I'm needing to use up a bit of leave - initially I thought it might be interesting to make a start at the Te Aroroa Trail but the more I looked at the northern section the less interested I got.
After a lot of uming and ahing I plump for an exploration trip in the Coromandel. I'm definitely not fit and have little idea of what the terrain is like - and what I can find on the internet is not that encouraging. However, the main goal is to get out of circulation for a while and see what turns up.
The plan is to maintain options for a prolonged trip without needing to pop into towns - consequentially I'm packed and could do 12 days if needed.
What: Off track wander
Where: Northern Coromandel
When: 5 - 10 October 2022
Who: Solo
Where: Northern Coromandel
When: 5 - 10 October 2022
Who: Solo
Getting there
After work on Friday I get the final packing done ready to head north early in the morning. It's a straight forward trip. At the obligatory stop at the Taihape outdoor shop I find myself buying a new top and pair of boots that I hadn't realised I needed - I have a lot of treasured pieces of kit acquired here in this manner.
I also swing into Taupo for lunch and to pick up a couple of other odds and ends. One is a silicon zip seal pouch for preparing dehy (to save weight I have decanted all meals out of the foil lined pouches into zip lock bags). I am singularly unsuccessful in finding anyone on the way that can sell me Coromandel topo maps. Fortunately I have printed what I need.
I pick up the support crew in a quiet and gray Thames - she has just bused down from Auckland having attended a funeral. We head north along the peninsular to Coromandel town - last time through for me was on my bike on the way to the ferry at Takoma.
We're booked in at the Angler's Lodge near Colville so stop for dinner in Coromandel (Wharf Road). The accommodation is good and the hosts really helpful. I spend the evening waxing the new boots and getting familiar with my new Garmin Inreach Mini-2.
In the morning we head north and onto the Port Jackson Road. This is ok for 2WD and takes us along the coast and eventually to Port Jackson where there is a DOC campsite by the beach. It's quite a large area so it must be pumping in summer. Just to say we've done it - we head further along to the end of the road at Fletcher Bay - and another DOC campsite.
On the way back we stop at the top of the hill where the Muriwai walk meets the road - there's a track up the hill marked on the map. Hopefully the start of my trip south - the support crew waves as I head off.
Day one - Cape Colville to Moehau
There are a few DOC markers so this must be a recognised walk. It leads upwards along farm tracks with views back down a long spur to Cape Colville and out to Aotea (Great Barrier Island). It's overcast and clag hides the hills above.
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| Near pt 708 looking up ridge |
Off the farmland it's nicely regenerating bush and a well marked pest control trail along the narrow ridge. It's looking good as I rock smugly along. Until the trail sidles off the ridge and starts heading down a spur. I can't find any sign of a trail going in my direction so after a bit of casting about start a scrub bash up towards pt 857.
It looks like there might have been a pest control trail in the past but it is long overgrown and it's a draining scrub bash through a wee saddle and up the steep slope. At 2.20 I collapse exhausted on a solid trail with lots of markers on the ridge top.
It's completely clagged in but it's a simple matter of a left turn to follow the ridge down then up and down to the climb to Moehau. I rock along for a while until I lose the trail - a check of the compass gives a completely unintuitive reading. I mull over things for a bit and reluctantly retrace my steps and do some proper map work. Yep - I missed the right route somehow and have veered onto a spur. A bit more application and I find the correct route - apart from a brief sortie down the left spur at the clearing past 856. From the saddle there is a climb to a it of a plateau with some sort of installation and a plaque (which I didn't record the details of).
From here it is a bit of a climb up towards Moehau. I find a pest control trail that starts veering left (east) and initially miss another one that zags backup towards the top. This is where I come across a faded sign DOC sign requesting no travel further along the ridge top because it is wahi tapu (some significant individuals were buried up here for a windy sleep) and to preserve the ecology.
This is a bit of a set back. I had thought I had checked for closures but hadn't noticed that this area was restricted. I peer around the south side and quickly decide a bypass sidle through that steep scrubby territory is out of the question. I plump for option two which is to follow the pest control trail down and hope that there is a connector trail running across the north eastern face of Moehau.
