Mokau Landing- Lake Waikaremoana, East Coast

Catch-up

We left Lake Tutira Friday morning heading north up the East Coast towards our next stop. It's been a very long time since I've travelled SH2 north of Tutira, when I was younger it was the route to our family summer holidays at Mahia and I also used to visit a farm (and the Waikare Pub) at Putorino with friends whose family lived nearby. 

I was keen to see the familiar settlements along the way; Putorino, Kotemaori and Raupunga but most of all I was looking forward to seeing the Mohaka Viaduct again. And there it was as we rounded a corner; just as I remember it, one massive, slightly rickety looking viaduct spanning the mighty Mohaka River far below. 

With no lookout to stop at, it was a matter of grabbing a few photos as we approached the viaduct, went under it, then as we crossed the river and one last one just before we disappeared over the top on the other side. 

Once the 4th highest viaduct in the world and still the highest in Australasia, the 95 metre, NZ Heritage Grade 1 listed viaduct, was opened in 1937 and was in regular use until the Napier to Gisborne rail line was mothballed in 2012. Though, just in the last month or so, KiwiRail and the Labour Government have announced that towards the end of the year, logging trains will recommence using the line on weekends from Wairoa to Napier. That's going to give a few people who live along the line a bit of a fright as they once again get used to looking out for trains.

We stopped in Wairoa for a few supplies and then headed off to our next destination, keen to get there before the weather turned on us (it had been a dull grey day so far) and the weekend campers arrived. 

We were headed to the remote Mokau Landing DOC camp on the shores of Lake Waikaremoana, 77kms inland and deep inside Te Urewera National Park. We were holding out hope that the tarseal would last most of the way but it came as no surprise when it ran out with still 39kms to travel. 

Ignore the time to travel, there was a glitch in the system this day.

And now we wished it was raining, just a light sprinkle to deaden the dust! There were several short random sections of seal here and there though; some past farm homesteads for obviously reasons but others for no apparent reason. 

Much of the gravel road was deeply corrugated and I felt sorry for David as he cursed and mumbled under his breath. He'd spent the last few weeks polishing, painting underneath and cleaning the rig. By the time we arrived at the camp a thick layer of dust coated it  from top to bottom. 

There was no time to stop for photos at the top of the climb above the Tuai Power Station and Lake Whakamarino or looking down the other side to Lake Waikaremoana. I was hoping that I'd be able to return to Tuai at a more leisurely pace sometime during our stay.

Mum has a cousin, who with his family, lived at Tuai for many years. He was a local Maori elder/Kaumātua and a water taxi skipper for trampers on the lake's Great Walk. He was killed tragically in an quad bike accident a few years ago. During our stay I did manage to speak to several people who knew Noel well. Unfortunately I didn't get back to Tuai, the road and the weather kept us at Mokau.

Sign? What Sign?

It's 12kms from the Waikaremoana campground to the DOC camp at Mokau Landing. The road is even narrower and windier than we've already experienced. With very few places to pull over and many blind corners we were lucky to not have met anyone coming the other way.

This is State Highway 38 from Wairoa to Murupara and beyond. It finishes at Rainbow Mountain in the Rotorua District, a 200km long winding road, much of it gravel through a very remote and beautiful part of New Zealand. It's called the Te Urewera Rainbow Route and is touted to tourists as a stunning scenic drive. And it is. But I bet the tourists that drive it are very pleased when they reach the other end. You only want to do this road once in your lifetime. We have driven it- there and back- a very long time ago in our regular car. We have no intentions of repeating the exercise!

Finally we reach the turn off down into the Mokau Landing Camp. We're half way down the track before we realise that this is even narrower than the road. I got out to check around the blind corner, to make sure no one was heading up and when I looked back I could see David was suddenly more concerned with getting around the corner. There's no turning back now.

