Saturday 29 August 2020

Turere stream daytrip

This is a trip from a couple of years back - in the times before I got sucked into working in the great COVID machine.  There are a few others on the drawing board from around that time that I haven't quite got around to tidying up .... 


Another weekend with just time for a day trip.  This time Mike is too slow to find an excuse and is roped in alongside Angela.  

Using the same old map as last time, the plan is to visit a waterfall on the Turere stream in the hills between Wainuiomata and the Orongorongo Valley.

The waterfall came to my attention by accident some time ago when trawling through TTC trip reports. Someone had identified that the waterfall was marked in the wrong place on the map (downstream) and had taken a trip to visit its correct location - it has been subsequently moved (on the map that is).

Our starting point is a track up a spur by Nikau Stream.  It's shown on the old map and I vaguely recall coming down it in the dark so have absolutely zero confidence of finding it again. 

What:    Navigation day trip
Where:  Turere Stream 
When:   30 August 2020
Who:     Mike, Angela and me




About 8.15 we leave the car at the end of Hine street and head across the field to Nikau Stream.  A pause at the map board where the team estimates how far up Nikau stream before we look for the old track hiving up the side of the gully - about 12 minutes is the consensus assuming a leisurely 2 km/hr.




The regen bush in the gully is cool, manuka is being topped out with the exception of some big old specimens.  



After (fairly close to) 12 minutes a faint path looks like it heads left, closer inspection reveals an old mossy cairn and piece of faded tape.  We follow to where it ducks across the stream and starts scrambling upwards.  It looks familiar - but when I came through here in the opposite direction it was pitch black after a long day.

The track takes us up to the spur where a good foot trail with markers heads on up. About 400m past pt 492, just before the spur steepens, the old map shows a sidle track heading south around the hill side.  We can see a foot trail so follow it.

It's rough but a good wee bench for a short stretch - until we hit the first tree fall. After that it's pretty variable - in and out of gullies, quite a few large treefalls and our time estimates blow out. The odd marker and section of benching confirms we are in the right vicinity. Eventually we reach a spot where we can duck a short way up to the crest of the ridge and the modern track.  Not a recommended diversion. 

Angela notices a sticky damp spot on her trousers which, on closer inspection proves to be blood not sap. A closer look reveals blood on hands and other places but no obvious source. A quick down trou determines that the blood is from a tidy hole in her leg, probably from bush lawyer.  

We should be near an intersection with one of the routes to our ridge so head in the most obvious direction to find it (right).  It doesn't turn up so we return and continue up to where we know our ridge track starts (looking at Angela's Strava log later we must have stopped metres from the intersection).

At the top we join the Whakanui track (west) and head south along a long flat topped ridge through pretty goblin forest. 

After a while the newer sidle track joins from our right - and our first and only other tramper for the day potters into sight from down ridge.  He's spent the night by the river and is heading out again.  

This section of ridge is flat and long so we are keeping an eye on the clock to estimate when we will need to start looking for a point to drop west to the stream valley below.  We're close when the track breaks into an area of dead trees and regrowth - it allows the sun in and gives us views across to the opposite ridge.  It also allows a stiff cool breeze in but it is the perfect spot for lunch.

After lunch, and Mike stepping up to the Jelly bean challenge (in a blind taste he guessed the colour of most correctly), we take bearings off a couple of bumps on the opposite ridge.  Much to everyone's surprise the bearings meet at one point on our ridge, giving us an accurate fix.  

It's surprising how seldom this technique is useful as it relies on: a break in the canopy, no clag, identifiable point(s) roughly parallel to the feature you're on, those points being not so far away that they're on a different map or you can't draw an accurate line from them on the map.

Happy that we know where we are, we potter down trail, and back into forest. The ridge top broadens for a bit before we reach a junction of sorts where markings indicate a route down an obvious spur above our target waterfall - we want to arrive below the falls so continue on the track.

The map shows the track going over some knobs on the ridge but these are not really apparent.  We know we're about in the right place so strike west and scramble down a steep face through messy bush. It gets a bit hairy at the bottom navigating a bit of a loose face but we get to the stream edge in the end.


Angela negotiates the last few meters ...


... with moral support

Regrouping, we head up the respectably sized Turere Stream.  A few bends later we reach the base of the falls - it's not the most picturesque spot but the water cascades over a bit of a drop into a greenish pool.