I've just about resigned myself to dropping all the way to Stony Bay when I stumble on J line. This is an old line that seems to be heading in the right direction. I follow it along as daylight starts to dim. The odd stream provides water and shortly after one of these I find the first flattish part of track that looks like I can set up the fly - it is promptly nominated as home for the night.
It has been a bit of a tough day - the usual camp routine keeps me occupied until lights out and I can lie in the dark listening to the sounds of the bush reflecting on just how unfit I have become. It starts to rain during the night and I am pleased that I have my bivvy bag as well as the fly.
Day two - Moehau to Waikawau Bay
In the morning I have a bit of a lie in but it's soon clear that the weather isn't about to. I head off around 8.50 and inside of 15 minutes reach the end of J line. The new line (Y I think) is running up hill in the direction I would be aiming to take to get to the ridge. I assume it has come up via pt 609.
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| End of J line and onto Y line |
The line takes me through a mix of forest, scrub and semi-alpine scrub. It would be tough territory without a trail to follow. It's claggy, drizzly and a bit cold - but I'm sort of enjoying it.
The line starts running across the face of the flat ridge and I'm hoping there will be a line cutting off left to follow the ridge. I find an old one that is pretty overgrown - in retrospect I suspect there was a more recent one not further along. Anyway - I follow it along and down and am stunned to suddenly pop out in front of a hut.
It looks like a DOC biosecurity hut that has not been used in a while. It smells like the rats have had a free run - I turf one out the door that hadn't made it. I shelter from the weather for a while and study the map on the wall that marks old pest lines. It's not quite detailed enough to be useful. I arrive at the hut around 10.15 and stay for a while but don't note the time of reluctant departure.
The next section is a bit confusing in the clag - I make my way across to the main ridge and along to pt 680. I'm aiming to follow a slightly complex ridge system to Port Charles Road and hoping that there will be trails most of the way.
I find myself on a spur that runs towards pt 563 but runs into untracked scrub so cut across a wee stream and through some pretty manky vegetation to eventually find a stronger trail that takes me on to pt 627. A bearing from here has me on stronger trails that take me all the way to pt 346.
At some point through here it has continued to not stop raining but the route does start following a fence. There's a broad clay track which is somewhat slick but it does mean that progress speeds up. Eventually, I pop out at a site where a new communications mast is being installed and follow a 4WD track down to the road at the 'saddle' - 4.30pm.
The day starts to clear as I wander down the gravel road. A couple of Ks in to the walk a car pulls up and a couple offer me a lift which I gratefully accept (after checking they are ok with a soggy tramper in their backseat). They live in a local commune and are heading through to Coromandel - they go out of their way to drop me to Waikawau Bay but we are stymied when we discover the river has taken over the road. I wade through and across the bridge and continue to plod along the road to the next flooded section.
It's getting dim by the time I get to the deserted DOC campsite at 5.30. I do the thing with the form and the box and search out a couple of trees I can hang the fly from. It's a huge camp site and no-one else is visible so I comandeer a toilet cubicle to hang gear to drip then get water boiling for soup and dehy.
The silicon pouch is working tolerably well - it gets a bit too floppy when you pour boiling water directly into it but it seals well enough that I can tuck it in my jacket or (very carefully) between my feet in the sleeping bag.
A bit of rain in the night but it clears before morning and I wake to a cloudless day.
Day three - half day rest and on to ?
I decide to take an easy run at the day by getting everything dried and having a bit of a wander around the campsite. The site itself is extensive and there are one or two other inhabitants that I didn't notice in the evening. A DOC planting crew turn up and set to work at one end and in a closed section across the road.
The deserted beach is a short stroll away.
I get away at 1pm planning to head up the Matamataharakeke track from the bay and follow the main ridge south. All good except the track has a sign that it is closed due to track damage or something. There is also a Kauri die back boot cleaning station. I scrub up as required and head along the track. There is a bit of bank that has been undercut by the stream - but nothing dangerous. I cross the stream and follow a well formed track upwards. It eventually pops out on farmland and pt 344 with views back to Waikawau Bay - about 2.45pm.
