My family is based in Gisborne, so I head up there for Christmas and some of the summer break. With a bit of time available between Christmas and meeting up with some friends to do some tramping in the South Island, I decided to head to the Kaweka Range with my sister.
The Kaweka's are an underutilized tramping paradise, about an hour's drive West of Napier. They're too far away from Wellington to venture on weekends so I was quite looking forward to my first overnight tramp in the range.
After a long time gazing over the Topomaps for the area and there being a multitude of possible adventures, I decided on a loop that would bag 8 huts!
We parked in the Makahu Saddle carpark and headed up to Kaweka J, via Makahu Saddle Hut, which is a fantastic ex NZFS hut only 5 minutes from the carpark, Makahu Spur and Dominie Biv. Dominie Biv, halfway up the climb, is a good spot to stop and catch your breath, it's a very cute and cosy biv. Kaweka J (1,724m) is the highest point in the range and although the carpark is at about 900m, it's still a solid haul up the J. There's a few steep scree sections.
Once on the top, after around two hours of climbing, things flatten out a lot more. This part of the range is quite severely eroded, as I think much of the original vegetation was burned years ago in an attempt to run sheep on it!
After reaching the summit, we continued on over the main range down a steepish track for around 2 hours, to the four bunk Back Ridge Hut for the night. It was occupied by a lovely couple and, located beside a small stream, it was a great spot to spend the night.
The next day, we begun the steady climb up to Back Ridge Biv. I was quite pleased to have bagged the fourth hut/biv of the trip to date. All of huts so far had been very tidy, well maintained places, all painted in a fresh coat of NZFS orange. I love the distinctive colour and the contrast which it provides against the bush in the background.
From Back Ridge Biv, which was about 1.5hrs from Back Ridge Hut, we headed down a steep track to Rocks Ahead Hut, by the river. Yet another fantastic NZFS hut, I was ecstatic with the hut haul so far. We had lunch here and checked out the very cool cable way to the Rocks Ahead Biv. I wanted to go across on the cable way, but chickened out in the end. But I totally regret that now!
From Rocks Ahead, a sign said that it was only 2.5hrs to our next destination, Venison Tops. I'd expected a solid 3.5hrs, so was pleased. However, after 2.5hrs of climbing we were still in the bush and my GPS confirmed we were still some way off.
I normally plan on slashing a good chunk of time off the posted times on tracks, but I've concluded that the times in the Kaweka's have been calculated by a very fit person.
We got some great views of the centre of the ranges from Venison Tops, before ducking back into the bush to the large Venison Tops hut. It was New Years eve and we had the hut to ourselves but were in bed before 9pm!
After a bit of a stormy night, the next morning dawned clear and we headed to Ballard Hut. The track is a gentle one, through bush for an hour or so, before venturing onto the tops for a further hour, with a steep 20 minute scramble down to Ballard, which is at the bush line, just off the ridge.
After Ballard, we completed the loop, walking up and down along the tops for 1.5hrs, over North Kaweka and back to Makahu spur for a fast hour-long descent to the carpark. Walking along the tops on a fine day is one of life's great pleasures and we could almost see right across the North island, from Ruapehu in the West to the sea of Hawkes Bay on the East. A great trip!
The Kaweka's are an underutilized tramping paradise, about an hour's drive West of Napier. They're too far away from Wellington to venture on weekends so I was quite looking forward to my first overnight tramp in the range.
After a long time gazing over the Topomaps for the area and there being a multitude of possible adventures, I decided on a loop that would bag 8 huts!
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| Makahu Saddle Hut |
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| Dominie Biv |
Once on the top, after around two hours of climbing, things flatten out a lot more. This part of the range is quite severely eroded, as I think much of the original vegetation was burned years ago in an attempt to run sheep on it!
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| On the tops heading towards Kaweka J summit |
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| On the mega cairn at the summit |
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| Back Ridge Hut |
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| Back Ridge Biv |
From Back Ridge Biv, which was about 1.5hrs from Back Ridge Hut, we headed down a steep track to Rocks Ahead Hut, by the river. Yet another fantastic NZFS hut, I was ecstatic with the hut haul so far. We had lunch here and checked out the very cool cable way to the Rocks Ahead Biv. I wanted to go across on the cable way, but chickened out in the end. But I totally regret that now!
 |
| Rocks Ahead Hut |
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| Rocks Ahead interior |
From Rocks Ahead, a sign said that it was only 2.5hrs to our next destination, Venison Tops. I'd expected a solid 3.5hrs, so was pleased. However, after 2.5hrs of climbing we were still in the bush and my GPS confirmed we were still some way off.
I normally plan on slashing a good chunk of time off the posted times on tracks, but I've concluded that the times in the Kaweka's have been calculated by a very fit person.
We got some great views of the centre of the ranges from Venison Tops, before ducking back into the bush to the large Venison Tops hut. It was New Years eve and we had the hut to ourselves but were in bed before 9pm!
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| View from Venison Tops |
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| Venison Tops Hut |
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| Ballard Hut |
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| On the tops looking towards North Kaweka |
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| On the tops - scant vegetation here |
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