Friday 24 January 2014
Lake Waikaremoana
This week I did the Lake Waikaremoana "Great Walk" with my children. This is a three-to-four day walk in Te Urewera National Park on the east coast of the North Island --- a range of low but rugged mountains covered in cold rainforest. We did it in four days, staying at Department of Conservation huts on the three nights --- Waiharuru, Waiopaoa and Panekire. These huts are cheap and shared with 20 to 40 other trampers depending on the size of the hut and how busy the track is. Since it's the school holidays and the middle of the summer, it was quite busy but the huts don't get overcrowded since they must be booked in advance.
This is the first "Great Walk" I've done, and the first tramp I've done over more than one night. Everything went very well. Tuesday was wet and also the longest day (eight hours including a side trip to Korokoro Falls, well worth it!) but everyone coped fine. Needless to say the lake and surrounding scenery are very beautiful.
The walk is around the western arm of the lake. Most trampers do it from the southern end to the northern end of the lake but we did it in the other direction, in the hope our packs would be lighter for the climb over the Panekire bluff at the southern end. It probably didn't make much difference.
For some reason I find it very easy to talk to strangers staying at tramping huts. Maybe it's because we're cooking, eating, talking and sleeping at close quarters, maybe it's because of the isolation or the shared challenge of the walk, or maybe it's something else, but it's the easiest place --- other than church maybe --- to strike up a conversation with someone I don't know at all. I've met a lot of interesting people from different countries and backgrounds. I've learned a lot about tramping from them, since of course many of them are more experienced than me. It's a good environment to learn to be more outgoing.
Everything was great and I highly recommend the walk. Panekire Hut is outstanding, perched on the top of the bluff with an incredible view over the lake, yet somehow in a pocket sheltered from the strong gusty winds just a few paces away. As it turned out, we could have easily done the walk in three days by ascending and descending Panekire on the same day, skipping staying at the hut, but I'm glad we didn't. I do wish we'd brought togs so we could swim in the lake while at the lakeside huts --- many of the other trampers did.
