The Giantest rata

The search for a suitable local adventure sees a memory emerging from the depths - a colleague talking about a giant Northern Rata in the bush near Karapoti (Akatarawa).  A casual search quickly finds coordinates for the tree.  There is a named height nearby ('Mount' Barton 627m) and a tricky looking series of spurs that look eminently suitable for a Sunday wander. 

What:     Day trip
Where:   Akatarawa
When:    Sunday 16 August 2020 
Who:      Solo
Map

There's 10 or so cars in the carpark - many with trailers. The idling quad and motorbike with attendant riders indicate that the petrol brigade are out in force. It's a popular road end for pedalled and powered off road activities.

Around 10:40 I head along the gravel 'track' (narrow gravel road).  Six riders hurtle past in the next five minutes, the smell of exhaust is heavy in the air and the foliage on either side is covered in muddy spray.  

Less than 10 minutes later there's a stream crossing - I take the benched track on the right immediately before and start heading up the true left of Little Akatarawa 'River' - and away from the motorbikes.  Around the corner there are a couple of old chimneys - presumably the relics of the buildings still marked with black squares on the map.

There's a good foot trail that leads into the bush, across a wee stream and then starts climbing.  I ignore the odd trail that sidles left up the little river valley on the assumption that the bulk of the feet are likely to be heading where I want to go.

At around 220m a benched track cuts across the spur. Again - the feet have it, I head left and follow an easy track - possibly an old bush tramway given the benching.

There's fresh foot prints on the track so I'm not entirely surprised to hear voices ahead.  It is surprising to come across three chaps wearing wet-suits and helmets. They are practising canyoning skills and confirm there are some waterfalls to navigate downstream.  Probably not the most adventurous trip but maybe the most accessible place to practice - it confirms that following the stream would have been a mistake.

Although the track is pretty good, there is a bit of loose edges in places and at one point a bit of a scramble through an erosion gully.

twenty minutes after leaving the fireplaces at the bottom, the track crosses the stream.  Coming down valley it should be obvious as the stream abruptly narrows and starts dropping.  A piece of yellow plastic marks the spot.  

The track potters up the flat valley floor, crossing back and forth across the stream. It's all easy going with no water getting into ones boots.  I catch up with a couple from Wellington - confirming (if it was needed) that this is hardly off the beaten track.  Surprisingly, they are just exploring and not looking for the rata I'm interested in. 

As I approach the bend marking where to start leaving the stream and looking for the rata, the tramway heads away from the stream a little on the true right. I follow it as it crosses a creek follows another and branches (I turn left) - it could be a little confusing but I follow my nose and end up on the true left of the wee creek marked from near pt 386.  I'm thinking it's about time to head north east onto the flat spur where the tree should be - a couple of bits of old tape seem a good enough spot and a foot trail soon develops.  

I potter up the gentle slope and around 11:40 come across a large rata.  It's bigger than anything else around but hard to see how tall - I take a few photos and sit to contemplate the insignificance of my brief existence against the 1000 - 1500 years I read on line.  But to be honest, I'm a little disappointed.

The trail keeps going towards Mt Barton so I follow along.  A couple of old Good Nature possum traps seem a little out of place with none others seen to date but a few seconds later I bump into a wall of wood that explains their presence, and why the last tree was a bit of a let down.  It's taken less than 1:15 from the car park.

The twining stems that make up the trunk of the old monster disappear through the canopy.  Skirting around the base there's a clearing and an old branch you can shimmy along to get a better view upwards. 

The vital statistics are available on the intriguing notable tree register - 39m high, 15.39m girth, largest Northern rata, 1000 - 1500 years old.

There's limited viewing spots so I only stick around for 10 minutes before continuing upwards.  The track is still pretty clear but I don't notice any good views back to the rata - it would be good to find a vantage point to see how it looks above the canopy.

Someone has kept the track very well clear over the years - including with the use of a chain saw.  There are a few junctions with solid foot trails heading in other directions and no marking.  You have to know where you are going, have a GPS or reasonable facility with compass and map.

I reach a high point but work out that it isn't Mt Barton and have to backtrack a little and use the compass to work out the correct route.  The proper top at 1pm is unmistakable with a decaying trig, but the clearing is reverting to bush and the flat top may be hard to distinguish one day.    

Up to this point the bulk of the navigation has been up and consequently uncomplicated.  The map now shows a winding series of branching spurs.  I've figured that although there are a lot of options the most aesthetically pleasing is to thread the needle to the mouth of Little Akatarawa Valley where I started. This could be interesting. 

The spur zigs and zags and whenever there is a side spur, there seems to be a solid track heading determinedly in that direction. The canopy is high enough that there's little assistance from views of surrounding ridges. Things go smoothly though and although the 'track' is fairly faint I'm still sure of my location when I drop the last 100m to emerge bang on target at the benched track I had followed in the morning (approx 220m contour). 

Rather than continuing down to the fire places I turn left to see where the old tramway will lead.

The track sidles along the valley side gently dropping towards the floor. I'm mildly concerned that it will deposit me in someone's backyard, but it's well enough travelled to suggest a more publicly accessible start/end.

In the end it deposits me about a minute's walk from the carpark. There's not much to mark it - coming from the car park there are some concrete blocks, then a steel post and a wee gap under the trees just past it.

It's about 2.20 so the whole trip has taken about 3 hr 40.  A nice wee wander to an impressive tree.