Singalila Ridge Trek

My first trek in India! After trekking in Nepal I was interested to see what trekking in India would be like.

The trekking industry in India is much less developed than Nepal and the main routes are much quieter, despite India's huge population.

The Singalila Ridge trek is about an hour from Darjeeling, in the North Indian foothills of the Himalayas. Guides are mandatory on the trip, so we met our very friendly guide Mane Bhahjang, where the trek starts. Normally the trek is completed over 5 days, but we only had four. So on the fret day we took a jeep up to Tomlung, where most people walk to and spend their first night. It turned out to be a good move since it's a very steep climb, from Mane Bhajhang at 2100m up to 3200m! It's also mostly a 4wd track so bit particularly pleasant. The jeep only took us about an hour! It was very misty on the drive up but upon arriving at Tomlung, the clouds parted for a bit and we got a peak at Katchendonzga, the third highest mountain in the world!

Start of the walk, in Tomlung

A misty day 1

We walked through farms and small villages down to a military checkpoint, since the walk is right along the India/Nepal border. After a cup of tea, we started a steep, relentless slog up to a small village where we had lunch (in Nepal!). The whole walk was shrouded in thick mist and I started to wonder what I'd dragged my sister into, spending almost a third of her two weeks in India doing this thing! Finally, after 19km and 6hrs of walking, we arrived at Sandakphu (3636m). The clouds again parted here and we got some brief views of the surrounding mountains. Sandakphu was very windy and cold so we quickly retreated to the lodge. Although a bit smaller and more basic, the lodge was similar to those found on the Annapurna Circuit and comfortable enough.

There were only two lodges in town and there were maybe 12 people staying in the village all up, so a lot less people than on the Nepal treks. Dinner was the infamous Dal Bhat, the bland Tibetan staple of lentil soup, copious amounts of rice and a small amount of pickle and vegetable curry. It's not all that bad and quite filling but after a month in Nepal, I was throughly sick of it!

The next morning, we rose at dawn to see the sunrise over the surrounding mountains. The morning was clear and the view one of the best I have ever seen. From one spot, you could see 5 of the world's  top ten highway mountains, including Mt Everest and Kathendonga. It was very windy and cold though, so we didnt longer too long and went back to he lodge for breakfast.

Kanchendzonga from Sandapkphu

One of those peaks on the right is Mt Everest!

The same view continued throughout the day, as we walked along the gently undulating ridge to Phalut. The day was sunny but the wind still cold and the ridge is quite exposed. You can see down into Nepal on one side of the ridge, with India on the other side. The walk was about 6.5hrs, and there is nothing along the way except for a border check post and a tin she selling tea and two minute noodles.

The mist started rolling in as we neared Phalut, a two lodge settlement. We chose the nicer of the two, but it was still a vast, soulless place and incredibly cold. We were all wearing all of our clothes inside and still felt the cold! We drunk copious cups of tea to try keep warm. Dinner was again Dal Bhat and we scoffed it down quickly so we could snuggle into our sleeping bags.

The room in Phalut

There was another dawn viewing scheduled and the thick fog that had engulfed the lodge the previous night was well and truly gone. The view this morning was even more spectacular than the last.

Disgusting squat toilets

Lodge in Rimbik

After breakfast we began the 20km trip down to Rimbick, greatful for the lower altitude and warmer temperatures. The lodge in Rimbick was very nice and cosy and the food good, a pleasant change from Phalut.

The next morning we had an undulating 13km to walk to Rimbick, where a jeep would take us back to Darjeeling. The walk is mostly through towns and villages and isn't particularly scenic. The jeep back to Darjeeling took 4hrs and was mostly (though very roughly) sealed the whole way.

We booked everything through our hotel after struggling to find good information on the walk and how to book guides. We paid $200 NZ each, which included the entry fees, food, water, guide, jeeps and accommodation. Our guide was very good and the price paid represents good value. The jeeps would have made up most of this cost and you could save a bit on these by taking shared jeeps, though these tend to be incredibly cramped!

Poon Hill, Nepal

With a couple of spare, my mate Matt and I decided to do a walk to Poon Hill, near the end of the Annapurna Circuit, after hearing that the views were really good.

We got a taxi to Nayapul, from Pokhara, which cost about 2000 Nepalese Rupees or $25. The trip took an hour. If you've done the Annapurna circuit, you can re use your passes here, otherwise you will have to pay a hefty $60 for the various permits.

The track from Nayapul to Hille takes about 2-2.5 hrs and is on a
4wd track. It is quite steep in parts and hard going in the hot sun. We stopped for a short break in the pleasant village of Hille. Lunch was to be in Ulleri, but first we has to climb a horid 4500
Steps to get there. It was a relentless and unforgiving task in the hot sun, taking an hour and a half with no stop in the steps. We finally reached Ulleri and promptly went to the first guesthouse we could find and ordered two cold juices and lots of food!

Pleasant pathways

The endless steps!

Thankfully, the next part of the trip was a little more forgiving and was actually very pleasant, with cool bush and pretty streams and waterfalls. This took another 2.5 hrs.

