Sunday 27 March 2022

Leader: Tony Quayle

The Akatarawa hills, the bush playground on our doorstep, are home to New Zealand’s two largest northern rata trees. The larger of the two is the easier to reach on foot and by far the more impressive.

Eight of us left the Karapoti carpark at 9am, walked the short distance to the (very) Little Akatarawa River and climbed the hill beyond. At barely 300 metres, it’s the only significant climb of the day. In a small saddle we branched off to the right through a bush tramway cutting, then followed the tramway formation as it gently descended to the serene headwaters of the river - barely more than a creek here. A few crossings and greasy rocks upstream, we picked up the lightly taped and cairned trail leading to the tree. It’s becoming an increasingly popular destination, and the route is much more obvious than it was just a few years ago.

Seeing the tree again brought home just how impressive it is, with its colossal girth and huge vines.

New markers heading away to the north needed exploring and provided a slightly longer connection to our proposed return along the leading ridge between the Little Akatarawa and West Akatarawa rivers. Slightly confused by toilet paper strung on a tree we turned south a bit early, but quickly recognised our error and made a shortcut across a rather lovely headwater basin with more impressive rata trees.

Once on the dividing ridge it was a straightforward walk back to the carpark with just a couple of navigation checks needed where trails branched off towards the West Akatarawa. We didn’t want a long road walk down the valley!

Those on the trip were:

Owen Cox, Marian Cox, Patrick Liss, Tony Quayle, Wayne Williams, Julie James, Brandon Holman, Mark Robertson