I needn't have worried about how busy the camp might have been over the weekend which was one of the reasons we left Tutira on Friday. Mokau is a large site with several areas to park- beside the Mokau Inlet and stream, at the back of the reserve, on the lake front or round the corner in a bush clearing tucked into another bay (a lovely spot but with no views of the lake). We set up right on the lake front and not far from the boat ramp.

There was one other couple and their caravan when we arrived and we had 3 or 4 others come in over the weekend and then we were on our own again for the rest of the week with the caravan couple (hi Chris & Bernard!) and one or two tourist campers in each night. Folk who just couldn't go any further after driving the Rainbow Road me thinks! So far we've seen none of the overcrowded camps in the North Island that many people have complained about. But then again, we tend to visit the more remote places or ones off the usual beaten track. We'll see how we go the further north we head.

Photos clockwise- Mokau Landing DOC Camp, Wairoa Anglers Lodge at the rear of the camp, lake front view, sunset at Lake Waikaremoana and a friendly White-faced heron/Matuku Moana who sunbathed each evening on a nearby clump of dirt.

The Panekire Bluffs are a prominent feature of Lake Waikaremoana and can be seen from many different vantage points around the lake. The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk starts off to the left of the bluffs at Onepoto and passes along the ridgeline on the very first day of the 3-4 day walk. 

David had the Takacat up and ready to go not long after we arrived and contrary to a few comments from other fisherman about the fishing being hard, managed to catch four trout on two outings. Usually a catch & release fisherman, it was time to bring one home for dinner. In fact he bought two home in the end because I had a new recipe I wanted to try out. We smoked the other one. 

I went on a couple of exploratory trips with David in between his fishing...

...one to see a waterfall he'd found. He'd seen it in good light as the sun went down but by the time we arrived back, the sun had disappeared. And bobbing about in a little rubber dinghy is not conducive to getting a slow-mo shot of the water falling, but still, it was a lovely setting.

There was another reason we headed out in the boat several times with no particular place to visit; we had no cellphone or internet reception at the camp but if we motored out into the bay we managed to pick up a Vodafone signal. Normally having no reception wouldn't be a problem, we enjoy the break, but with two family birthdays during the week we were able to give them a call and wish them Happy Birthday while bobbing about on the water! (the red cord David is holding is the quick-cut line to the outboard).

On one trip we pulled onto this tiny beach to have lunch. David found quite a large abandoned camp site in the bush behind- grass flattened, neatly stacked woodpile, fire pit and a few missing trees; obviously a family has holidayed there over summer.

I thought I might like to walk a section of the last part of the Great Walk while David went fishing, but in the end I decided that part of the track wasn't too interesting though he did drop me off to check out the Whanganui Hut. Many of the Great Walk walkers get picked up by the water taxi near the hut and don't walk the last section to the road (you can see the road cutting around the bluff in the third photo below). 

I spoke to several walkers who had just arrived and I talked to a hunter who had returned to the hut with his catch; sadly an older fawn. He was a little embarrassed as he'd been after it's mother but instead shot the youngster when it stuck it's head out instead of the mother. The walkers were horrified that some one had been shooting nearby. He assured them that it was at least 500mtrs from the track as required by his permit but still, I'm not so sure I'd have felt safe with somebody shooting nearby. We're told that the Mokau camp is very busy during the 'roar' (April/May); can you imagine that! Not a good time to go camping if you don't like hunting.

Mokau Falls- this beautiful cascade of water is at the head of the Mokau Inlet, and feeds the lake via a short stream beside the camp. There's a viewing area back up on the road,  you can see the road bridge which passes over the stream on the other side of the inlet, in the photo.

The Mokau Inlet has a unique feature, there are in fact two waterfalls entering the inlet, the Tauwhare Falls are on the opposite side to the Mokau Falls and can only just be seen through the dense bush (not helped by the fact that the sun doesn't shine in there either). I couldn't see them but I could certainly hear them from the Mokau lookout. I had to drive over to the bridge to catch sight of them. That's the edge of the Mokau Falls at the bottom of the photo, a very cool edge for a waterfall. I wonder how many people have climbed down there and peered over the edge. 

