Scottie's Adventures: February 2005

Rotorua, Mtn-biking

Went mountain-biking for a couple of days in the Whakarawera Forest, near Rotorua. There’s loads of tracks, it’s a really nice area close to the Green & Blue Lakes. I camped at Acacia Bay, next to Lake Okareka...did the walkway around the lake the first morning and then went to the Redwoods Forest Info Centre to find the biking trails.

campspot at Acacia Bay, Lake Okareka, track choices!

Decided to just follow some young guys up the first hill and see where they were going (my first mistake...they clearly knew what they were doing)...and then I cut off to do a track called North Face – thought it sounded fun. It wasn’t. After falling off about four times and admitting how pathetic I am, I found my way out and followed the 4WD track down to the main mtn-biking car park. After a good look at the map, I thought starting at level 1 and working my way up might be a better idea!

At the start of the trail I passed a boy who looked about five years old, and thought if I didn’t manage that one, selling the bike might be a good option. Thankfully I coped. Built up my confidence doing some of the easier trails, and worked my way up to level 3 by the end of the afternoon...but it would probably be more fun biking with someone who’s a bit more experienced, because when I’m on my own I really am a wimp. I never checked what North Face was graded, but I’ll just say it was a 5...it makes me feel better. Still, I had a good time and really enjoyed the area so I’d be tempted to go back if I find someone else who’s keen!

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Lake Taupo pics

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Wharewaka camspot; Acacia Bay

Oratua; Waikato River

Huka Falls Walkway

Huka Falls

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Feb 17th-18th: Wharewaka sunset; Waikato River; Huka Falls

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West Coast, Taranaki

Here's the full story...!

Thurs 10th:
Both driving now, we started heading towards the west coast, having a couple of brief stops at some lakes on the way. Had a break in Rotorua for some information on the Whanganui River Journey, but didn’t get much out of the lady at DOC, so we just kept going. We tried to find a small road off to Whanganui (a small town on the western edge of Lake Taupo, with the same name as the larger town on the west coast), but didn’t have much luck there either. We did manage to find a great camping spot at Waihi, on the southern edge of the lake.

Fri 11th:
We drove to Taumarunui, and began on state highway 43 – the “Forgotten World Highway” – towards the West Coast. From Te Maire, we biked south, following the Whanganui River for about 30km where we scrambled down to the river for lunch, and then biked back again! Kayaking/Canoeing down the Whanganui is one of the 'great walks' in NZ (figure that one out, no walking), but we got great views of the area on our bike ride, so that was pretty good! Continuing on the old road, we stopped for a short walk to Mt. Damper Falls, 85m in height, and supposedly the highest waterfalls in the North Island...em, they were slightly disappointing to say the least. The water was muddy brown, and trickled down the cliff into a pool at the bottom...glad it was only a 20 min walk to see them! We drove to Tongaporutu on the West Coast, and took a short walk by some interesting sea caves, the “three sisters” were at the end. It started to pour with rain so we missed out the white cliffs walkway that evening and drove down to New Plymouth for our first night in a backpackers since we started the trip! (Shoestring Backpackers on Lemon St - nice place). We went into town and got a really nice seafood platter (our first ‘real’ seafood experience!) and went briefly to a celtic bar in town.

Sat 12th:
I went for a run in Pukekura Park in the morning - a beautiful area with loads of nice tracks around lakes and bush...I read later in the guidebook it was one of the 'must see' areas of New Plymouth - good choice :) Then we went along the coastal walkway, and climbed Paritutu Hill for views over N.P. The clouds were still covering Mt. Taranaki so we decided to wait for better weather in the next couple of days to climb to the summit. We drove back up to the white cliffs and did the walkway there, up over the hills and then back via the beach – a really nice walk. We stayed at a motor camp by the port at the west end of New Plymouth, hoping the weather might clear the next day.

Sun 13th:
I ran along the coastal walkway in the morning...the temperature was perfect and the views nice. We drove up to North Egmont, and decided to do a loop track at the base of Mt. Taranaki, which was still mostly covered by cloud, and rain was forecast for later in the day. We did the 25km Poaukai loop track, via Holly Hut, Poaukia Hut and Kaiauai Shelter...a great track with brilliant views of Taranaki when it emerged out of the clouds at varying intervals! Leaving my car at the North Egmont visitor centre (planning to do the summit climb from the other side in the next couple of days) we drove back round via N.Pl. and found another tremendous camping spot(we've been so lucky!) right on the coast just south of Okato.