Men with sticks

We want to continue up valley but there's no climbing the water fall or up the sides near it - we retreat to the first side stream (true left) and find a cairn opposite it.  Sure enough there is a steep scramble up the true right onto a spur which we follow up to drop over the other side, just upstream of the waterfall. 

Waterfalls are nowhere near as interesting from the top so there's not much point hanging around here.  Shortly upstream there's an impressive and recent erosion scar on the true right - the different ages of surrounding bush indicating it's not the first in this spot. 

The stream is a good size and wide enough that it's a pretty straight forward ramble most of the time, barring the odd log jamb.  There's also a few cascades - I climb around these in the interests of dry feet while Mike and Angela elect for the safer but wetter direct approach (mid-rift for Mike and chest high for Angela) .





About 3.30 we figure we could head up stream for a little longer but note that the spurs on the true right for the next kilometre all reach the ridge at the same point - i.e. we may as well head up now.

We clamber onto the chosen spur.  There's little sign of a trail for a start but after a while we start seeing the odd piece of old old tape then a faint foot trail.  This gets stronger as we climb with marking at strong side spurs. Towards the top there are traps, tunnels and we're obvious in an actively managed area.

Soon enough we pop out on to the McKerrow track.  Wainuiomata is already losing the late afternoon sun - hills fade to the horizon and although we can pick out the South Island, the air is so hazy we can't even see any details on the Hutt hills.

Mike pauses to check face book and we potter along the wide albeit a bit muddy track.  

Ignoring the route down to the Boys Brigade camp (and possibly access to Sunny Grove) we follow the main, and very large, benched track that drops us all the way back to the car right on the edge of dark.

Another good day in the local hills.  From subsequent visits I've found that Turere Stream changes noticeably as logs move and shingle backs up behind the jambs.  And the TTC website notes that there are lots more wee waterfalls in the surrounding creeks - so there's plenty more scope for exploring.


  

 

Saturday 22 August 2020

Broken Axe Pinnacles - in search of Sutch

Another trip report that has been languishing in the ether while I spend far too much time working on COVID ...  Finished off two years after the fact so I've glossed over a few details.


This weekend I'm taking an extra day with a view to a bit of historic speculation. 

You will likely have heard about the 1933 Sutch trip where a party of four completed an epic 17 day Tararua crossing.  I won't go into the details - if you want a good account of it look up Windy Hill Tops who has done his home work.

What:     Navigation trip
Where:   Dorset Creek and Broken Axe Pinnacles
When:     22 - 23 August 2020
Who:      Solo

This weekend I'm interested in one decision the party made and its consequences.  The party had left Te Matawai hut early in the morning and by mid-afternoon were at the Broken Axe Pinnacles...

"On the last Broken Axe Pinnacle O'Keefe and Hill slipped and fell a distance of about 30 feet. O'Keefe sustained several cuts on face. Delay of two hours as a result. At 5pm regained ridge - rain fell and heavy mist descended, winds to gale force."

As they stood on the ridge in atrocious conditions they would have had three options - continue along the tops and risk getting caught by the dark without shelter, or drop off one or other side of the ridge to reach the bushline. Going back over the Pinnacles probably wouldn't have featured as an option in those conditions and after the fall.  

"Off ridge and down to bushline at night fall on a very steep face - entered bush and camped beside a stream ..." 

They decided to drop right (North West) off the ridge. Had they dropped off the other side they would have been in the navigable headwaters of the Atiwhakatu stream and likely have been out in a few days. But I suspect it would have been the weather and daylight that drove the decision rather than the route the party might take afterwards. 

The account does not specify whether they continued along the ridge before dropping off and is not entirely clear on the route they took to the Waiohine River.  A map, hand drawn shortly after the adventure identifies two possible stream routes but is slightly inaccurate.

I'm inclined to think they did not continue, as that would have required climbing over McGregor - not difficult, but surely something they would see fit to mention.  Also, the timing would have been tight - at that time of year sundown would have been around 5.20pm and the end of twilight about 6pm.  I suspect you would need all of those 40 minutes to descend about 300 vertical metres of steep face in poor conditions.

In the morning it's still miserable and they decide to drop to the Waiohine River and try to climb to Holdsworth from near the mouth of Francis Creek. They take 2 hours to drop an estimated 800 feet (240m) to what they think is Dorset Creek.

This trip I'm interested to visit the north west face below the Pinnacles to explore where they might have come down.  Also to check out the stream below McGregor Biv to see whether that may have been an option. 