Once I had finished taking photos of the waterfalls, I drove up to the top of the road hoping to get a view through the bush overlooking the campsite. This was my first stop; you can't see the camp, that's off to the right but it's overlooking the bay and the other finger of lake where we explored and where the hut is located. We didn't stop for lunch at the beach you can see, ours was not far around the next point.

 I stopped a few more times and finally managed to get a clear line of sight down to the camp.

A Stunning Walk in the Mountains- Part 2

Catch-up

Continuing on from Part 1

I waved goodbye to David as he left the hut and headed back down the track we'd arrived on, I headed off in the opposite direction, passing the family with the tiny baby arriving back in camp after they'd walked to the summit of Mt Arthur- well not quite to the summit, they said there was too much snow but they'd gone a fair way. Another three trampers arrived just after them, fully laden down with heavy packs; they'd just completed the 28km two day Tableland Circuit and had stayed at the Salisbury Hut the night before. The look of surprise on their faces when they saw all the people at Mt Arthur was priceless. I bet they decided to carry on to the carpark.

Once through the bush that surrounded the hut the track opened up; the mountain rising up on one side and on the other, this stunning view over the bush and the mountain range across to Tasman Bay in the distance.

As I was admiring the view another couple of walkers passed me heading for the hut. Going by the size of their packs they'd be daywalkers, which is just as well as there's no room at the inn tonight. They told me they'd walked about halfway to the summit and had then run out of time so turned back- very sensible tourists.

Shortly afterwards the track split- my track heading off to the right and the summit and another track to the left. As I was taking photos, one of the couples we'd been chatting to at the hut, along with their 4yo daughter, caught me up. The guy had been up here often and talked me into walking up the Summit track a little way because he said, 'the views were spectacular'.

The little girl sat down at the sign and refused to budge, she said was going to wait there until they returned. Eventually she was cajoled and bribed with chocolate into walking further but she 'was only going to the first pole and then she was going back to play with her new friend'. 

The views were indeed spectacular, I'm now clear of the lower mountains and can see all the way to Nelson and Rabbit Island. Mt Arthur Hut is below the point, in the trees.

A little further on and there's a rocky platform overlooking the valley behind.

The track climbed steadily up the exposed rock behind and then dropped a little before it becomes a long steady walk across fairly easy terrain before a short climb to the summit (so the husband tells me). I'm tempted to walk to the top of this rock to see Mt Arthur but decide against it as I'm unsure how my track will be and with no communications, David will start to wonder where I am if I add another 40 minutes or so to my return walk. Another couple appear over the top....now the track is getting like Piccadilly Station!

I'm told by the very helpful husband that my track crosses through those brown patches up to the peak and then drops sharply to the valley floor on the other side.

One hour, 2.6km, mostly downhill. Not far at all, this should be easy.

Immediately after leaving the sign-post the track disappears into a stand of bush. After the lovely manicured track up to the hut, this one is the exact opposite; narrow, root ridden with lots of holes. I'll have to watch my step.

Once out of this first lot of bush, the track gets lost under the snow tussock and when I find sections of it, it's deeply furrowed, uneven and full of water. I have to jump back and forth over the deep track and the water, squelching through spongy bog plants when the tussock disappears. I start to worry that it'll be like this all the way and it'll be slow going. I can see the orange marker poles marching up the ridge ahead of me, I keep one eye on them and the other one on where to next put my feet, and hope for the best.

This cutest little fluff-ball of a Tomtit/Miromiro(male) flitted into say hello to me as I was passing a clump of bush. Either he was cold (the temperature was dropping) or he wanted me out of his territory.

I stop often to look back along the track, the rocky platform I stood on at the beginning is at the base of the exposed rock to the right. I've now crossed a couple of those 'brown patches', the track is still a bog and there's water everywhere. I think it is actually a bog, the water seeping through from the ridge heading downhill.

