Category Archives: Tramping

Kayaking, New Zealand, Topo Map, Tramping

Debriefing the Other Tramps

Tongariro Northern Circuit

tnc
Buy Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk Topo Set – €3

Admittedly: The walk can be done in two days. But…

That would be turning into a raceway. If the weather is good, then the excursions to the Taranaki Falls and the Tama Lakes are indispensable. Since most of the track is very open, views from anywhere can be pretty spectacular, but these two sights should not be missed.

The Crossing itself passes between the two mountain peaks of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe and the question remains whether to climb these peaks. If the day’s section is only from Mangatepopo to Oturere or vice versa, then there would be time to attempt one peak. Ngauruhoe being much higher (2291 m) is more tempting than Tongariro (1978 m). However the surface of Ngauruhoe is loose scree and there is a real danger of snow falling at any time of the year, so that Tongariro is the better bet.

The condition of the “Hole” (Mangatepopo – Whakapapa) should be considered carefully. Recent rain will make this section almost impassable and in this case it is advisable to start or finish the track at the Mangatepopo carpark. Just make sure to arrange transport before starting the track. The bus that drops off the day hikers for the Crossing leaves at around 8:30. Read more…

New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping

51. Rawhiti – Russell (Cape Brett Walkway)

Thursday, April 2: Some cloud came over during the course of the night and there was rain in the early morning, clearing to a fine & sunny day

Tramping: Cape Brett – Rawhiti, 15.1 km

Wainui Lodge, 92D Te Wahapu Rd, Russell 0272, tel.: +64 9 403 8278, double as single, only two rooms, max. 5 guests (BBH, $50 + 3)

Cape Brett Cliffs
Cape Brett Cliffs, snapshot

I had photographed three fixed time sequences during the night: One of the rising moon, one of the moon @ full zoom (A470), and one of the Southern Cross (SX120) until the batteries gave out. The camera was retrieved due to increasing cloud, but the tripod had been tied to the picnic table with a new twist-and-tighten mechanism which I was unwilling to untie late at night.

The hut was still very warm, but there were no bugs so I slept on an open sleeping bag. It started getting light about 6:30 and by 7:15 the sun was rising. Now this would have been a good sunrise to shoot, but I was concentrating on getting out alive. Breakfast was quickly dealt with, the salt shaker seemed to work fine and everything was washed, dried (including the sox) and packed away by 8:30. Swept out the hut (a little bit of grass cuttings had found its way into the hut) and then I was ready to go. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

50. Paihia – Rawhiti (Cape Brett Walkway)

Wednesday, April 1: Sunny with a few clouds on the horizon; quite warm

Tramping: Rawhiti – Cape Brett via Deep Water Cove, 16.3 km

Cape Brett Hut (DOC, $15, gas cookers, no heating; $30 track fee for private land)

Managed to struggle up at a quarter past seven and fry two eggs for breakfast, pack everything up into the backpack for the hike and then everything else into their bags and into the car and was ready to go by 8:30.

Cape Brett View to Go
Cape Brett View to Go, snapshot
Short drive to the ferry and was soon on the other side (car $11) and down the meandering road to Rawhiti. I had been considering walking via Whangamumu and that track entrance was 5.4 km down the road (a gravel road for the most part at that) but as we will see that wouldn’t have been such a good idea.

Found someone’s front yard to park the car in ($5) and swapped shoes for the hiking boots and was ready to tramp by 9:45. Views of the bay begged to be photographed but the batteries packed in immediately and once on the track the next bay beckoned likewise so I got out a box of batteries and kept them in an outside pocket just in case. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

47. Papakura – Auckland – Ruawai

Sunday, March 29: Rain at first clearing to cloudy through to sunny with a shower or two

Tramping: Tokatoka, 0.6 km (return)

Peter & Sara’s (airbnb, $50)

It was pouring when I got up, and I had my breakfast and was finished well before Michelle got up. I was in no hurry and it was raining so I leisurely packed my stuff. In time she was up and under the shower; then I gave her a copy of the book and was off to Tom’s.

Bella
Bella watching the sheep from Tokatoka
Was there pretty much on the dot of 11:00 and Cather & the boys were still collecting their stuff for the day’s programme. Charlotte was very enthusiastic and had to be taken outside. Eventually all were ready to leave and Tom & I went down to Takapuna to a very posh place with all-organic, gluten-free etc. stuff for brunch. Tom had some scrambled eggs and I opted for the chilli chicken on ciabatta, both with flat whites. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

44. Whitianga: Cathedral Cove

Thursday, March 26: Some fine spells in the course of the day but mainly cloudy, and rain in the evening

Tramping: Cathedral Cove, 3.3 km

On the Beach

Cathedral Cove Archway
Archway at Cathedral Cove at high tide. Median pixel of ca. 540 shots

The two Chinese girls were very well organised and after their instant noodles for breakfast and some chocolate they had packed up what little they had and were downstairs on the dot of 10:00 to wait for their bus, which as far as I could see was some time in coming. In the meantime I had gone for a walk in the direction of the outer settlements and had not seen very much, except for one heron who allowed me to get very close.

