Peach Cove, Whangarei Heads June 2014

Northland isn't the most popular or well known tramping destination in New Zealand; there's no snow, no towering peaks and no wide, gravelly riverbeds or glaciers. But there are quite a few good walks and easier tramps to do, which provide the opportunity to see some of New Zealand's coolest coastal scenery.

On a long weekend trip up to Auckland, my sister and I decided to head up to Whangarei Heads to check out a few of the walks up there.

The first of these was a trip to Mt Manaia. Manaia is a very dominant and distinctive peak, sitting right near the edge of Whangarei Harbour. Despite only being 403m high, it seems a lot larger than its height as it is a volcanic peak which rises straight up from the coast. It's quite a popular track and despite being a solid climb, thanks to the well built and wide track, it doesn't seem too bad at all. It only takes us 45 minutes to reach the top.

Looking towards Whangarei from the summit

Marsden Point Refinery from the summit

Looking towards the coast and Bream Head from the summit

View from side track on the way down

Although the views from the top are great (180 degrees, plus another 50 between some rocks, there's an annoyingly large rock (which is really the summit, at about 20 metres above the viewing rock, the farthest point you're allowed to go) next to the viewing platform, which prevents the views from being almost 300 degrees. You can go past this, if you really want and we try to, but there's a very narrow ledge on which to walk, a lot of loose rock and a very large drop below. And we don't even know what the views are like on the other side. So we abandon this plan and avoid risking our lives and head back down. There's another track, about a third of the way down, which provides great views to almost fill in the gap left by the rock near the summit.

The trip back down takes a similar amount of time.

The second, slightly longer, trip we do is to Peach Cove Hut in the Bream Head scenic reserve. Bream Head, as the name might suggest, is at the head of the Whangarei harbour, and only a 10 minute drive from Manaia (or about 40mins from Whangarei).

From the Peach Cove carpark, it's a solid 30 minute climb to a saddle. From the saddle, it's only a very steep 15 minutes down to the hut. However, the track is of a great walk standard and extremely well built, with steps most of the way down to the hut.

The hut is set back amongst lush coastal forest, and looks almost tropical with the Nikau palms and a large Kauri tree with its roots spread out over a large boulder. The hut is only a short distance from the serene Peach Cove.

Peach Cove Hut

Being a Sunday night, we had the hut to ourselves. Although a little shaded and dark on a June night, the eight bunk Peach Cove Hut is nice and cosy, with a bright yellow door and a large deck complete with a picnic table. Inside the hut is quite cramped, with only a very small communal area. Though it was perfect for two people.

We reached the hut about 5pm and after an hour or so of snacking and reading the paper, we cooked (well rather, put bags in a billy of boiling water) dinner ($4.50 Kaweka meals from New World - the best backcountry meals ever!).

We were very shattered from the previous night in Auckland, where we stayed at the very noisy, dirty and cramped Ibis Styles Hotel. Despite a 7am start the next day, we didn't get to sleep until 4.30am due to the noise of the bars below! At the hut, we were both asleep by 7.30 and slept for a solid 12 hours. The $15 hut accommodation sure beat the $90 a night hotel! It was just so quiet and falling asleep to the sound of the ocean and Moreporks calling out was fantastic.

Hut interior

Peach Cove

Although there are options to go along the ridge of Bream Head, to make for a longer and more challenging tramp, we headed back the way we came as we needed to head back to Auckland. 

Whangarei Heads is a beautiful and accessible area, studded with calm bays, fantastic beaches and some of the North Island's best coastal bush.

Papatahi Crossing

After running the Jumbo-Holdsworth circuit in the Tararuas back in January, I'd been on the look-out for some new trail running challenges.

I'd always wanted to complete the Papatahi Crossing, a track over the Rimutakas from Lake Wairarapa to the Orongorongo Valley near Wainuiomata. I'd completed almost half the track before, from the Orongorongo Valley on the way to Mt Matthews, and knew that most this was a very easy, well graded track, with only a few kilometres of riverbed travel.

My mate Matt was keen on the run as well, and had walked to the base of Papatahi on the Orongorongo side before, but not beyond that.

What we weren't too sure on was the section from the Wairarapa side to Papatahi. I knew the climb up Papatahi would be tough, from my previous experience climbing Mt Matthews, but the rest of the section seemed relatively straightforward, with no major variations in elevation.

We'd managed to find a few accounts of people walking the crossing, with times varying between 9-13hrs for the whole thing, but found no accounts of people running it (although I'm sure it's been done many times before). Based on the distance (25km), elevation gains and the fact that we knew the last half of the run would only take about 1.5hrs, we estimated a time of a time of four hours to run the whole thing.

We set out on Saturday morning, with a cloudy and windy, but dry, forecast. We took two cars over to Wainuiomata, and dropped one off in the Orongorongo carpark and drove around to the Wairarapa. Finding the start of the crossing was a bit of a challenge. There's only a very small, faded DOC sign by a fence on the side of the road, so it's very easy to miss.

To get there, heading South down Western Lake Road from Featherston, drive past the East-West Access Road for about 1km, until you get to a farm called 'Devon'. Slow down here and the sign and a small 'car park' is just past the farm gate. It's just before a corner and a gravel road which veers North from the left hand side of the road. If you pass a bridge after the East-West Access Road, you've gone too far.

The start was very windy, but as pretty much the entire Rimutaka Range is covered in bush, we knew we'd be pretty sheltered.