Then it's back into the next lot of gnarly moss covered bush...

And a little further along, into the open again where I can't stop looking back at the view and the beautiful colours of the vegetation which is especially colourful for New Zealand native bush. Not only are there the purple leaved Mountain Neinei (Dracophyllum traversii) we saw earlier but there's also their smaller cousin the Dracophyllum Longifolium aka Grass tree or Inaka; the copper coloured upright shrubs in the foreground.

Just before I stopped to take photos I spotted a walker heading towards me from out of the bush. She stopped to ask how far it was to the hut, she told me she was going to stop overnight before heading to the summit. I hadn't the heart to tell her that the hut was full.

I pointed out that it wasn't too far, and while explaining where it lay in the bush ahead of her I spotted the hut's roof peeking out of the forest (see blue arrow above, click to enlarge the photo). I zoomed in for a better look below.

Once last panoramic photo of the amazing view before I turned around...

And headed over my 'summit', through one last clearing...

...and down into the bush proper. The track was wet and muddy, full of tree roots and holes with a number of rocks to navigate over and slide down. And even though it doesn't look like it in the photos below, it was a very steep downhill track (actually called a route because it just has tree markers pointing the way), it took a lot of effort to not let my forward momentum get ahead of me and topple me over.

My toes and knees started complaining very early on and after taking these few photos near the top I put my camera away so I could keep my balance better and hold onto trees to swing down banks or slide down muddy patches. It would have been very easy to trip on a root, or twist an ankle on a slippery section, I really needed to concentrate.  It seemed like the track went on and on forever, it got darker and colder and I begun to wonder whether I'd ever get to the end. I kept thinking about the woman I'd seen up on the top, she'd come up this way with her pack, that would have been hard going.

Eventually I could hear voices and children calling to each other but it still took a long while before I finally broke out of the bush above Flora Hut. Two more families with children (and a pushchair) had just arrived at the hut. Sitting on a bank in front of me were another young couple sharing a beer and chatting. 

I wondered how on earth I was going to get down this steep slippery slope because I not only knew my toes would scream blue murder, but I'd likely slip over and slide down on my butt past the now smooching couple who hadn't yet seen me. So I coughed loudly (that startled them) and then stopped to chat for a minute before spying another track through the bush to the side that looked to be heading towards the 4WD track and the way back to carpark. It did end up on the track and it was with great relief when I finally stepped out onto the gravel track. 

I still had 2kms to walk to get back to the carpark but it felt like I was walking on a cushion of air, the 4WD track was such a relief after the continuous pain of my toes being pushed into the front of my boots (even with thick socks) and my knees complaining at every jarring step. In the end it took me 1hr 40min from the start of the track to Flora Hut, I think 20 of those minutes would have been spent taking photos across the ridge but it was a tougher walk than I expected.

David met me half way along the track, he'd been back to the carpark, had a coffee and a snack and then come to meet me. He'd past another three groups of walkers heading to Mt Arthur Hut on his way down. It sure was going to be a busy night up there.

A Stunning Walk in the Mountains- Part 1

Catch-up

We had another walk we wanted to do while we were staying at Kaiteriteri, it's one we missed on our last visit even though we had visited the area twice.

As the sign says, it's 7kms of steep, winding and narrow road straight up the side of the Arthur Mountain Range to the Flora Carpark and into the Kahurangi National Park. Mt Arthur is the prominent peak in the range that forms a backdrop to the Motueka/Tasman area.

Back in 2014 when we visited the Park we walked to Flora Hut and then we came back a few days later to do the walk to the Mt Arthur Hut as we'd heard it was a stunning half day walk and we'd already seen how much bird life there was. Unfortunately it had snowed and we only just made it to the carpark before turning around and heading back down.

This time the weather was good and we allowed enough time to get to Mt Arthur Hut, a 8.4km return walk from the carpark where the old stone and cedar shelter above marks the entrance. After our marathon 17kms walk to Lake Daniells the other week, we weren't keen to take on a tramp to the summit of Mt Arthur; a 18.2km return walk from the carpark and a steep climb, once past Mt Arthur Hut. 

