Daywalk: Waitakeres - Te Toiokawharu & Tom Thumb via Fletchers & Twin Peaks

While in Auckland for Christmas, I took my nephew Jamie for a short day walk in the Waitakeres Ranges. This trip we started Kamatura (near Huia) and took the Kamatura Loop, Fletchers, Donald McLean, Huia Ridge, Twin Peaks, and Tom Thumb tracks to loop back to the car. This highlights of this route were visiting the Tom Thumb Kauri Tree, and making it to the highest point in the Waitakere Ranges at Te Toiokawharu. While near the Manakau Harbour or the Tasman Sea at all times, this route was well forested and sights of these were far between.

 

We did not get off to the best start with lanes disappearing causing navigation issues through Auckland's under construction motorway's and tunnels.  we eventually made it to the start, well not quite the start actually. We started at the campsite at Kamatura Farm Park, not at Kamatura Park as was intended! The clown I am, I am. With the built environment navigation failures out of the way it was to time to jump on foot and get on with the tramp.

 

 

Like our previous trip in the Waitakeres, segments of the trip are part of the Hillary Trail, which is a trail I must attempt contiguously at some point in the future. With our fractionally revised starting location my first observation was that the better campsite sites were not so much right at Barn Paddock, but at either side of the walking track between Barn Paddock and Kamatura Park.

 

 

 

From Kamatura Park we briefly headed along the well maintained and manicured Kamatura Loop track/highway on which progress was rapid. It would have been easy to waltz past the junction up Fletcher Track to our left after 420 metres. Fletcher Track is more of a tramping grade track, and the word grade will come to mind with a few steepish sections to help us work off our Christmas eating. After about an hour of ascending 360m and moving forward 2.58km we reached the junction of Fletcher and Donald McLean tracks from where the track levelled out for an easy half kilometre to Kamatura Forks. At various times we found ourselves in front of, alongside and behind a group of three travelling this section on their mountain bikes. It was fun keeping up with them on foot ;). And for some reason satisfying - even as an enthusiastic cyclist myself.

 

 

From the forks we continued with reasonably flat travel along the Huia Ridge track (2.73km; a little under an hour). It was slowly getting muddier and muddier and with track becoming more overgrown. This was even more the case once we turned onto the the Twin Peaks track that never seems to dry out.

 

 

A short way (0.34km) into the Twin Peaks track we reached Te Toiokawharu, the highest point in the Waitakeres. Not only did Te Taikawharu not offer a view but there were some interesting discrepancies between the signposted 463m.asl which differed from both my hardcopy map and GPS which had the elevation a fraction higher at 474m.asl.

 

 

The rest of the Twin Peaks track continued to be muddy, sloppy and reasonably undulated with 117m of climbing matched against 294m of descent. Jamie wasn't so sure that we twice as much descending as climbing on this section. Once at the bottom, the reward is to be greeted by the majestic "Tom Thumb" Kauri tree. Not too many this size to see around New Zealand after much felling of the sought after timber in the years gone by, including in the area we have been walking today.

From the Kauri tree, it was another 3km/1 hour of easy track back to our car at Kamatura Farm with the highlight being the crossing of the Kamatura Stream.

 

Daywalk: Waitakeres - Te Toiokawharu & Tom Thumb via Fletchers & Twin Peaks

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Approximate Track times:
Barn Paddock to Kamatura Park	10 min	650m
Kamatura Park to Fletchers Track	6 min	420m
Fletchers Track (ascends 360m)	1 hour	2.58km
Donald McLean / Kamatura Forks	7 min	500m
Huia Ridge	1 hour	2.73km
Twin Peaks to Te Toiokawharu	8 min	340m
Te Toiokawharu to Tom Thumb Kauri Tree	1hr	2.8km
Tom Thumb Kauri Tree to Kamatura Farm	1hr	3km
Times shown in this table and inline blog text above are indicative only. Travel times in the backcountry are variable depending on fitness, terrain, the size of your party, weather conditions and stopping times for snacks, photography, your interest in botany and such like.
You can find more information about the Waitakere Ranges on the ARC Website

Tour de Roadworks

Tour de Ranges Roadworks 2010

It was not the best start to the weekend when I was trapped at Wellington Airport for an extra 90-minutes due to rain and fog in Wellington. Waking up in Auckland on Saturday morning it was not any better with rain and mist covering the entire region witnessed during the drive from the North Shore down to Clevedon at the other end of the City.

