11 minute read
New Zealand Walks: Paparoa Trail: with alpine tops limestone karst landscapes and thriving rain forests
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P O Box 1922, Palmerston North Phone 0800-925-546 - email walkingnz@xtra.co.nz. www.walkingnewzealand.co.nz The Paparoa Trail is a shared biking /walking trail that runs from Blackball, over the Paparoa Ranges to Punakaiki on the West Coast of the South island, a distance of 55kms.
Blackball is a tiny place with a big history. It is the founding place of New Zealand’s Labour Party. Punakaiki is better known for it’s amazing pancake rocks.
The track goes over the lands of the Ngati Waewae who in the early days, carried pounamu, inland from the West Coast.
Europeans also came to this area in search of coal and gold. This track, using remnants of older trails, has been created in memory of the 29 men who lost their lives in the Pike River mine disaster in 2010. Because the track is so popular, the earliest we could book all three huts, was mid May; a gamble with weather on the west coast! We spent the night before the walk, listening to gale force winds, and torrential rain in Greymouth. In the morning we made the call to abandon plans, but our shuttle driver assured us it would be fine by 10.30am, so he’d pick us up at
By Barbz Lowther
Above left: The trail up to Ces Clark. A warning of a hazard around the corner. Above right: Moonlight Tops Hut.
9.30am. He was right. The rain had stopped and the wind totally died, and it was lovely crisp walking weather. As we drove into Smoke Ho car park, a hailstorm greeted us, but was soon over. The walk into Ces Clark Hut was really pretty, mostly under shelter of pungas, rimu and horopito, with astelia, dracophyllum, moss and ferns lining the trail. At the first bridge we saw a blue duck, who posed for a photo then disappeared. We also spotted wekas, fantails and wood pigeons, and heard tui and bellbird song for most of the way. We all agreed we’d rather walk than bike, because there were areas of quite jagged rock to negotiate. Cyclists were warned of tricky Subscribe or renew your subscription to Walking New Zealand today and you can save up
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Above left: On the track between Moonlight and Pororari. Below right: A large rock dwarfs the two walkers near Coal Creek.
corners by an exclamation mark on the side of the track.
At about 2.00pm it started to softly snow. It was quiet and beautiful, and to North Islanders quite magic, as all the plants had a white coating. We were only cold for the last 600 metres before the hut, because we were on open tops above the bush line.
But the fire was going, and the hut only half full. It was good to sit in the warm, watching icicles gradually cover the windows. and two large goats shaking the snow off their backs. We had a very comfortable night. In the morning most of the snow had vanished, but it was misty and drizzling, so we delayed our departure until 11.00am, hoping it would clear. All day we had intermittent misty or clearing views of mountain peaks. Mist drifted along the tops and it felt as if we were on top of the world.
The vegetation was stunted with Mt Toatoa, pahautea, kiekie, tussock and a few alpine daisies, ferns and succulents, so different from the day before! Because we had misty skies it seemed to enhance the colours of plants and rocks. They were vivid.
Beside the track were bright streaks of silver and gold in the white quartz. Luckily this was a short day, so we made it to Moonlight Hut by early afternoon. It was too cold to stop much.
Day 3 was delightful. The track was undulating but mostly downhill. The first hour led down through ‘Goblin Forest’.
Thick moss coated everything, and lichen hung in strands off branches. Fallen trees with exposed roots made weird and wonderful shapes when smothered with moss.
Our first stop was on logs in a mossy glade, where we spotted a robin, several fantails and a grey warbler. A little further on, we came out onto open tops again. Today there were awesome views of layer upon layer of mountain tops, like an airbrush painting. After another hour of easy walkAbove: Going through the bush between Moonlight and Pororari. Below right: Looking over the escarpment.
Paparoa Trail: with alpine
Above left: Lovely Autumn colours and a seat provided. Above right: Jill negotiating a little tunnel on the trail.
ing, we stopped at a sunny spot at the top of the escarpment to admire the magnificent obsidian rocks and surrounding scenery.
An enormous rock was jutting out at an angle off the main ridge line. Continuing along the tops we soon reached the emergency shelter, a good lunch spot.
Not far past here was a safety barrier, erected on narrow piece of track with a huge drop on the left, and a coal seam on the cliff face on the right, a long way to go for coal!
We could see the trail winding way down below, in a series of zigzags and we were soon down near the river. We crossed two swing bridges, one with a waterfall -(TeArawhata i Takawai), suspension bridge. Just past there, was a huge rock and a little wooden bridge over Coal Creek. From here the track was lovely smooth compacted gravel, good to walk on and a breeze to ride. In laying the track, an older method, known as Corduroy, was used, to give a ‘Heritage’ feel. Timbers were placed across the track first, as a base. In places big slabs of rock had been hand placed at the sides, to ensure good drainage.