There's a few cars in the park and a couple of chaps pull up as I prepare to leave. About 7.15 I head up valley beside a somewhat swollen Atiwhakatu River. There's a bit of sun but patchy cloud towards the tops suggests conditions will be a bit different up there. 

By 8.30 I'm at Atiwhakatu hut and have decided that the original plan of following the river to the catchment ain't a goer.  While I pause to fill in the log, a runner drifts past and heads up the rain gauge track towards Jumbo Hut.  Out of casual interest I pop half an hour further up valley to take the other track.

It's not as well travelled with a bit of windfall but easy to follow.  The old maps mark a sidle track to the site of Angle Knob Hut - I keep an eye out for signs in the most obvious place but don't see it. I hear later that there is an old hut site on this part of the ridge - where it broadens and a wee stream crosses the track.

The temperature drops and the odd glimpse across the valley shows Baldy shrouded in dark gray. 

Mossy goblin forest gives way to leather wood and the track pops out in to a cold wind with drifts of drizzle.  The hut should be nearby so I hunch up and scoot along rather than stop and rug up. East and south there is sun, cloud and a rainbow.  Uphill and west it's looking a bit grim.

The hut is cold but gets me out of the wind. It's 10.50 and I decide to wait a few hours as it should only be a few hours to McGregor Biv which will be a bit more restricted for spending the afternoon.  The two chaps from the carpark thump onto the varendah and have the same idea as they settle in for a game of cards and boil the billy.




Despite donning a few layers I cool down as I sit reading an old FMC bulletin.  Another chap comes in, all three are heading for Powell.  He stops a short while to get a jacket on. He is lightly equipped and has found the track up a bit tough, I suggest delicately that it's looking to be pretty cold and windy on the tops and note that there is the bail out route down East Holdsworth track - although a fair way across.  It's one of those tricky things - it's possible that he is underestimating the weather you can get on the tops here, but he's young and looks fit enough, plus there will be two others following him along a marked route.

It's almost 1.30 by the time I drag layers on and leave the hut just ahead of the two chaps.  There's a bit of a stream coming down the track and the wind brings cold rain down from the ridges above.  I'm soon climbing into cloud. Nearby hollows hold snow.

At the intersection with the Holdsworth Ridge it's well clagged in with a bit of wind but nothing dramatic. I follow a good foot trail towards Angle knob.  Just past the tarns is point 1397 - I had been intending to come up this way had the river been amenable - it's the site of the old Angle Knob Hut which got lifted off it's foundations by the wind and dumped further down the hill. 

The clag starts to reveal more patches of snow on the slopes. The intermittent rain is still just liquid though.

It's a bit windier in the saddle past Angle Knob.  I recall some rocks in the saddle and an old sign but remember that the slope that leads to the spur is wide and open so start angling down well short of the sign.  

Below the saddle the wind quickly drops away and I'm soon out of the clag looking down spur to the gray dot of the tarn and orange dot of McGregor biv.







It's taken a little under two hours from Jumbo so I still have a bit of afternoon to kill - I set about getting out of soggy gear and settling in.

Amongst the usual reading and cards to while away a wet arvo, I study the map and the diary entry for this part of the Sutch trip. I had been planning to explore a possible route down off the Pinnacles but am becoming uneasy about getting bluffed.  I decide to explore from the bottom up.





The morning brings high cloud and clear tops.  I study the slopes of McGregor - it's possible a party could have descended here but there would be some tricky bits. I don't really think it's likely but figure it's worth checking the creek out anyway.




Scrambling past the loo into the leatherwood I discover that I'm quite quickly in reasonably open forest with long grass. It's a bit rotty and scrambly in places but within 20 minutes I've reached the creek. It's narrow and slippery with a few cascades but no waterfalls for a start.  

As it widens there are some big old log jambs requiring a bit of scrambling and a slot with a ledge on the right.  There's only one waterfall where I have to do a bit of a hairy true left sidle. 




The weather is dreary with a bit of drizzle to keep things nice and slippery but at least it's not cold down here.  I potter on keeping half an eye out for the spot where I crossed this creek a few years back while picking up a nearby spot height.






Just over an hour and a half from the bottom of the hut spur, the creek opens into the Dorset Stream Valley.  There's a bit of a terrace opposite where I regroup.  

The stream is a good size here but the flow isn't a concern. I have to say that the location doesn't match the description in the diary of where the party joined the Dorset (they describe a deep gorge with precipitous sides and a steep descent over huge boulders).




