Category Archives: Tramping

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

36. Wairoa – Waikaremoana – Onepoto – Waiopaoa: Waikaremoana Great Walk 1/2

Wednesday, March 18: Cloudy throughout with some sunshine but no rain

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Onepoto – Panekire 9.6 km & Panekire – Waiopaoa 7.8 km

Waiopaoa Hut (DOC, $32)

Home Bay
Home Bay, Lake Waikaremoana, sunrise

Beat the compass alarm again and was up at 5:45, before even Jude, who wanted to get up at 5:30. Had some coffee, two eggs and two muesli bars for breakfast, packed the rucksack for the tour and threw everything into the car to start as planned at 6:30.

At the petrol station bought the toilet paper that is necessary for this trip and then took off down the road as the sun was rising. Not much is still unsealed but it does slow down progress quite a lot and I arrived at Waikaremoana @ 8:00. Sorted things out (remembered not having packed the condensed milk into the pack), locked the suitcase & the car, got the spot to send an OK and waited at the little hut for the water taxi to arrive. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Travel Planning

32. Whakatane: Nga Tapuwae o Toi

Saturday, March 14: Sunny and very warm, clouds appearing in the evening, and some rain

Tramping: Nga Tapuwae o Toi, 16.9 km

Windsor Lodge

The weather was very tempting for a paddle so I was up and organised early, and Kenny the kayak man offered a freedom hire, the only problem was that it was from his place. I indicated that I would take it, and set off with a Google Map in mind to drive the 30 or so km down to his place. Was ready to leave here just after 9:00. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Travel Planning

30. Rotorua: Lake Tarawera

Thursday, March 12: Rain at first, then somewhat drier, rain again in the evening

Tramping: Tarawera Trail, 13.4 km

Astray (BBH, $37 + $3)

The day wasn’t turning out so well for a tramp, but I decided on going ahead with it anyway. By about 9:30 the car was packed and ready to go, and I was a the car park for the trail by about 10:00. The forecast had been for showers but it was coming down in a constant stream.

I had my full-length trousers and the raincoat on right from the beginning. The path is rather narrow and the wet plants on either side were hanging over the track and transferring water first to the pants and then to the sox and boots. I made brief stops every now and then and at the second picnic place it had virtually stopped raining so I stopped for my two rounds of sandwiches and mandarine for lunch. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Travel Planning

29. Rotorua: Waimangu

Wednesday, March 11: Sunny becoming cloudier in the afternoon, warm

Tramping: 5.4 km

Astray

This place is fairly quiet at night after 10:00, but it was the buses and general traffic that woke me before 9:00. Today’s plan was to do the Waimangu ($36) walk with plenty of time lapses and polarised brackets, and to have it fill up the day.

I was at the car park at around 10:30, and had everything ready except for the hat that I had left in the car. Since Waimangu – as opposed to most of the other thermal/volcanic walks – is very shaded that won’t have made too much difference since sunscreen had already been applied. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping

28. Rotorua: Waiotapu

Tuesday, March 10: Sunny with a couple of clouds in the distance, and warm

Tramping: 3.3 km

Astray

Two French girls who are working here have a shared room on our “corridor” and were up very early, which of course had to be followed by everyone else. My first self-provided breakfast was sultana bran, coffee with fresh milk, and toast. Internet was briefly checked for today’s distance, and the clothes that I eventually washed yesterday were still not dry, so I left them on the clothes horse outside reception.

Then it was off to Waiotapu ($32.5) for the photography session. Managed to forget to load the cameras with their usual cards, but had all the spare cards with me and the first one worked for Mel. After buying a ticket I returned to my car where a hitchhiker asked me whether I could ferry him to the geyser, which I did (Tilman from near Stuttgart). We were quite early so I was able to try out various different locations before choosing the very back and getting a couple of sequences of the dormant geyser in the process. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping

27. Hamilton – Rotorua

Monday, March 9: A few drizzle patches in the morning & a little cloudy throughout the day

Tramping: 7.5 km

Astray Motel & Backpackers, 1202 Pukuatua St, Rotorua 3010, tel.: +64 7 348 1200, single room scarcely larger than the bed (BBH, $32 + $3 + $5)

Waikato River, Hamilton in the morning
Waikato River, Hamilton in the morning

Sleep was so interrupted during the night that I was one of the first at the free breakfast: Cornflakes & milk, coffee, toast, I was ready to leave by just after 8:30. Looking at the maps last night it occurred to me that I might do a river walk to avoid arriving in Rotorua too early, and drove around the corner to the end of the street, parked the car and proceeded to walk towards the town centre and then do a loop of the river involving two bridges before heading back to the car. One bracket of a park with a river landing, quite a pleasant surprise in the middle of Hamilton.