Pleasant villages on the way

We reached Gorepani (3470m) and stayed in a very nice lodge, with cosy wood lined rooms and great food. While we were eating dinner, a storm came in with loud thunder and lightening and heavy hail. It didn't ease up by the time we went to bed and I was a bit worried, as we were due to get up at 4.30am to walk to Poon Hill. I was also concerned about the possibility of snow, as it was quite cold and this was the exact same weather that had arrived before it started snowing when I was on the Annapurna circuit!

We woke up at 4.30 anyway and the morning was as clear and calm as anything!

It was still a solid 45 minute climb up to Poon Hill, gaining 500m in altitude with a lot of steps to climb!

There were throngs of tourists walking up the hill, it was quite unbelievable. There was even a man collecting 50 rupee entry fees at the gate!

The view was well worth it (though the view and atmosphere on the Singalila Ridge trek was much better), with a 270 degree panorama of the Himalayas. The atmosphere was taken away a bit by the sheer amount of people there - I'd never seen anything like it!

Views from Poon Hill:

After walking back down, we had a delicious breakfast back at the lodge and walked back down to Nayapul, which took about 5hrs. We were certainly grateful that we were walking down all those stairs today!

Annapurna Circuit

It's been a while since I did a post! I've been travelling in India and Nepal but have still managed to get the tramping boots on while here.

One of main trips I did over there was the Annapurna Circuit. This is a very well known trek and the second most popular in Nepal after the Everest Base Camp trek.

Nepal is very famous for its multi day treks and the more popular routes are very well set up for this, with many lodges in small villages along the way, providing accommodation, food, electricity and even hot showers and wifi!

Me at the start of the walk

The full Annapurna circuit is meant to be 21 days, but this is a really long time to be walking in the same area so I opted for a 12 day adventure, starting at Besi Sahar and finishing at Jomsom.

I'd originally planned to do the whole thing on my own, but the day before I was due to start I chickened out and hired a guide ($15 US a day, plus his return bus fares). I'd read a lot of stuff beforehand about doing the walk solo and most said it was fine, but I wasn't sure how many people I would come across on the trail (even though it was in October, peak season). Getting lost, sick or succumbing to altitude sickness were all on my mind and dealing with these is much easier when someone else is with you!

So I packed my bags, met my guide and headed to Besi Sahar on the bus (5hrs from Kathmandu). From here, we took a jeep to Syange (1000 Rs), to skip the boring part of the trip.

The jeep ride was quite an experience, with about 10 people crammed into a little Mahindra and the track being a very rough 4wd drive route, complete with 1000m drops 1m to the left of the jeep. I think I would rather have walked.

Donkeys on the way to Tal

Day 1: After a night in Syange (1100m alt) I was glad to be able to put the tramping boots on. Today's destination was Tal, (1700m alt, 4hrs). The first few days of the walk is within a gorge with 2600m peaks crowding the river. It was really nice walking along looking at the villages constructed on impossibly steep cliffs and the rice terraces surrounding them.

My room in Tal

Much of the Annapurna circuit is actually walking along a 4wd track, to my disappointment. While it means that the walking is quite easy and there are much better views, it does leave you a lot more exposed to the hot sun and means that you have to share the track with the odd honking jeep. It also means you're a lot more disconnected from the bush, and the vegetation that surrounds the track ia scrubby and rough.

Day two: Off to Danaque, another 4hrs walking up to 2100m. We start getting some good views of the Annapurnas and Manaslu, all big peaks in the area. We grab some early lunch on the way and arrive in Danaque around 1pm. One thing with walking with a Nepalese guide is that they usually want to stop for lunch at around 10.30-11! The Nepalese are early risers, have a small breakfast, a large early lunch and early dinner and are off to bed by 9 or so. I'm rarely ready for lunch by the time so just have something small to eat and some more food later.

While arriving at our destination at around 12 or 1 means plenty of time I relax (we start walking around 7.30 or 8am), it is just a bit too much time to kill. I usually find walking 6-7hrs a day on a multi day walk is optimal, as it is long enough not to be bored in the afternoons but short enough that you can still relax and recover and you're not stuffed for the next day.

Day 3: Chame (2600m), 4hrs walking. A very similar day to day 3.

Mountain views near Chame

Day 4: Upper Pisang (3300m). We can see the surrounding peaks pretty clearly now and it's spectacular! We go over a saddle down to the Pisang Valley, which is quite dry and arid. Upper Pisang is smaller than Lower Pisang below but is much prettier, with some great views. The village itself is like stepping back in time 500 years ago. Most of the buildings are about 500-600 years old and there's little to show for the modern era. Although walking during the past few days in the sun during the day is warm enough for shorts and t-shirts to be worn, over 2,500m the nights are a bit chilly and require a few more layers!

Rubbish is dumped regularly along the trail. Most of this is plastic bottles 

Chicken backpacks!

Day 5:Woke up to snow! Totally unexpected. There was about 20cm and it kept falling all day long so we couldn't go out and walk. Luckily, there was a cool bunch of people in the lodge, so we passed the time away by reading and playing cards.