About 30 minutes up stream I reach the mouth of the stream from the pinnacles.  Again, the location doesn't match the description in the diary.  This is a bit problematic for the two main stream options they may have taken.  However, I decide to continue to see what the catchment below the pinnacles is like.

The stream is in a surprisingly wide valley.  There's a lot of rock on the valley floor that has made it's way down from the heights above over the years - along with plenty of big old trees.  

 



The valley narrows and steepens until one of the pinnacles is visible coming and going in the clag above. I figure that the most likely route down would not be the headwater stream on the true right which would have required the party to return across some of the pinnacles or make a long crossing of the face.  I choose the stream that points towards the ridge between pt 1425 and McGregor. 





I just about miss one junction but find may way up an increasingly steep gully, eventually leaving the trees behind.

Reaching a waterfall there's a messy scramble around on the true left and a short way further up stream another series of waterfalls - the party would not have been able to down climb these and I'm not about to climb up them.  









The stream is in a bit of a slot with steep sides - I climb up the true right and into a hell tangle of leatherwood scrub.  Persevering for a while I make excruciatingly slow progress up the steep slope but soon realise it is hopeless.  It's galling to have to give it a way but there's no way I'm going to get through.  Back in the creek I study the face on the other side which is less scrubby but completely exposed.  

It's around 2pm - I reluctantly accept that I won't be climbing to the ridge from this position and retrace my route down valley. 



Not a sensible way up

I don't think it is likely they came down this stream - it is possible they followed the spur further west which has a marked bushline reaching almost 1200m but there's still the problem of the description of their entry to Dorset Creek to deal with.  It's a bit of a dispirited trudge back down the valley.  

For some reason I have a photo from the trip down of my watch showing an altitude of 1040m - I dimly recall there might have been a wee side stream joining from the true left and some trees - I may have wondered if this was a spot where you could have joined the stream from above ... or not.






Junction with Dorset Creek


It's about 4.10 when I rejoin Dorset Creek (still no high sided gorge to be seen).  I head down stream intending to see how I go for daylight.  The day has cleared somewhat and there is afternoon sun on the tops.  There are a few magic moments when the sun is shining directly into the valley and catches steam drifting in the still air.  Beautiful, but a reminder that sundown is approaching and I'm a long way from the Biv.  




It's about 4.40pm when I get to the wee stream below McGregor.  I decide that heading down river into a bit of a gorgy section as it gets dark may not be the smartest - or climbing the creek again for that matter.  I decide to bash up a spur to join the ridge to McGregor Biv so head a short way down stream to find a route. 

I didn't take any notes of this section but recall that it was already getting dim as I scramble up the mucky lower slopes.  I'm feeling utterly drained from the days exertions - it is a very slow and painful trip up and it's well dark before I'm anywhere near the ridge.   The other thing I recall is getting to the flat top of the ridge and having inordinate trouble following the informal track - there are markers but in my tired state I manage to stumble on and off the route and make it altogether more difficult than it needs to be.  I'm determined to get to the biv though and persevere rather than crack out the fly.

Eventually open sky and cold air herald the bushline and it's not too far to stumble up the slope to the crest then down the rutted track to the biv.  Luckily empty at 8.30pm - it has taken a ridiculous length of time to get here from the creek but such a relief to stop and get dinner underway before falling into a sound sleep.




My photos indicate a bit of a sleep in to get away shortly after 9am.  I don't recall anything of the trip back to Powell apart from hail on the tops.  Not pleasant.  It takes about 2 hours to get to Powell at which point the weather starts to break.  



An hour later Atiwhakatu is in a completely different climate and by 1.50 I'm back at the carpark on a pleasant sunny afternoon.  It's slightly weird to be soggy from wading through snow and hail with your fingers still tingling from the cold while the sun warms your back.


Postscript

I won't pretend to be an expert on the Sutch trip but from the snippets of information I have seen it seems unlikely to me that they came down the face below the Broken Axe Pinnacles.  The description of joining Dorset Creek doesn't match either the creek off the Pinnacles or the creek below McGregor Biv.  I wonder if they actually came over McGregor and dropped into Angle Creek which from the map might be as gorgy as described.  However I suspect there are other problems with this theory (like the time from the accident to descending to the bushline).  

Someone else will no doubt have a better idea on all this - for me I had a good weekend out with a bit of new territory and some unanticipated night navigation practice.  


Wednesday 19 August 2020

Gollans stream

What with Covid and winter ennui I have become lamentably sessile.  However, if you scratch around there are trips to be had around Wellington that aren't on the maps but are well known to locals.