There's a foot trail heading south west across the pasture to pt 364 and beyond. The pasture turns into scrub with an old farm track running along the ridge. Long story short - the track crosses more farmland, turns into a bulldozed track through bush which winds and climbs along the ridge. Somewhere after pt 541 I run out of energy and start running out of daylight. I find a site to pitch the fly among punga beside the road and bash down to find where a wee stream starts to form to get water.
The night is uncannily quiet without a breath of wind.
Day three - ? to near pt 573
Another slow start on a fine day. I continue to follow the 4WD track - it's wide and there are motorbike tracks of various ages. There are also some home made signs indicating someone might be using this on a commercial basis. In the bush white sprays of clematis flowers are are a reminder of the season.
Further along the ridge there's a junction - a communication mast off to the right - the main ridge continuing to the left, but less well travelled. Still easy walking though.
There is pig rooting and areas of old pine - also periodic views south towards Coromandel town and the gulf.
In the saddle past pt 501 there looks like a track leading up towards pt 469, I stay on the old road though hoping that as it sidles Tokatea there will be enough catchment to form some small streams. This proves to be the case so I can fill up - one of them even has an ancient trough where perhaps horses were watered when mining or logging was in full swing.
I'm pottering along in a bit of a dream when a figure with a gun looms ahead. I think we're both a bit surprised - I give a cheerful greeting and we get to yarning. Turns out that I'm on private land - he's ok with my presence once he works out that I'm not hunting or growing dope and show every sign of being a genial but slightly gormless tramper. He's clearly not the landowner but has a long association with the area and with this block. We cover a lot of conversational territory while his dog says hello then gets bored with the conversation. I learn about where he has lived in the area, how the land has changed, how he has looked after some of the pigs to make sure there is a steady supply, where he and his missus went on holiday recently and the need to be careful about mine shafts when you're off track in the ranges (he lost a dog down one once - and you wouldn't wish that sort of death on ... well).
The time gets on and eventually I apologise that I have probably disturbed any game he may have seen (but I hadn't seen any fresh sign this morning), he says it's fine and he gives me some pointers about the route ahead.
Soon after saying good bye the track spits me out on Kennedy Bay Road (or Drivers Creek Road - depending on what side of the saddle you're standing) around 11.45. I cross and follow a steepish gravel road towards pt 557 and the start of the Kaipawa Trig Track.
Looking at the map I suspect there is an old track from the trig that cuts off a big down hill and sidle - I note some old cut branches but decide to follow the markers for now - there might be a good reason for the long cut. The mine warning signs could have something to do with it I guess.
The track sidles as indicated on the map, passing some old mine openings then joins a 4WD track and follows the ridge down to Whangapoua Road - 2.20pm.
The next section of range is on a forestry road. There is a sign about access but there is clearly no logging in the area so I proceed upwards along a wide and solid road. The road leaves the ridge so I follow an old bulldozed further up to a knob with a mast on it.
Casting around I can't find any indication of a trail heading along the ridge. This is a bit of a downer as the bush is regenerating and is very dense. It's 3pm so still a bit of daylight so I duck and weave between the supple jack stems. After a bit I start seeing old bits of tape and triangles - there was a pest control trail along here but it's not been used for a while except for by pigs.
It's slow and painful - with plentiful kiekie and supplejack. Sundown catches up with me somewhere between pt 561 and 573. There's little flat space and even less water. I keep going looking for a place to pitch the fly - in the end having to settle for kicking a flat spot among pig rootings on a rocky slope. It's reasonably open so I head down until I find water trickling out of the rocks and tie the fly to supple jack stems.
There's so much pig sign I wonder about them getting into my pack during the night - common sense suggests they will keep well clear though.
The last of the sun slants orange light through the canopy and it's another dead calm night. After soup and dinner I drift off - muscles twitching with fatigue.