Upper Pisang

Pisang sans snow

Woke up to this the next morning!

Day 6: The day dawned fine and clear! Finally we could get moving again. Unfortunately, due to the heavy snow, we couldn't take the more scenic upper route, as planned. So we took the flatter, easier route along the valley floor. 

It was just fantastic, and so much more scenic walking along the valley in the snow. It completely changed the look of everything. We walked to Braka (3,500m), a scenic village at the upper end of  the valley. There were loads of people walking back down the valley, and we soon found out why. 43 people lost their lives in the area due to the snowstorm that hit the previous day. We were very fortunate to have not been in the areas higher up when the storm hit. 

The food and accommodation quality deteriorates the higher up we went, but I was still spending around $20 NZD a day for food and accommodation. Pretty good! The lodges are very basic and cold, with little in the way of heating. But they do the job and you're never there for very long. 

Day 7: We decided to go up to the Ice Lakes (4,600m) as planned. It was a bit of a mission, as it is a 1,100m climb and in deep snow it was very hard to find the way. It turned out the lakes really were ice lakes, and frozen over, but the views from the lakes were just fantastic!

View from the Ice Lakes

Near Braka

After chatting to other walkers heading back down, we discovered that the pass was closed and impassable and was likely to be that way for another week. Combined with more bad weather forecast and the need to let everyone back home know that I was ok, meant that we decided to turn back and head back the way we came. 

We retraced our steps over the next 3 days, then onto Pokhara and good food, warm weather and a hot shower!

While I was disappointed not to be able to cross the pass, it was still a worthwhile experience. 

Burn Hut, Tararua Range, August 2014

Last weekend, after a long period of absence from the bush, I finally headed out on a trip with a couple of my flatmates and one of their mates. 

Man, it was good to get out. I reckon I need an overnight trip once every six weeks (even a short one), and as it had been two months since my last trip, I was getting desperate,. 

The weather forecast looked good for the first time in a long time, but as everyone was leaning towards a shorter, easier weekend trip, we decided to lock in the Burn Hut loop, a loop that I've always wanted to do. 

Burn Hut is a bit of an anomaly in the Tararuas, in that it doesn't really lead to anywhere and so is more of a destination in itself rather than forming part of a big adventure. 

The track starts at the Mangahao dams, about 10km in from Shannon in the Manawatu, on a very rough and windy gravel road. It's perfectly manageable in a 2WD car, though parts of the road could be a bit uncomfortable if your vehicle has low clearance. 

The dams themselves are quite interesting, and the hydro scheme is the only one in the lower North Island. 

The track to Burn Hut starts at the No. 2 Dam. It sidles along the very picturesque Mangahao river for about an hour, before crossing a wooden bridge. After the bridge, the track climbs relatively steeply to about 800m. From there, the track emerges out into scrub and leatherwood and it's a boggy, but more or less flat hour's walk to the hut. The hut is clearly visible from when you first emerge from the trees. 

Just after popping above the treeline

The weather was fantastic - mild and without a puff of wind. The views and the colours were amazing, although after seeing the snow-capped peaks to the South, I couldn't help but wish I was down there, amongst the snow. 

Beautiful evening colours - the hut is straight ahead in the distance

Burn Hut is superbly located on the ridge. It has big open windows to let you make the most of the beautiful outlook. 

It's a cosy, 6 bunker hut that doesn't seem to get a great deal of use, probably due to its off the beaten track location. 

Almost at the hut

The evening of a fine day is a great time to be on the tops and we took our time walking to the hut, soaking up the atmosphere. It was very peaceful and relaxing and was probably the highlight of the trip. 

Walking along the wide, flat ridge to the hut you can see the East Coast and the upper Wairarapa to one side and the Manawatu plains and the Tasman Sea to the other side. 

Looking North West from the hut

We were lucky enough to have the hut to ourselves for the night, and aside from a couple we bumped into, walking down from a day trip, we were the first people to visit the hut in over a month. 

Hut interior

Although there's no heating, the hut is very clean and tidy and is a good, compact size, so once dinner's on and there's a few people in there, it warms up quite nicely. It's a fairly modern hut, and would be less than 1 years old. It has a vestibule by the front door (but no deck), which keeps the bags and boots out of the hut and frees up a bit more space. 

The long drop, my female flatmate reported, was the best she'd ever experienced - clean and having a pleasant lemongrass and orange aroma!

The hut has a fantastic supply of tea light candles by the way, there's a bag of about 300 sitting in the vestibule!

After a pleasant evening reading and eating, we all retired to bed by 9pm.

From the hut, it's possible to travel further up the hill and then back down to the Mangahao River, which takes around 3hrs. From there, it's a further 4km along the gravel road back to the starting point. As my flatmate needed to be back in Wellington early afternoon, we opted for the easier option of retracing our steps. 

Heading back down the next morning

A fantastic wee trip and a great hut! Hopefully it won't be as long before I head out on the next trip.

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