The 'track' initially goes through a farm for about a kilometre. There are no markers on the farm, but follow the stream West, in the direction of the hills. At this point there's an orange marker and you'll need to cross the stream (a big jump or wet feet) and the proper track starts on the other side.

The track begins nice and wide, heading through some beautiful manuka forest. There's a gentle upwards gradient, perfect running terrain. Before long, the track narrows and becomes more and more overgrown. We slow down and briskly walk through some sections as it becomes  too difficult to run these parts.

Although there are plenty of markers, the overgrown nature of the track means that we have to stop and find the next marker quite often as occasionally we veer off the track. It's obviously not a well used track. After crossing Battery Stream, we begin the climb up a small saddle just before Wharepapa Hut. The final stage of this is very steep and not at all runnable. Thankfully someone has put ropes in some of the sections to assist with the climb. We finally emerge out on top and there are fantastic views over the surprisingly large Wharepapa river. The river is quite a way down - the climb was much bigger than expected. There's quite a steep track that winds down through beech forest.

After almost 1.5hrs of running we reach Wharepapa hut. It's pleasing to see the first major landmark of the day, but we'd hoped to have reached it in an hour. Walking this track with a pack would take a good three hours.

Wharepapa hut is old and basic, seemingly created with leftovers, but very tidy inside, with a good open fire. There's plenty of space for camping around the hut. Water is from the river. It seems as though mostly hunters pass through here, coming up the river from Wharekauhau. The mattresses are pretty gross and quite old and mouldy though, so I think I would bring something to cover them if I were to spend a night here.

We have a short break at the hut, but we really have to get moving and cover some ground as we're behind schedule.  

The climb up to Papatahi begins a short distance up the river. We head up the river bed to try find the track leading into the bush. We can't find it. We pull out the GPS and realise we've missed it (if you get to the first side stream up from the hut, you've gone too far). We scan the banks but can't find the track or a marker. With the GPS at hand, we bush bash for a bit until we see a marker. But now it's been two hours and we've hardly begun the climb to Papatahi.

It's a very long, steep and relentless 800m climb to Papatahi (902m). The track is quite overgrown and at times isn't obvious. You need to keep an eye on the orange markers. We start to worry about how long this is going to take and whether we've got enough food, or even if we're going to get out before dark! We kind of regret even doing this, given it's becoming more of a tough tramp than a run. To make matters worse, we loose the track for quite a while and it takes a lot of bush bashing and GPS-consulting to find the track again. At this point Matt reveals that he's left the keys for his truck (parked at the finish in the Orongorongo Valley carpark) in the car that went back to Wellington. With no reception at the carpark, we're probably going to have to hitchhike back to Wainuiomata...or run an extra 14km! We're both feeling pretty dark at this point. I just want to go home and laze about for the rest of the weekend, like most of Wellington is probably doing.

As we near the top, things begin to look up (excuse the pun). We realise that the hardest part is behind us and that we can make good time on the final half of the run. We're a lot happier now especially knowing we'll be out before dark.

We reach the summit at 1.30pm, by which time we'd hoped to be on the final stretch to the carpark. The summit is a bleak and very windy place, with no views (covered in bush and cloud), although there were good views of the Wairarapa between the trees on the way up.

Thankfully, there's reception on the top, and we get a text message out letting a few people know where behind schedule.

The climb down Papatahi is much easier. Although incredibly steep in parts (there's scree and ropes on large parts of it), we can run parts of it and it's only another 20 minutes before we're at the bottom. There's a short run on the Orongorongo riverbed before reaching Papatahi Hut.

Papatahi Hut is a lovely ten bunk hut. Rebuilt in 2009, it's located just above the river in a clearing, surrounded by bush. It's available to be booked out exclusively and would be a great destination for a relaxing weekend away. It's the most upstream of a river valley covered in huts. The Orongorongo valley has something like 100 huts, mostly private, tucked away in the bush surrounding the valley. 

We chat to a bunch of hunters in the hut about whether they came in on the riverbed or the Big Bend track. It's started raining and the rocks are a bit slippery. We're keen to run in the bush again, but not if there's anymore climbing involved! Thankfully, the hunters advise that the Big Bend track, which begins 1.5km down the river is very easy. 

We reach the track and it's like a motorway - wide, easy and well graded. It's so good to be running at speed again! Within 30 minutes we reach the main Orongorongo track and from there it's only 25-30 minutes back to the carpark. After seeing no-one (except the hunters at Papatahi hut), we pass so many people. It's a very popular track. Plenty of opportunities for people to hitch a ride with!

After almost 5.5 hours on our feet, it's such a relief to be finished. Thankfully, there's a landline at a lodge by the road, so we only have to walk an extra 2km instead of  14km to be able to call for a ride. 

A very tough day out, and despite the disappointment at not being able to run a large chunk of the track, I'm very glad I did it. There's something quite satisfying about crossing an entire range on foot.

Although challenging and involving a bit of logistics in getting to the start and back home again, it's a great trip and covers a fantastic variety of terrain that allows you to experience the full variety of landscapes the Rimutakas offers. 

Approximate Timings (run/walk):

Western Lake Road - Wharepapa Hut: 1.5hrs/3hrs
Wharepapa Hut - Papatahi Summit: 1.5hrs/ 3hrs
Papatahi Summit - Papatahi Hut: 1hr/ 2hrs
Papatahi Hut - Orongorongo Track: 45 mins/1.5-2.5hrs
Orongorongo Track - Carpark: 30mins/ 1-1.5hrs