A lot of bait stations had been set with egg, but we saw no dead animals, so it seems the traps are working well and have cleared lots of pests.
The bush was really beautiful in this section, with fungi of all shapes, sizes and colours clustered amongst the mosses and ferns. Again we heard lots of bird song, and spotted fantails constantly flitting.
The trail was mostly downhill with a series of little hills near the end. We stopped at the top of a rise where two tiny wooden stools had
been cut and strategically placed to offer awesome mountain views.
Continuing down we reached another wooden seat with more beautiful scenery with trees turning gold. Soon the marker ‘1km to Hut’ came into sight, and it was much easier than the last km yesterday. We reached Pororari Hut at 3.15pm in bright sunshine.
After finding a bunk and a hot drink, it was time to sit on the deck and watch the sun slowly setting behind the bluffs across the valley. From the deck there are 360 degree views, right out to sea with ‘the lone hand’ making its statement.
The 4th day from Pororari to Punakaiki, was easy and mostly downhill. Leaving the hut we immediately saw evidence of destruction from cyclones Fehi then Gita in 2018. Large tracts of huge rimu, beech and kahikatea were totally devastated. Further down we saw more destruction left by Cyclone Ita in 2014.
We had our first stop in a mossy glade, where ferns and mosses were peeping out of rock crevices and lichen was drooping from branches.
As we made our way down we passed through groves of punga, then rimu, then nikau.
The track was high above the river at first but descended in a series of zigzags. All the way were notices Above left: Walking through a nikau grove near Punakaiki. Above right: The bridge leading to the Inland Pack Track. Below right: Looking down over a slip from the safety barriers.
Paparoa Trail: with alpine tops, limestone karst
landscapes and thriving rain forests
warning of stinging nettle. We stopped in a lovely open spot near the river, and sat on . logs and watched and listened for a while.
There were several black fantails, which make up only 5% of the population in the South Island, and there were a huge variety of fungi nestled on every log. A young lancewood was growing up through a hole in a rotting log – getting protection while it was small.
A weka wandered by, checking us out, and tuis and bellbirds chattered above. There were flowering rata, horopito and drachophyllum.
Following the Pororari River, we crossed several swing bridges over the river, and a few wooden bridges over side streams.
At the junction with the Inland Pack track, we continued ahead. cyclists go to the left. We soon came to an area of caves and chasms, and the trail led up steps through a tiny tunnel.
After another nikau grove we reached the limestone karst landscape of Punakaiki .
It was a truly beautiful walk, and a lovely ride, as we were assured by cyclists, we met at the tavern, just across the road.
Not far away is “The Beach Hostel’, a warm welcoming place to stay. On the wall we read: “You don’t stop because you get old. You get old because you stop”.
Above left: The bluffs at Punakaiki. Left middle: A bush view. Below left: Some of the hundreds of fungi along the trail. Below right; Snowy tops on the way to Blackball.
More to explore in Kerikeri
By Olivia Murray
Source: New Zealand Walking Access Commission
More public access in Kerikeri means Te Tahawai Stream Track can lead you all the way through to Waianiwaniwa (Rainbow Falls) and beyond.
You could spend the day in the historic township of Kerikeri, then make your way via Te Tahawai Stream Track which means ‘beside the water’ to a 17 metre high waterfall named Te Wairere.
Wander along the edge of the stream and through the valley of ancient forest. Don’t forget to listen out for tui and fantails.
Along the stream, you will be surrounded by towering puriri, totara, and also mānuka which is recognised for its medicinal properties in rongoā (traditional Māori medicine).
Kerikeri is only one hour and 15 minutes from Whangarei. Te Tahawai Stream Track is an extension of the Wairoa Stream Track and one of many walks in the area. It can be completed by itself or over a couple of hours when connected with other sections.
Founder of Vision Kerikeri, Rod Brown also created a book named ‘Wairoa Stream Kerikeri’ all about the community-led restoration of Wairoa Stream.
Te Tahawai Stream Track follows a tributary of Wairoa Stream and passes across private land. The New Zealand Walking Access Commission helped to negotiate public access over this land.
The Commission also helped negotiate public access in 2017 which enabled construction of the main Wairoa Stream Track. This gives more people the chance to enjoy an uninterrupted hīkoi (walk) whether they live locally or are visiting for the weekend.
Above left: The extension starts at the Te Tahawai Stream. Above right and below right: Volunteers planting some of the over 17,000 native plants along the walkway.
Photos by Friends of Wairoa Stream Kerikeri Facebook