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| Home for the night |
Day four - near pt 573 to near Motutere
It's slightly demoralising waking in the middle of a ridge covered in regen bush knowing that the morning will be a rinse and repeat of yesterday afternoon. Still - the morning sun is a bit more cheerful and occasionally there are breaks in the bush for views across to Whangapoua Harbour.
Travel is as the day before - tight bush and windfall for about an hour until a mast appears ahead. I figure it is the end of the ridge just past 573.
The mast looks like it is abandoned - the batteries are not connected and the solar panels look old and had it. Standing on tip toes I can get a bit of view across Coromandel Harbour. It feels like it is taking an awfully long time to get past it.
The map suggest there could be three routes down from here but I can only find a bit of a trail heading in one direction - it isn't my preferred but in this country you take what you can get. It winds east and a little south to eventually pop out on the side of a marked forestry road around grid ref 287264.
The road is less travelled than others but still well made and solid. Someone has been through on a motorbike but it is quiet. It's 10:30 as I set off up the road to follow it around to the main range and pick up another road heading south.
On the near horizon an iconic rock formation dominates - it can only be castle rock. The road winds towards it - each corner giving new angles.
Although pleased to be out of the regen bush I'm soon a bit tired of plodding along hard roads. However it is giving good progress. As the road approaches then skirts Castle Rock it looks like good rock climbing potential but I can't see obvious tracks leading into the bush at its foot.
The road drops to a gate which motorbikers are obviously bypassing then reaches a stream as marked on the map - the stream has a large pond above the road, possibly for fire fighting purposes. Also a large pile of rubbish where some toe-rag has figured they don't want to pay tip fees.
The intersections don't quite match the map but I'm soon heading east and climbing to the south side of Castle Rock. There's a sign indicating that it is iwi owned and requesting that people don't proceed to the rock for safety reasons. I decide I don't need the climb so instead follow the forestry on along the ridge towards pt 470.
Beyond 470 is a large of block of land surrounded by steep country and bluffs. Somewhere up there is Motutere. From a distance it looks like the west face is impassible. I'm hoping to be able to follow the ridge up to pt 563 - it looks steep but doable on the map, although as I get closer it looks worryingly bluffy.
The solid road runs out about where marked on the map but an old road continues skirting below 470. I pick a spot and leave the track to climb steeply to the saddle. Then south towards 563 along a sharp ridge. There's an animal trail but no sign that people come this way. The trail ends on grass below a rocky face - upwards is out of the question so I fossick around the corner to find more exposed face. Checking downwards to see if I can skirt below the bluffs reveals more sketchy scrambles and no certainty of a route up.
I sit and think in the sun for a bit then reluctantly accept that this is a dead end. The only options are to drop to a forestry road and do a long bypass below Motutere to the west, or to drop over the ridge to the east and see if I can find a route up on that side.
It's rough country below the ridge - thick bush with steep loose scree underfoot from the faces above. The bush is lush and the understory rotting with generous amounts of supplejack. I do bump into a kauri though - the first large one I have seen so far - I keep well away from it's base.
There's no sign of trails so I make my way along and down aiming to skirt below the cliffs and find my way to the marked stream which looks like it might be scalable.
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| That's one very broad leaf |
It's very slow and careful going but I eventually reach a sizable stream cut into the landscape. Scrambling down I have a good drink and start climbing. It gets steeper and steeper and smaller and smaller. I eventually leave the water course to follow a bit of a spur upwards. It's hand over hand through the ubiquitous supplejack - utterly draining with a heavy pack. Eventually there is a bit of a window and I can triangulate on the knobs on the opposite ridge (SE of pt 470). This reveals that I am not in the stream I was aiming for but climbing the precipitous faces in the gully just short.
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| Just climb up through that lot then keep doing it for an hour or two |
I'm committed now so keep climbing until I hit bare, vertical rock. Skirting below there's fresh fallen material from above that provides a platform to scramble over to reach a gully that seems like it might provide a way up. In this way I keep climbing up and around obstacles until the slope starts to ease. I pop out into forest which eases up to a ridge edge. I'm not sure where I am but soon get a window towards Coromandel Harbour - it seems that I have rejoined the main ridge somewhere above the bluffs I had backed off from earlier. There's some ground trail but probably animal that leads me up to pt 563.