 

The start of the ride was a little unusual with ‘GO’ being spoken without a proceeding countdown causing some confusion among the cyclists at the front of the start line. Once off the line there was the usual helter-skelter start as riders tried to get the preferred bunches at the front of the field. The hills through the first ten kilometres ably performed the duty of sorting the riders into groups nearer their own fitness and ability.

Ride Data:
Distance:	108km	5,358 Calories
Time:	3:58:55	27.1 km/h
Elevation:	Ascent: 1158m	Descent: 1168m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Auckland, NZ	23 January 2010

 

The route of the Tour de Ranges Roadworks has the potential to be a brilliant mix of scenery, undulating hills and very low motor-traffic volumes. Unfortunately the road conditions for 2010 were a let down due to roadworks and to a lesser extent the weather. Personally, I would not train on roads in this state. The gravel on the roads equates to shredding expensive tyres and potentially dangerous blowouts. Having ridden in other events that have altered their courses in the past, the further into the ride witnessing all the puncture repairs I was a tad surprised that the course had not been changed or relocated to elsewhere in the Auckland region today. It was certainly enough to give those at the elite end of the spectrum rather potty mouths! Fortunately I did not have lightweight race tyres on today and managed to complete the course puncture free. It felt like I was in the minority not puncturing today!

 

While I witnessed many punctures in the first 10-15km, with a smidgen of loose gravel sprinkled over the sealed roads the real trouble was further up the road. To call it roadworks may be kind, as that would presume that there would have to be some road. There were two or three large sections of roadworks in which the road became a loosely formed track with its surface consisting of rocks rather than bitumen or even gravel. Along these sections the distance to puncture ratio continued to decline rapidly with countless riders on road edge swapping inner-tubes and re-inflating their tyres.

 

Somewhere near Hunua my right eye became irritated. I presumed I had water and spray in it from a wheel in front of me. Unable to clear it, and regretting leaving my cycling glasses on my dining table in Wellington I was riding as a one-eyed alien the rest of the way to the finish. A combination of being half blind, rain and mist meant I completely missed the promised views of the Hunua Ranges from with the Tour de Ranges Roadworks gets its name.

 

A gradual incline from Mangatawhiri led to a sweet descent down to Kaiaua bringing us to the coast and even some sunshine! Wow! Without the rain and mist it was nice fast ride along the Seabird Coast before the route became more undulating with a couple of short climbs before the King of the Mountains climb up Snake Hill. The KOM, U23 and line honours went to Tom Findlay an hour-and-a-quarter in front of me – best I stick to my day job!!

 

Once over Snake Hill, it was back into the rain and mist with the last 20km was gentle and undulating offering the chance for me to regain my breath before I made a sprint at the line to ensure I finished in under four hours – 3:58:55 phew!!

 

St John Ambulance kindly rinsed my little eyeball at the finish but in the end it was a visit to the doctor and with aid of his magic gue and a couple of days it sorted itself out. Must not ever leave my glasses behind again!!!

 

Looking forward to returning with the roadworks completed and the hope of more sunshine. Any meaningful statistics on punctures today would make enlightening reading. There must have been 100 or so? More?? Not what one normally thinks of when speaking of cycling a century!

Waitakere Ranges Regional Park: Pararaha Stream and surrounds

 

Although spending the first 20-odd years of my life in Auckland the Waitakere Range, to the west of the city is an area I have not explored.

 

Where in Auckland do you find a Topographical Map?

As a Wellington resident and tramper over the past decade, I have been startled by the number of lost persons requiring assistance from search and rescue in this area. At times it seemed like it was a rite of passage for being an Aucklander to get lost in the Waitakere Ranges!! On Boxing Day I visited four different outdoor equipment stores on Auckland’s North Shore in an effort to buy some topographical maps of this area. To my disgust most of these stores did not stock topographical maps at all, looked at me strangely when I used a big long word like “topographical” and referred me to the bookstore that could offer me no more than a a street directory for my car or a globe for my desk!! The one store that seemed to fully understand the word “topographical” mostly had maps of the sections of the Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks that are well tracked, but in the lower half of the South Island.

 

Fortunately they were able to find a single copy of “NZTopo50-BB30ptBB31”. However, due to the peculiarities of the new NZTopo50 grid, even though this map includes some the adjacent BB31 map it still contains over 70% sea. This gave me coverage for about one third of the range, in the south-western corner of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park.

