On each visit to New Zealand we try and do a short touring holiday with my sisters, and each year it gets harder to include places that we have not visited before. This year's trip began with a new place for us all, Lake Waikaremoana, which lies within the Te Urewera National Park, about 65 Km inland from Wairoa & 160 Km East of Rotorua. Te Urewera contains some of the most rugged and remote areas in the North Island, and was a place of refuge for Maori warriors during the land wars of the 1860s.
Not knowing what services to expect, we bought lots of groceries, filled the car with petrol and set off from Napier, up the East coast towards Wairoa, our destination being the Lake Waikaremoana Holiday Park. The guide books and maps tell you that the road from Wairoa is sealed all the way, but the reality is that a large portion of it is actually gravel / very clayish looking earth. Our accommodation, the only game in town, was far from new, but was clean and functional. Margaret & Tricia took the beds and Marlene & I took the mattresses on a sleeping platform which was up a ladder in the peak of the room (our tree house). Our mattresses were very comfortable, but it was somewhat difficult to get Marlene's large suitcase up there. At the holiday park there is no television, no internet and no cellphone service, so we were forced to disconnect from the world.
Lake Waikaremoana is the site of one of the New Zealand Great Walks, a multi-day hike on the West side of the lake, but we contented ourselves with several of the shorter walks on the East side of the lake, close to the highway.
Tuesday was forecast to be the best weather, so we did four of the walks in the vicinity of the holiday park. First up was the Aniwaniwa Falls, a series of 3 waterfalls that cascade down from the visitor's centre to the lake. After crossing the river on the road bridge, the walk was through dense native bush.
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| Aniwaniwa Falls |
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| We four below Aniwaniwa Fall |
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| Papakorito Falls |
After lunch we followed the Hinau Walk from the holiday park, past the site of an early hotel, then continued on the Tawa walk, to visit the largest Rata tree in New Zealand. The Rata is an interesting tree as it begins life as an epiphyte, growing in the fork of an existing tree, and then extending its roots down, eventually smothering the host tree. This large specimen is estimated to be 800-1000 years old, and is about 13 metres (43 feet) in girth. As shown in the photo below, this tree has grown very tall atop its long-dead host.
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| NZ's Largest Rata |
After heavy rain overnight, Wednesday brought fine misty rain, and walking was much more difficult on the bush trails. In the morning we walked a short portion of the great walk, to reach the Armed Constabulary Redoubt, the remains of a fortification from the land wars of the 1860s. Soldiers of the time carved dates and their names / initials in a nearby rock face. A short walk from the redoubt took us to Lake Kiriopukae, a pretty little lake surrounded by large rocks, and the site of a cemetery with graves from the time of the land wars. As we pulled into the car park, our cell phones beeped and chirped, telling us that we had service again, so we all rabidly checked our emails, texts and the latest news.
After lunch we did the much more adventurous Onepoto Caves walk. Lake Waikaremoana was formed about 2200 years ago when a large rock slide blocked the end of the valley, causing it to fill with water. The rockslide was 200-300 metres thick and consisted of large slabs of sandstone. The piling of large slabs of rock resulted in gaps between the slabs, now known as the Onepoto Caves. The area is littered with bluffs, holes and caves, and the path winds its way amongst them. Being wet, the path was very slippery and we had to be somewhat careful to avoid sliding off the path into the holes. We all agreed that the walk challenged us in several ways, and would not be a good choice with young children.
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| One of the Onepoto Caves |
The rain continued through Wednesday night and into Thursday, but on our way out of the park we did the Lake Kaitawa, Green Lake, Fairy Springs walk. This took us around the two lakes and the springs which are fed by water from Lake Waikaremoana, forced up through gaps in the rock.
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| Swans on Lake Kaitawa |
By 11 o'clock we had checked Lake Waikaremoana off our bucket list, and headed back to Wairoa, then North to Gisborne, our home for the next three nights.
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