Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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Whirinaki on a good day

November 21, 2012 by Julia Mackie 1 Comment

Upper Whirinaki – Central Whirinaki
Wednesday November 21 2012

The destination was Whirinaki Forest Park, about two hours drive from Napier. It was a glorious sunny day although the mist hung low in the valleys as we drove north.

Turning off State Highway 5 just north of Waipunga Falls, the road surface deteriorated somewhat, as we negotiated a number of turns on the network of forestry roads. A minor detour to a fallen pine was quickly reversed; a little test (failed) of navigation skills!

Our party of 16 in the minibus and John’s car arrived at Plateau road end in good spirits and by 9.30 am had set off into the forest. Whirinaki Forest Park is 55,000 hectares of magnificent indigenous forest sitting between the massive exotic plantings on the Kaingaroa Plains to the west and the vast wilderness of the Te Urewera National Park to the east. It is one of the finest remaining giant podocarp forests in New Zealand, recognised internationally for its ecology and biodiversity.

Colin led our party as we descended into the Whirinaki River valley. Once across the river, we paused for morning tea and then climbed to Upper Whirinaki Hut. Turning north, we found ourselves in the Taumutu Stream, a tributary of the Whirinaki. It was very warm so the wet feet were not at all unpleasant. We lunched in a lovely sunny clearing next to the stream.

This forest is a joy to behold with awe-inspiring specimens of totara, kahikatea, matai, miro and rimu. Other highlights were groves of toii, or broad-leafed cabbage trees along the track and native white clematis in flower.

Thirteen of us chose to complete the round trip as planned. At the confluence of the Taumutu and Whirinaki, on the footbridge, we parlayed whether to strike out for Central Whirinaki Hut or not. The consensus was that time was advancing so at 1.30 pm we began our climb and return to the car park. Jenny was leading by this time and showed a clean pair of heels on the ascent. At the wire footbridge and riverside caves, we rested before continuing on.

This was an excellent day tramp, our party arriving back at the vehicles by 3.30 pm. Colin and Viv provided a couple of ‘tumble’ highlights. There was the usual banter, good humour and company with a group of diverse but friendly people. The Whirinaki is well worth a visit.

Trampers: Colin McNatty, John Burrell, Isobel Holdaway, Kelvin Shaw, Viv Bramley, Murray White, Jenny Burns, Hilary Heath-Caldwell, David and Diane Hills, Paul Exeter, Ken Ross, John Marshall, Robyn Smith, Vic Bullock and reporter Dennis Mitchell

Filed Under: Recent trips

About Julia Mackie

Comments

  1. Goss says

    December 18, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    I’m sensing a bit of ‘cut and paste’ in the third paragraph down! Oh! some more! Mmmm this is a bit like a landscape and geography lesson!

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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

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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
  • Weather forecast

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