Down by the river
Down by the river, [download id="1793"]
Then it was to a supermarket to buy some strepsils, as I had a rather sore throat after my hattrick of skeptics in pubs, before pushing off down the road to Rotorua with only one further stop to clear the windscreen. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Topo Map, Tramping

23. Waitarere – Waikanae Beach: Otaki Forks/Arcus Loop

Thursday, March 5: A couple of clouds about, more in the mountains, but sunny by the sea

Tramping: 3.5 km

James & Julie’s (airbnb, $47)

The only problem with sleeping in the tent – especially so close to the sea – was the dew fall. The whole tent was soaking wet inside and out by morning, and I had pitched it in the shadow of the amenities block from the point of view of the morning sun.

After possibly the last breakfast of tramping/kayaking diet I set about drying things out. In the end I chose the clothes line that runs on the road side of the camp, and within half an hour or so the tent (both internal and external) was dry. The stuff I had washed two days ago was still having difficulty drying but in the course of time was dry enough. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Swimming, Topo Map, Tramping, Youtube Videos

22. Whanganui – Waitarere Beach

Wednesday, March 4: Very cloudy the whole day and very warm with some rain drops in the late afternoon, clearing again by sunset

Tramping: 8.1 km

Waitarere Beach Motor Camp, Park Avenue, Waitarere Beach 5510, tel.:+64 6 368 8732, tent site ($17)

The start to the morning was much better organised, and having all the necessary stuff distributed logically over just a shopping bag, a chilly bin, and the pack meant that I could try out my experiment tonight and camp out in the tent.

I was ready to go by about 9:00 even after having switched on the computer, gotten the reservation OK for Hamilton, and installed an update. Today’s drive was not going to be long, so there was plenty of time. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Travel Planning

21. New Plymouth – Whanganui: Dawson Falls

Tuesday, March 3: Very cloudy at first, becoming fine in the course of the afternoon

Tramping: 1.4 km

Hikurangi StayPlace, 1 Mount View Rd., Whanganui 4500, tel.: +64 6 343 3333. Single room with shared (1x) bathroom & toilet (BBH, $40 + $3)

Under the volcano
Under the volcano. Topo set: [download id="1677"]

Couldn’t sleep the last hour or so, so I was up at 8:00 and had a very frugal breakfast of muesli bars, crackers and coffee. The car had to be properly organised for the rest of the trip and that took up the next 2 hours. The case was reserved for the rest of the books and fresh clothes, the pack takes on the computer and diaries in the main compartment, and the vanity bag in the bottom one, the chilly bin is packed full of spoilable food and other stuff that needs to be kept cold, and there is a shopping bag with non-spoilable food and the large shampoo etc. bottles. The camera bag is now loaded with batteries and cards; one A470 is ready to go in the glove box, and the SX120 is in its pocket in the pack. A notebook with pen is with the glasses & ipod in one of the open compartments on the passenger side. Almost 100% ready to go. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Swimming, Topo Map, Tramping

19. Raglan: Bridal Veil Falls and Ngarunui Beach

Sunday, March 1: Warm and sunny with barely a cloud

Tramping: 1.7 km

Robert’s

I had gotten a fairly good night’s sleep and was up and about just before Robert, and we had breakfast together: Cornflakes, a couple of poached eggs on toast, and coffee. After getting the stuff together that I needed for photography, I set off for the Bridal Veil Falls for the walk and photo session #1.

Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls
The turnoff is a couple of kilometres down the road, and then a farther turnoff into the Kawhia Road led to a car park. Unfortunately the road is a dead end, otherwise I would have considered taking it to Kawhia, just to see the town again after 2009. Will have to see what alternatives there are.

Bridal Veil
Short stroll, map detail. GPS: [download id="1739"], map: [download id="1691"]
At the car park there were plenty of cars and not many signs of break-ins, so I took off in crocs as it was an easy walk. The waterfall is quite high (55 m) and the track starts at the top where the water disappears over the edge. There are a total of four lookouts, two at the top, one in the middle and one at the bottom. I started taking photos at the bottom with a time lapse of about half of the falls (first without, then with the filter) and repeated at the middle lookout (where the shooting had to be portrait orientation to capture the whole image) and at the top I got a time lapse of the water disappearing and a single shot of the “No abseiling” sign, although it is strangely out of focus. Read more…