Waitawheta Mt Te Aroha loop hike

Time for a big long walk in the bush. There’s been lots of things on my mind recently (I crashed my car 😢, I’m out of work again 😢), plus I needed some time out of the hustle and the bustle.
So I planned a trip out in the bush; the Waitawheta track again !

Day One

The plan was simple. Head to Waitawheta, stay a night at the hut, then head to Ananui falls for a night of camping.

Simple!

Except, when we reached Waitawheta hut, we discovered the Ananui falls track is closed !

So half an hour or so of reading maps, and looking at the GPS, we decide we’re heading to the base of Mount Te Aroha, then north toward a place called the Mangakino campsite, following the Waipapa track.

So we setup for the night, cook food, play cards, chat with the other trampers.
All in all, a great night.

Day Two

The next morning at 7:30am we head towards Mount Te Aroha.

It’s a fairly difficult walk, heading over a Kaimai range, and decending into the valley on the other side. Then we start to ascend Mount Te Aroha!
The views are amazing, and sometimes we can see the mountain top in the distance.

After about 4.5 hours we hit our first sign post.

BUGGER
Do I go up the mountain? I mean I’ve never been up there, and it’s only another 2.5 hours on my day for a return trip ?!?!?!? 😕

To the top of Mount Te Aroha

You guessed it; up we go!!
and man! it’s a climb alright!

But we eventually reach the top!
We can see Mount Maunganui from here.

And, of course we stop for a few “we made it” pics!

And then we decend. We are headed back to the last sign post, then heading north to the campsite.

The walk down was ok, but once I got on the track heading north my fitness came crashing down!!
I’d been walking for over 6 hours, and climbed a mountain that is 952m.

I’m done .. I’m not crying, but I’m pretty beaten; I complain to Teresa that “my brain is on fire”, and now I’m struggling to keep balance, and can’t pick a clear way through the track anymore (I’d been leading the walk up until this point). I’ve almost completely lost brain power.
So Teresa takes the lead.
We know there is about 30 minutes left to walk, so with a little cheer leading from Teresa, I get there 😌

The Camp Site

So a cup of coffee, some soup, lots of water .. you get the idea - fluids ! and a nap, and I’m ok 😂

We set up camp for the night and it’s here we will stay !

And Bathe

Yep, that little pool (which is only 12 inches deep) is what we bathed in! Both of us stripped bare and washed in the stream 🛀 🤣

Day Three

Day three we have about 5 hours of walking planned. The first 3 hours is to our lunch stop at Daly’s clearing.

It’s not too bad. We spend about 2.5 hours traversing along the side of a steep Kaimai range.

This is the most techinical the walking has been.
We’re having to negotiate fallen tree’s, broken bridges, slipped away track; and even when there is a track, it’s pretty basic.

But we make our way along steadily of course, until we stop for lunch.

And then head back on to the main Waitawheta track, and back home.

Summary

• My absolutely awesome, world’s lightest, most tramperist tent the world has ever know ( Terra Nova Laser Competition )¹, is absolutely not made for 2 people 😆
• My Kovea stove takes ages to boil water compared to say a Jetboil. But then a Jetboil is $210 from Equip Outdoors.
• 6 hours is really my limit for walking. Any more than that and I might cry 😝
• Teresa was great to walk with. She keeps her spirits up, and mine.
• Walking is a great way of getting my thoughts together (I’ve come up with a plan for the future).