Mon 14th:
The weather still looked doubtful so we decided to leave it another day, and do some biking instead! We had a brief walk on the beach by our camping spot, then drove to Pungarehu and biked out to Cape Egmont lighthouse. From there we biked along the surf highway to Opunake, where we did the coastal walkway and Marcel had a swim at the beach. Biking back wasn’t so much fun (against the wind) but we had a welcome break at the Shell LPG plant, which was reasonably interesting and broke up the journey nicely. Driving further down the surf highway, we found a spot to camp on the coast and watched the sunset, just south of Manaia.

Tues 15th:
Finally the weather seemed decent to climb Taranaki, so we drove up to the Dawson Falls visitor centre, and after a short walk to the falls, we started the climb up to the summit via Fanthams’ Peak. It was a serious scramble up scoria slopes to Syme Hut, and then again from there to the summit of Taranaki (2518m)...felt like two steps up and one step back in places, but it was well worth the climb. The last section was snow-covered, and the crater itself was filled with the white stuff as well. We were above the clouds at the top, and although it wasn’t a totally clear day, we had good views at various points, and a great lunch spot (surprisingly sheltered) on the summit. On the way down we built a quality snowman with stone-eyes and a banana nose. The route down is the more travelled track and much quicker anyway, back to my car at North Egmont. A great climb and worth waiting for nice weather to do it! Driving on, and picking up a well-deserved icecream in Hawera, we found a motor camp at Patea after watching the sunset one more time - a definite advantage of the west coast!

Wed 16th:
We both had a run on the beach in the morning, followed by a short swim in the sea, and then another shower – two in 12 hours seems like quite the privilege these days. We drove on towards Wanganui, with a relaxing reading stop at Kai Iwi Beach, and then a walk at the botanical gardens. In Wanganui we walked down the main street and over the river, then got the elevator up Durie Hill and climbed the steps of the tower (a war memorial) for great views over the city. Back in town Marcel decided he couldn’t leave just yet and would stay another night, so after a brief visit to a really weird art gallery we had a lazy, relaxing afternoon in Virginia Lakes Park which was a beautiful place. We found a camping spot out towards Castlecliffs beach, and after organising our belongings back into their respective cars, we had a drink at the Celtic Arms and a good takeaway for dinner before setting up the tent together one last time!

Thurs 17th:
Goodbye Marcel!! Its been loads fun travelling together – we’ve both had a great time, and I don’t think anyone could have seen or done more in the north island during the last month than we have! I spent the morning in Wanganui then started driving north towards Taupo, with a couple of brief stop...one at the Makawaura Falls, and another at the northern end of the Tongariro Crossing, where I had a short run up the Ketekahi end of the track to see the difference between that and the rest which I’d done with Derek over a month ago...it was equally beautiful, following a stream up through the bush until emerging in open and exposed tussocky land - similar to the other side. I found a good camping spot just south of Taupo (close to Wharakawera), right beside the lake, and then wondered into an Irish bar in town for a drink before setting up the tent by myself for the night!

Fri 18th:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!! Woke up to the sound of lake water splashing pretty close by...nice, but not quite as good as the sound of the waves - I really have been spoilt. Had a run along the beach towards Taupo, then sat and did some crosswords on the beach (thanks for the b'day pressie Marcel!). Tien - cheers for the phone call, that was really cool to hear from you despite the fact we couldn't really hear each other (!). The only other birthday phone call I got was from my mum...does that even count?! Just kidding..thanks for all the txts and e-mails which I've now got - nice to hear from a few people!

Spent the day in Taupo, with amazing weather - biked to Acacia Bay and relaxed there reading for a bit, then up to the Huka Falls walkway where I ran along the short track to the falls for the views - an impressive rush from an enormous amount of water. After a quick change I drove on to Whakatane, to have some birthday celebrations with Ricky & Anne and the rest of the Strike Clan! Made my first appearance at "The Craic" (an Irish bar in town I'd heard many stories about from Gav)...and I received many welcoming hugs from people who simply referred to me as "Gav's wee sister". It reminded me of the old tennis days, when I remember Gavin saying he was only known as "Mhairi's brother"! It was a fun night, and definitely time for a relaxing weekend with no plans whatsoever!

The overview...

Extending the trip for just a bit longer...! We headed west through Rotorua and Taupo, then taking the Forgotten World Highway for a short section west of Taumaranui. Spent a few days around New Plymouth waiting for good weather to climb Taranaki, while finding plenty of other sights and activities to keep us busy! Climbing to the summit was definitely worth the wait, and the other adventures were great fun too!

10/2 - 18/2