Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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The Puketitiri Road ramble that wasn’t

July 13, 2019 by John Russell Leave a Comment

Te Kowhai, Lotkow Rd, Little’s Clearing, Kaweka FP, Map: BJ37
Saturday 13 July 2019

Originally, the trip was listed as a Puketitiri ramble, but after a reconnaissance trip the Tuesday prior, trip leader John Dobbs decided on a longer tramp. A group of 11 headed off in a brand new Mercedes rental van for Te Kowhai Road, past Patoka.

The day was very mild indeed, and the group (minus Geoff and Gordon) was soon sweating profusely during the tough grunt up to the Don Juan trig. I realised that, despite my regular exercise routine of walking and jogging, nothing prepares you for a tough climb… apart from a tough climb! You just have to keep going slowly and drink plenty of water.

Lotkow Road signage. Two stream fords to the road end.

On the way, we spoke to a pig hunter with about five friendly dogs, each with GPS collars; no pig caught, but they did see one.

We had a few stops along the way so everyone could catch up and John D was getting nervous about keeping the group together. Fiona was well ahead on the ascent, and she made sure we knew she was OK with regular large ‘arrows’ scraped into the pine needles. The trig was reached after about two hours of often hard, steep but also undulating climbing.

The rocket, surrounded by pinus contorta at Don Juan 943m

John D had said that the trig looked like a rocket so I was expecting something out of the Apollo mission. But sadly it wasn’t quite as impressive – just a trig with a small metal cone on top. Never mind; we had some great views back towards Napier and Kidnappers in the distance and had a morning tea stop nearby.

From then, it was an undulating walk through pine trees until a gradual descent through a wide, easy track among the trees to a car park/camp site area at the end of Lotkow Road. After a few minutes regrouping, we had a 15-minute walk along Lotkow Road to the Black Birch Ridge track.

Once again, a killer climb awaited and after about 45 minutes of climbing, we had a well-earned lunch stop in a nice grassy area on top. After lunch, it was mainly downhill through the contorta with views to the snow-covered Kawekas to Black Birch Bivvy, with its great little outdoor barbecue area.

The view of the Kaweka Range from the Black Birch to Little’s Clearing walk

Then it was a fairly short walk through some lovely beech forest back to the van at Little’s Clearing, meeting up with Geoff and Gordon who had brought the van around.

At the start, John Dobbs stated our ETA would be around 3pm, and sure enough we arrived at the van pretty much spot on. It wasn’t an easy ramble, but it turned into a satisfying tramp with beautiful, mild weather, nice views and great company.

Trampers: Rosemary Jeffrey, Fiona Bryant, Cherie Le Lievre, Di Reid, Shona Tupe, Murray Goss, John Bennett, Geoff Donkin, Gordon Tapp, John Dobbs (leader) and reporter John Russell

Filed Under: Kaweka, Napier Tramping Club, Recent trips Tagged With: Kaweka Forest Park

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About us

We are a group of like-minded people who love the great outdoors. We tramp mostly in the Hawke’s Bay province, in remote areas such as the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges; but we also travel longer distances to new places, for longer walks.

The Napier Tramping Club was established in 1974 and has about 70 members. We belong to the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ Inc (FMC) and run Saturday, full-weekend and Wednesday tramps, every fortnight.

Interested in joining us?

Enjoy the great outdoors, keep fit and get to know others with similar interests.

More information

Latest news

May 2025 News

The NTC AGM was held on 22 May. The officer positions for the club are: Di Reid - President, Sue … Read More

April 2025 News

The AGM for 2025 will be held on 22 May. Where we're headed in 2025 The first six-months' … Read More

Latest trip

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Useful links

  • Dept of Conservation
  • DoC Huts Use, Kaweka Forest Park
  • Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ (FMC)
  • Heretaunga Tramping Club
  • New Zealand Tramper
  • NZ Walking Access Commission
  • Wanganui Tramping Club

Useful links 2

  • Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society
  • Taraponui i-Networks camera
  • Weather forecast

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