Pararaha Stream and Surrounds

Trip Data:
Distance:	10.8 km	1,089 Calories
Time:	4:03	22min/km
Elevation:	Ascent: 1696m	Descent: 1685m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Auckland, NZ	27 December 2009

Buck Taylor Track

My nephew, Jamie and I headed down the Buck Taylor Track from the Lone Kauri Rd

carpark. This track begins as a very broad, well cut walking track at the carpark before becoming narrower, muddier and steeper tramping track with the easily negotiated rocks, tree roots and slippery clay during the descent down into Pararaha Bay. Approac

hing the bay there is a junction offering the worthwhile 10 minute side-trip to the lagoon. At 2.4km or 46 minutes from the road-end we reached the black sand dunes between a sizable lagoon and the beach with crashing waves from the Tasman Sea. With numerous dragon-fly munching away on small insects we decided to have a quick munch on some snack bars too.

 

The track signposts along this coastal area all marked the soon to be opened Hillary Trail, which will offer the first documented multi-day tramping route in the Waitakare Ranges.

Pararaha Stream

From the beach, travelling past the side-trip junction and towards the Muir Track a crossing of the Pararaha Stream is reached about 10 minutes along the track. Shortly after this stream crossing we could hear Kereru in the bush on the true left-side of the Pararaha Stream.  1.1km/20 minutes along the Muir Track the Les Ward Shelter and Pararaha campsite (permit required) is reached. From the shelter you can drop down to the picturesque Pararaha Stream where initially you can follow a well worn, but not official track present on the true-left side of the stream before disappearing as we negotiated the stream past some wonderful swimming hills and pretty terraced waterfalls. Even better was both combined so I could not resist the chance for a quick swim on the warm day in pool under one of the terraced waterfalls.

 

 

About 500m/40 minutes from the Les Ward Shelter we reached large boulders and a larger waterfall. The valley was narrowing to become canyon-isque and after climbing the second set of boulders, which had a log jam over moving water leading the next series we decided it was best not to proceed directly up the stream.

Besides, I would have been in so much trouble with my sister if I got my nephew and I trapped in the middle of a canyon

Looking at the surrounding terrain, and considering the well trodden track further downstream I thought there may have a trail up a gully to our left, on the true right of the Pararaha Stream but on this occasion I failed to see where it left the stream. Now home, and with access to broadband, my blindness becomes completely evident from this page on tramper.co.nz:

At a deep pool 30 minutes from the campsite, a track climbs out on the true right. This track clambers steeply past a larger waterfall to a striking pair of kauri. Above the fall, the stream eases off, and a couple more deep pools are avoided by tracks on the true left. Watch for these: they are very easy to miss.

Muir Ridge Track Odlin Timber Tracks

After wandering through the beautiful Pararaha Stream, following the tracks back to the car were certainly nowhere near as memorable.

 

The Muir Track is exactly how all uphill tramping tracks should be. Short, sweet and straight up! A 260m climb from the shelter in 27min/1.1km. At the top you reach a track junction with Gibbons Track to the SE and Walker Ridge track to the NE both offering less steep travel.

Walker Ridge Track

The Walker Ridge track offers fast, generally flat travel for 50min/2.7km to pt378, “Orange Peel Corner” junction with the Huia Ridge (NE) and Odlin Timber  (NW) Tracks.

Odlin Timber Track

The Odlin Timber Track (45min/2.5km) is mostly downhill from “Orange Peel Corner” although it climbs up steps from the point at which the top of the Pararaha Stream. It reaches the road shortly before the carpark travelling marginally inside the bush parallel to it for the last 150m. The “Odlins 2” campsite it passes looks like a nice spot, although so near the road-end I am neither sure how much it is used or where “Odlins 1” is located.

 

That said, the Auckland Regional Council seem unsure of where “Odlins 2” is located, given their location description:

Odlins 2 Campground
Small tent sites, tramping access from Lone Kauri Rd.
   Camping site
   Bookable: Yes
   Directions: Park at car park on Lone Kauri Road. Walk 2.8 km up Odlins Timper Track.
   Grade: Back Country Site
   Camping mode: Small tent sites

Ummm, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that this is beyond the Odlins Timber track? It is only 2.5km long :). I’m pretty sure that the campsite is 1.7km from the road-end near where the track crosses the Cowan Stream? Perhaps the council could not find a topographical map either :D.