9 Great Walks

Can't believe I finished the 9 Great Walks 6 months ago and never got around to celebrating my achievement on here! Will have to come back later with posts (and photos) of each of the great walks. I didn't complete the full distance for all of them, but I did a significant amount of each one. The ones I pretty much walked in full were the Routeburn track, the Milford Track, the Heaphy Track, Lake Waikaremoana Track (not including the bit between the boat pickup and the road end) and the Tongariro Northern Circuit (which I later regretted, the part between Whakapapa and the start of the Tongariro crossing was hideous, long, slippery and tired me out before the hardest part - the Devils staircase and uphill section leading to the Red Crater). Also the Rakiura track we did the whole part from Lee Bay around back into town. It was brilliant. I made a whole 80 page photobook from my journal entries and photos of all the walks, maybe I could just include some of those pages in here - they might not be very readable though.

Lake Waikaremoana

Hiking plans

After contemplating doing this hike for a couple of years now, I finally have a real plan to do it. My cousin who I haven't seen in quite a few years I have just discovered is also into hiking, so we decided to go do this hike in October. Originally we were talking end of July, but she couldn't get leave, which was ok with me because I was imagining horribly cold weather and storms, so my next available 4 day weekend is in the middle of October. So she also got leave and we are both going to go together. Drive down from Tauranga Saturday morning and start at lunchtime, hopefully start with Panekire then take 3 or 4 days to go around. After we finish (hopefully tuesday lunchtime) I really want to do a couple of the shorter walks - Lou's lookout or Onepoto Caves or the Hinerau Walk, or else go kayaking on the lake. Wednesday morning I want to hire a dinghy and walk up to Lake Waireti - a smaller lake an hour from the DOC office, get back at lunchtime and drive home that afternoon. Then back to work Thursday for my boss' 2nd to last day before he retires after 40 years working for the company. My only concern at the moment is fitness - I know I have a long way to go to improve my fitness to the level that I need to before I can finish the other walks. I have 2 1/2wks off work in November which I'm thinking of using to do the Rakiura, Kepler and Heaphy tracks, then I have a 4 day weekend at the end of December I want to use for the Tongariro Northern Circuit and I have booked a weeks leave in January so my friend and I can go do the Whanganui (Guided) river journey. I'm really looking forward to all these walks. Its good motivation for me.

My next goal

Having done the Routeburn and Milford Tracks, I am now exceedingly jealous of the lucky 4 "Great Walkers" a group of people who won the trip of a lifetime to come to NZ and do all 9 great walks over a period of 9 weeks (as well as some other really awesome in between day trips and kayaking trips and relaxation). I think it would be so amazing to do them all as well. So I have 3 done, and 6 to go. I have finally finished finalizing the dates for my next Great Walk, which will be at the southern end of the Urewerea Rainforest, around Lake Waikaremoana. Also hoping to do a half day trip up to enjoy a smaller Lake Waireti and go canoeing up there. My cousin has generously volunteered to go with me in the middle of October, so we can keep each other company, and hopefully not be inundated by too many other people. I have also booked 2 and a half weeks leave at the end of November/December as I really want to go to the South Island and attempt at least 1 or 2 of my remaining walks, preferably Rakiura on Stewart Island and the Kepler Track next to Lake Te Anau. I have a vaguely disquieting feeling in the back of my mind that I should change my plans, but I don't know what I would replace them with. I also want to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit and the Whanganui River Journey with another friend sometime over the summer. At least thats my plan, will see how it all pans out.

Gisborne Scenery

On my sightseeing trip to Gisborne earlier this year, I got to see quite a few things I hadn't noticed on previous trips, because those were mostly about nostalgia and memories for my Mum and aunty who grew up there. This trip I got to go do all the touristy things that I had wanted to do for ages. Firstly Rere Falls, a 5m high long waterfall out not far from Eastwoodhill Arboretum. Secondly the not-Captain-Cook statue on Kaiti Hill (noone is quite sure who it is, everyone just agrees that it doesn't actually look like Captain Cook). Thirdly Spongey Bay, early morning with the sunrise coming up behind. Fourthly the Botanic Gardens, which were small, but quite lovely, and next to a river which I also really liked. And also a lovely little waterfall about a 20min walk from a childrens playground at Waihirere Domain off Back Ormond Road. And finally, a photo of the statue of Young Nick, a boy onboard Capt Cooks ship, who was apparently the first to see land when arriving in NZ, and what I think is a replica of Capt Cooks ship, the Endeavour.

East Coast Sunrise

One time when I was younger, I decided I wanted to go see the sunrise out at Raglan. I took my sister and one of my friends with me. At no point during our journey did either of them mention to me the futility of attempting to view the sunrise, from a west coast beach of New Zealand. We got there and there was fog, and trees, and bushes in the way, and all I got for my efforts was a tiny sliver of sunlight bursting through the narrow gap between the landscape and the clouds. A few years later for our New Years 2000 celebrations, we decided to go to Long Bay beach on the east coast near Auckland to try and see the sunrise, after staying up all night. There were a lot of people on the beach at 5am that morning, unfortunately we were all disappointed due to low cloud. This year, I decided to try one last attempt at seeing the sunrise in the east, by heading out to Gisborne "First to see the light." I got up at 5am one morning and drove out to Wainui beach (as Gisborne actually faces South east, not east) and sat there for an hour. I just marvelled at the view, the changes colours of the sky and sea as the colours on the horizon changed gradually for about half an hour before the edge of the sun finally glimmered over the furthest point of the ocean. It was one of the most marvellous things I've ever experienced, and aside from one surfer and one kayaker who came along later, I had the whole wonderful beach to myself. It was amazing, I loved it. Then I went sightseeing around the other bays nearby - Spongey bay included, where the original lookout that used to be there had vanished into the ocean.

Silica Rapids

I originally intended to walk from Whakapapa to Mangatepo and back for a day trip, but I changed my mind when I decided to head to Napier directly after my walk. I thought the Silica Rapids sounded like an interesting thing to see, and it was only about a 2hr return walk. So I headed up the road to go have a look. It was a little bit strange, because I only saw one other person the whole time I was walking, whereas the day before I'd see dozens of people on the track. Obviously just not as popular a walk. The rapids weren't really what I expected, but they were still worth having a look at. I thought the yellow green colour around them was a bit strange though. On my way back out I stopped to have another look at a small waterfall off to the right on the main road out from Whakapapa, Tawhai Falls. The last time I'd been there it had been pouring, so I never got a proper look. This time I managed to scramble over some rocks, to get a lot closer to the base of the falls.