I've pottered around a few of the tracks around the Eastbourne hills - enough to know there are informal tracks, pest control lines and a bit more space than you would guess from the car.

Angela has clearly forgotten the expensive rips in her underarmour from the last time we wandered off track and is keen to come out for a bit of compass practice.

What:     Day navigation trip
Where:   Hills behind Days Bay
When:    20 August
Who:      Angela and me




I must have lent my Lower Hutt map to someone so I have to resort to one that shows some tracks that are no longer there, and is missing some that are. However the streams and contours haven't changed so it will be fine.

The start isn't auspicious - we can't find the track on my map marked as running SSE to the ridgeline from Lowry Bay, so we follow our noses to Cheviot Road.

The well marked track dives immediately into dim forest with Nikau and supplejack. We pick a spot where there might be a bit of a spur and climb directly away from the track.  It doesn't look like people come this way, but it's open enough with the morning sun lighting the canopy.   Every now and then we get a glimpse out to the harbour.




Just short of the top we cross an old benched track that is still easy to follow.  It seems to sidle around to join the ridgeline a bit further south.  

At the top, the noise from the Wainuiomata Hill road is a bit intrusive and we can see cars flashing by not far below.   However, the sun is on our backs and as we head south along the ridge the sounds fade behind.

It's an easy amble up to the view spot just short of Mt Lowry where we meet a runner - the first person today.  A bit of a stop to transfer control of the map and compass to Angela (no separation anxiety at all) then a short hop along to the survey peg marking Mt Lowry. 




Angela takes a bearing from the top towards the spur we want to take to Gollan Stream.  The track continues our way for a bit but then hives off to the left leaving us to find our way into tiger country.

It turns out that someone has a well cared for trapping line with possum and stoat traps, and rat bait stations. The state of the flour lures for the possums indicate someone has been through not too long ago.  The bark on a few coprosma trees show signs of being chewed by something bigger than possums though - goat or deer by the look of it. 





We studiously ignore the markers for the trap line as Angela takes more bearings, estimates rate of progress and matches the map to the landscape. It's a fairly gentle spur so the hills on either side gradually get higher as we drop and pretty soon we can only hear the sounds of the valley.

The spur meets the valley floor at a flat area in tall, rich forest - there's a bit of of treefall, kiekie and supplejack and the stream wanders around. We're pleased to discover that a trap line continues down stream (as well as other lines going up various spurs).  It's almost a track barring a few overgrown sections. 

I try to make sure that Angela doesn't pick up my rather agricultural approach to navigation so we take time to estimate how long we think it will take to get to the next side stream in this terrain and study the map to work out how we will know when we have reached the points where we might follow a spur out of the valley.  We identify a kink in the stream where the map shows it briefly looping back to flow north - we estimate it will be a stretch about 200m long so it should be pretty obvious when we get to it.


     


It turns out that there is an informal camping spot with an improvised swing and homemade sign, so it would indeed be hard to miss. The stream comes hard back on itself so we are fully confident in our navigational prowess.

We've been taking it slow so decide that we will head up to the ridgeline rather than further downstream to Butterfly Creek.  To avoid taking the obvious spur straight up, we continue downstream for a bit as it steps down through a narrow section with deepish pools.  It's surprising how good the bush is, sandwiched been Eastbourne and Wainuiomata - there's some pretty big rimu and the occasional elegant nikau looking out of place below the canopy.





At the next side stream we cross and immediately follow our noses up the side of a spur towards a marked spot height on the ridge (named on some maps as Hawtrey 343m).  

A short way up we bump into a deer fence.  It's a Regional Council vegetation monitoring plot built in 2001.  You find them in the oddest places and of various sizes. After this there is a reasonable ground trail up the spur with more possum traps.  






At the top we're on the main ridge again.  Heading south from here the Hawtrey track ('route') follows the ridge to join Mackenzie track (to Butterfly Creek) it looks like you could also follow a long spur that drops to the junction of Butterfly Creek and Gollans Stream.   

We can smell the iced coffee at Chocolate Daze cafe though so we head right, along a solid marked track which drops gently to join the main ridgeline track just as it starts the steep descent down Kereru track to Days Bay.

Our relief driver is already happily ensconced at the cafe. Aching knees are soon forgotten over coffee and sticky toffee cake while the late afternoon sun slants in from across the harbour.  A day well spent.






Sunday 16 August 2020

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.