There's the very old remains of a trail but well overgrown now. I decide to follow wherever it goes as going anywhere else in this scrubby country is going to be painful. It turns out to follow a spur south from pt 563 and eventually drops to the headwaters of the Motutere stream. I can't say I am still on any trail at this point but decide to cross and camp at the first flat spot.
I keep climbing east and there are absolutely no flat spots to be seen until I reach the ridge. I'm downright grumpy by now - the constant battle with the vegetation, the glacial progress and the amount of private land is not what I had anticipated. I pitch the fly low amongst grasses on the ridge top and settle down to the evening routine.
Day five - near Motutere to Coromandel Town
It's another quiet night despite the exposed location. In the morning I am hopeful that there might be an old trail along the ridge top - there isn't. It is just more struggling through supplejack and trying to keep to the ridge line. I retain some hope that there might be something when I get near Motutere as it is a named point that people might have travelled to.
After a ridiculously painful struggle through the wee saddle I find there is a bit of trail heading south west from Motutere. It's easy to lose though - and I soon find myself heading down too steeply in a westerly direction. I sit and think - there's a trail I can follow here and I am low on water ... but it is not taking me where I want to go and it's likely there is a stronger trail that I just missed on the ridge above. In the end the need for water wins and I continue down.
By the time the spur spits me out by a stream that promptly disappears over a sharp drop, the trail has disappeared. I fill up with water and pick the least worst option that is heading in the approximately right direction.
It is relentless. I've long given up any idea of trying to return to the ridge but just keep trying to head south knowing that I will eventually reach a top. When I do, I work out that I am on the wee knob east of 442 and there is a spur that I should be able to follow to a stream below the Waiau Summit track.
It's pretty much more of the same but eventually I pop out by the stream. I follow it up for a while before reaching a bit of a cascade where I leave it and scramble up a steep slope towards (I hope) the track.
It's an immense pleasure to see the piece of orange tape that heralds the track. I can walk freely and cover a bit of ground. By this time I have been mulling over the next part of the planned trip - get to Mahakirau Road and follow it along the range and back into untracked bush for who knows how many days before reaching the next road. I also catalogue the bruises and chaffs accumulated from the trip so far.
Standing on the track it's decision time - left takes me to Mahakirau Road for fourish K of road walking then back into the bush - right takes me down to the 309 Road to hitch in to Coromandel. I turn right.
The track winds along the hillside and down to where it joins a thoroughly civilised gravel path with actual signs. There is a kauri grove with board walks so I pay a brief visit to the impressive trees before popping out on the side of a large gravel road.
I've walked about a K and a half of dusty road when I hear a car behind and half heartedly stick a thumb out. The car stops and the woman offers me a lift - apologising for the pong I gratefully accept.
She has just been dropping her son (who had been playing up) at his father's on the other side of the peninsula. We have a good yarn about this and that and nothing in particular. Apparently the 309 road is so named because that's how many minutes it took by horse to ride it. We do a short detour to pick up her tea at the mussel farm then she drops me at the Top 10 in Coromandel.
I must reek as I stand at the counter; foot sore, battered and dusty. A short transaction later though I am heading to my unit for a long shower.
Postscript
So, not the most successful trip. Some good views and sections of bush but really not worth the aggravation of all that supplejack and restrictions on access. I suspect it gets a bit better further south but I'm not in a hurry to find out - reckon I'll be doing a good few trips south before I come back.
On the gear front - the silicon pouch worked out ok for dehy rehy, the walls got a bit thin when boiling water was poured in though so I'm on the look out for a better version. The penny stove used 190mm for the trip - I'll keep using it. The hunters element boots from Taihape worked fine - lighter than my Zamberlans but seem pretty robust. Some pressure points on the top of my feet which were mitigated by not lacing through all of the eyelets.
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