Tourist trap extraordinaire
Tourist trap extraordinaire. [download id="1966"]
I decided on driving out to Hahei to see what the story with kayaking was, although the waves today looked no smaller that yesterday’s – because the brochure said, “Daily.” Had a quick lunch of some toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches and then took off down the road (~30 km) with most of the equipment I thought was needed. Found the place in Hahei, but no one at home; only a handwritten sign that the morning had been called off but that the afternoon was running. Found some phones at the tiny shopping centre and called but the afternoon tour had also been called off; was advised to call back tomorrow morning. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

43. Whitianga

Wednesday, March 25: Sunny and warm, one big dark cloud in the afternoon, but no rain

Tramping: Shakespeare Cliff Walkway/Ferry Landing, 5.7 km

On the Beach

Comfortable stroll
Comfortable stroll. [download id="1960"]

Everything was very laid back and late this morning. I extended for another two days and asked about the kayaking, but the waves were too high today, so I grabbed a body board instead. The waves were indeed high and crashing very close to the beach, although there didn’t seem to be an outgoing current. One or two places much further down the beach seemed to have better breaking properties, and I was only trying out the waters for a bit. Came back, showered the sand off, went for a stroll around town, withdrew some cash and bought a couple of tomatoes for the cheese sandwiches I was having for lunch. Managed to get them toasted (or rather, fried) and that was fine. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

41. Tauranga: Mt Maunganui

Monday, March 23: Cloudy with rain all the morning, becoming very much finer & warmer by the late afternoon

Tramping: Mt Maunganui, 6.3 km

Liz & Phil’s

The dogs (Airedale terriers) hadn’t woken me @ 5:00, but from about 7:45 onwards I was awake. Breakfast (and Liz insisted that there would have to be one, otherwise her business wouldn’t be a B&B) was cornflakes, coffee from a very expensive looking machine and at least tasted like something, toast, cantaloupe and some spreads which I didn’t have.

Perfect day for a technical day, and I started off by trying to synchronise the internal and external hard drives in terms of pictures. For D: to have the absolute essentials that would be the main folder with the processed images (all DNG & IMG – debarrelled and dechromaticised) and one subfolder with thumbnails. It has occurred to me during the day that PPP could work primarily with G: as the source and copy some files to the internal hard drive at the end of the day. If that were the case, then it would also be worth considering extending the postprocessing procedure beyond just ATM (advanced tone mapping). Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

39. Waipawa – Cape Kidnappers – Taupo

Saturday, March 21: Sunny the whole day with very few clouds, warm

Tramping: Clifton to Cape Kidnappers along the beach and back, 19.1 km

Stag Park Diner, 151 Napier Taupo Highway, State Highway 5, Taupo 3379, tel.: +64 7 378 6403, twin as single, shared facilities ($55)

Layers leaching
Leaching lime is most commonly seen, but also iron oxide, forming strange patterns

It was nice to have slept in a real bed again, above all, with a real pillow. The room was spotless and the fridge with freezer rebooted the chilly bag; a short trip to the supermarket procured everything that was needed for breakfast and lunch, and I was away back on the road to Hastings by 9:30.

In Hastings the library opened as I arrived and they were charging for the wifi @ $2.5 per half hour. Tried the BBH places in Taupo, but all booked out, then for the 0800 number for the Taupo i-site to call when I came back from the walk in the afternoon. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping, Travel Planning

38. Whanganui Bay – Track End – Wairoa – Waipawa

Friday, March 20: Cold at night (down to 5°), variably cloudy in the mountains, fine and warm on the coast

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Whanganui Bay – Track End (water taxi landing), 2.2 km

River’s Edge Holiday Park, 26 Harker St, Waipawa 4210, tel.: +64 6 857 8976, double cabin ($35)

I had slept in periods of about 100 minutes a piece with waking in between and was finished with sleeping by about 7:00 when it had reached 5°, which was the limit for sleeping in the thermal underwear, sox & turtle necked sweater. Breakfast was quickly dealt with as was the last part of the track – all of about 40 minutes, so the whole thing could be done in two days if you could get a water taxi to pick you up at 6:00.

Morning over Waikaremoana
Morning over Waikaremoana, just before the water taxi landing area (snapshot panorama)
Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

37. Waiopaoa – Whanganui Bay: Waikaremoana Great Walk 3/4

Thursday, March 19: Cloudy at first with variations during the day; some sun

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Waiopaoa – Marauiti – Waiharuru – Whanganui Bay: 26.6 km

Whanganui Bay Hut (DOC, $32)

I was up with the sun and fairly much ready to go within an hour or so. Hadn’t got much sleep due to the snorers (but some at least, when they turned on their sides they were silent) and not even the earplugs were very effective. At least it had not been cold, so that t-shirt and spiderman outfit were not really both necessary. Testimony for a €15 sleeping bag. Read more…