously not known about, heading up through Granada North where there’s a new sub-division going in, then just following the roads until they fade away. In hindsight I think I might have accidentally crossed about 50 metres of private land (hopefully no more), which I realised upon emerging at the end of someone’s driveway, so I’m not 100% sure if there’s a complete public access corridor going through there.

    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091122-wellington-to-whitby-via-belmont.gpx%5D
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  • Daywalk: Mt McKerrow Loop

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    Off the northern end
    of Mt McKerrow.

    Usually when I go out with the trampey club, it’s on overnight and weekend trips. The club runs many daywalks around the Wellington region too, however, and I thought I might join in for a particular walk that Darren was organising up Mt McKerrow in the Rimutaka Range. I did exactly the same thing back in 2007, with a different group of people.

    Date: 29th August, 2009
    Location: Rimutaka Forest Park, Catchpool Valley entrance.
    Route: Along the Orongorongo Track, up to Mt McKerrow, then down Clay Ridge.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090829-mt-mckerrow-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.

    We left about 10am, following the Orongorongo Track for about an hour to the base of the McKerrow Track. The Orongorongo Track climbs by about 70 vertical metres over this time, but it’s not very noticeable and it’s an easy walk. There are several side-tracks off both sides, one of which is Browns’ Track, and is not officially maintained although it’s still used — it’s a handy (though potentially steep and slippery) way up to Cattle Ridge, and then down to the Orongorongo River on the other side. I made a note to look for this because I’ve tried to find it several times in the past without luck, and happily on this occasion it stood out really well. I marked it in my GPS and on the attached map so maybe I’ll find it more easily next time, but it’s also marked with a broad piece of ribbon.
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  • Daywalk: Makara Peak and Skyline Walkway

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    Wacky Mountain Bikies have their
    own sense of humour.

    I’ve already written about the Skyline Walkway at least a couple of times [1, 2], so I’ll focus more on the parts around Makara Peak.

    Date: 15th August, 2009
    Location: Makara Peak and Skyline Walkway, Wellington.
    Route: Walk up to Makara Peak from South Karori Road, down via Zac’s Track, then along the Skyline Walkway to Mt Kaukau, and Johnsonville via Old Coach Road. (Also see the map at the end of this post.)
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090815-makara-peak-and-skyline-walkway.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.

    Makara Peak is a dedicated Mountain Bike park, choca-full of mountain bike tracks that are maintained by the community. This is the second time I’ve been there. The first time (before I was really writing things down), I wandered into a few areas that caused me to be really worried that a speedy bicycle pilot would come careening around a blind corner and run me over. It didn’t feel quite the same this time, though, possibly because I had a better idea of wanting to stay to the wider tracks, and perhaps because there seemed to be less people around.
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  • Daywalk: Rimutaka Rail Trail (Wellington side)

    It seems I’ve actually only been out tramping five times this year, and three of those times have been in nearly the same place (near Holdsworth and Mitre Flats). I find this depressing in a way, but I guess it’s what happens when so much else has been going on and busying up my life. It has meant I’ve spent more time getting out on daywalks to visit some of the places closer to Wellington, and the most recent of these was to walk up the Rimutaka Rail Trail.

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    A generic collection of river rocks which was
    not especially characteristic to this walk.

    The Rimutaka Rail Trail is one of those things I hear a lot about, but until now I’ve never made the time to go and check it out, mostly thanks to being busy with other things. The entire trail crosses from Upper Hutt to Featherston, crossing the gap between the Tararua and Rimutaka Ranges (or “the range” if you’re the sort of person who thinks of them as the same one). Historically, it’s the route that the railway line followed to connect Wellington with the Wairarapa, and special “Fell” locomotives, designed with low gear ratios and a centre grip track, were built specifically to slowly haul trains over the very steep (for a train) 1/15 gradient climb over the range. Building this long, snakey route over the range, including three tunnels, was a huge task for a lot of people in the latter part of the 19th century, but economically it was very important. The line was decommissoined and the specialised Fell Locomotives retired in 1955, at the opening of New Zealand’s longest railway tunnel of the day (8.8 km) which passes directly underneath. The Rimutaka Rail Trail was re-opened as a walking and mountain biking track a few years ago, and in that time it’s become very popular.

    Date: 9th August, 2009
    Location: Pakuratahi Forest, near Upper Hutt.
    Route: Walk up to the Rimutaka Rail Trail Summit from Upper Hutt, then back again. (Also see the map at the end of this post.)
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090809-rimutaka-rail-trail.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.

    It’s common for people to visit the summit from either side, then walk back the way they came, although sometimes organised people will walk all the way across, and ambitious people might walk all the way over and all the way back in a long day.

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  • Daywalk: Belmont Trig via Bridleway and Stratton Street

    Belmont Regional Park is an awesome place for getting out for a walk in Wellington. It’s central (literally), very accessible on most sides from public transport, and from Belmont Trig it’s possible to see how a large number of pockets of the Wellington Region all fit together. Wellington’s roads are laid out to divide the Porirua side of the region from the Hutt side in a way that causes many people to assume that they’re a long way apart. For myself, it really wasn’t until I walked through Belmont Regional Park that I really appreciated just how close the Hutt Valley is to Porirua. Being able to see them both from a central point and then be down on either side in the time of an hour or so is a really cool thing.

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    From Cannons’ Head down to Stratton Street.

    I had some free time during rather nice weather on Sunday, and decided to drive out to Petone and spend it doing exactly this. With the opportunity, I also decided to do some red lining and take a look around a few areas of Belmont Regional Park where I haven’t yet been.

    Date: 19th July, 2009
    Location: Belmont Regional Park, from Cornish Street.
    Route: A clockwise loop up to Belmont Trig via Bridleway, over to Cannons’ Head, down to Stratton Street and back to Cornish Street via Korokoro Dam.
    [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.

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