There are numerous single and multi-day tramping tracks throughout Kahurangi National Park and several start (or end) at the carpark.

We follow the 4WD track to a junction 600metres from the carpark, the Flora Hut walk heads off to the right, our track to the left. The bush we pass through at the beginning of our track is nothing short of spectacular, and while I'm waiting for David to finish a bit of bird spotting, I take a little bit of artistic license with my camera and shoot some creative blur photos.

These two photos (above and below) are of the same piece of bush. To achieve creative blur in your photos slow the shutter speed down (these are 1/50sec) and then as you push your shutter button, quickly move your camera up and down. Play with settings until you get the desired effect, it's fun to see what you can produce. I enjoy doing this with colourful flower beds too.

Here's a couple more taken in bush similar to the top photo, I like the effect a little bit of sunlight has had on the green moss on the forest floor. Cool aren't they? 

Anyway, back to the task at hand, the track is well formed and it's a steady, easy climb upwards.

There's a major change to the vegetation and bush as we break out onto a ridge. I've only ever seen these unusual trees in suburban gardens (including my sister and parents) I've never seen these plants in the bush before but they are the native Dracophyllum traversii, aka Mountain Neinei.  

A gorgeous little Grey Warbler/Riroriro was checking us out as we detoured off the path into his moss laden 'enchanted forest'.

Back on the path and we reach a clearing where Mt Arthur can be seen ahead of us. There's also a picnic table to the left and we decide to stop for a snack. As David's heading to the table he suddenly calls back to me 'Listen, listen.....there's something in the bush and it's heading our way.....it's wild pigs!!" he says, as really loud snorting, grunting and rustling noises reach me. I'm about ready to run and jump on the table when...

...out of the bush bursts one small Weka in full flight (they are flightless) followed by another weka twice the size! He has evil intent on his mind and he chases her around and around a tree trunk, then  across the clearing, round the table, back around another tree and then back across again, all the time emitting this really loud grunting noise. Both of them take no notice of the two shocked spectators as they disappear back into the bush. (Excuse the blurred photos, I wasn't expecting quite so much action to happen in the quiet bush)

We sat down for a snack and it wasn't long before they both emerged to see if we had anything they might steal. And looking at the state of her, I think he must have finally caught up with her.

We move off the ridge and back into the Mountain Beech forest where the tallest canopy trees are hundreds of years old and have obviously escaped the early settlers logging operations. Through a gap in the trees we can see some of Tasman Bay, Rabbit Island and the Richmond Range behind Nelson.

We must be getting close to the hut; the track has many switchbacks and we're now climbing steadily. back, forward, back, forward. We start to wonder if we'll ever get there.

Around a corner ahead of me I find a mother and her young son (about 3yo) sitting in the middle of the track checking out something in the dust. I have the feeling he had refused to go any further. His father suddenly appears from ahead of us, he's carried on to the hut with some of their gear and has come back to hoist the boy onto his shoulders. They carry on up the track while I wait for David to catch up.

Finally we reach the hut and what a surprise awaits us! It's like Piccadilly Station, there are four different groups of people including three groups with children, all under five, one of them just a baby of about 3 months old. There's even a small child's balance bike and a pushchair with a flat tyre- 'Have we got a bike pump?", they ask. As if! 

This is an 8 bunk hut and I have the feeling it's well and truly oversubscribed tonight! All I can say is thank God we're not stopping. It is lovely to see families enjoying the great outdoors and introducing their children to tramping and huts at such an early age though. 

We have our lunch and a few laughs at the picnic table before deciding it's time head back to the carpark. David's decided he's going to return the way we came, I've decided to do the loop and head down another track to the Flora Hut and then back up to the carpark, it shouldn't be too hard it's only 1/2km longer. Famous last words...

To be continued...Part 2