King's Birthday 1-3 June 2024

Leader: Tony Quayle

Contemplating our local hills (as I do) a few weeks ago it occurred to me that dedicating a long weekend to climbing our three big local hills - KapakapaNUI, MaungaNUI, and WaiNUI could be quite a neat challenge. Hence ‘three nuis’, to more correctly say ‘three nui’, as there’s no ’s’ in the Māori language.

Some of the appealing aspects of such a trip include no long drives, no worries about holiday traffic, and getting to sleep at home each night! The icing on the cake was Nisa suggesting we include her and JP’s twice-delayed bush wedding on the Kapakapanui climb.

We tackled the easiest one first. Although Maunganui, 708 metres high, is only marginally lower than Wainui, the track starts almost 200 metres above sea level in the Maungakotukutuku Valley, reducing the climb quite significantly. It turned out to be the least-pleasant weather day, with a cool breeze and damp cloud engulfing us about halfway up, but something that wasn’t dampened was our spirits. The chosen uphill route, direct from the ford at the Perhams Road carpark, was at least partially red-line for all of us; the downhill being via the ‘normal’ track followed by a lovely walk along bush terraces back to the carpark.

Those on this walk were: Chantal, Dave, Chris, Glenda, Kate, Kylie, Owen, Rob, Sue P, Sue S, Susan and Tony.

Kapakapanui was always going to be the big one, with a climb of around 950 metres to the 1,102 metre summit. Our loads were a little heavier too, with dressing-up required for wedding photos in Nisa’s favourite goblin forest, some tasty treats, and JP’s bottle of champagne. The plan was to climb anticlockwise and descend past the hut, but with short daylight hours and a slightly slower pace we found a perfect patch of goblin forest just short of the summit for wedding photos and a toast to the bride and groom. All but one person walked the extra 5 minutes or so to the trig before we retraced our steps back down the hill, reaching the cars just a few minutes before dark.

Celebrating with Nisa and JP, were Chris, Glenda, Jan, Sue P, Yingjun and Tony.

Monday drew the best weather - and the crowds - 18 of us, for the ascent of Wainui. Allowing for ups and downs, significantly more than 700 metres of climbing is required to reach this 722 metre peak. The frontrunners of our group selected the helicopter clearing, a short hop beyond the summit trig, as a the most scenic and capacious lunch location for our large group. Then came a slip-sliding, muddy-bums-for-some descent through the bush followed by a pleasant wander down the Ramaroa Valley to view the spectacular display of flowering kohekohe.

Chantal, Chris, Dave, Glenda, Gordon, Kylie, JP, Liv, Maryann, Melanie, Nisa, Paul, Peter, Rob, Sue P, Sue S, Yingjun and Tony all summited this one.

Twenty two people turned out for at least one walk, twelve climbed two summits, and four of us (Chris, Glenda, Sue and Tony) summited all three 'nui’.

Those on the trip were:

Chantal Heller, Chris Keating, Dave Cox, Glenda Robb, John Peterson, Kate Livingston, Kylie Gilbert, Maryann Bugg, Nisa Promchot, Owen Cox, Paul Michl, Peter Davis, Rob Dey, Sue Pate, Sue Sparkes, Susan Robertson, Tony Quayle, Yingjun Shelton, Gordon Balfour, Jan Homkajon, Liv Peterson, Mel Cotterill