NZ Day 8: Hiking the Pouaki Crossing

Posted byPeter IrelandPosted inNew ZealandTags:, , , ,

In summary, this was not a great day. It was a hiking day and the weather wasn’t great, but the hiking trail compounded the issue a lot! I need to plan hikes more carefully, but I did not see this one being so bad and it was well reviewed.

It started well with our meeting a shuttle driver to take us from one end (Mangorei trailhead, where we left our car) to the North Egmont visitor centre. The volcano was covered in clouds and the forecast was the same all day, but the shuttle driver encouraged us that it was still a great walk. We headed off, up the hill, with high hopes.

The walk passes past a couple of huts and a tarn that is famous for pictures. The pictures below best describe what we saw. You will note a theme in many of them – steps!

Soon after we started, we saw the carpet of white trees in the mist
And we started going up lots of steps
I really liked these flowers
We passed many of these traps that destroy stoats, a species that was introduced to control rabbits, that had also been introduced and for out of control. There are no native terrestrial mammals in NZ so stoats have no predators, and are really good at eating the eggs of the flightless native birds. Hence the attempts to control their numbers.
This trap has got one, but hasn’t been cleared in a while.
The ridge opens up but it is still cloudy. At least there were not steps!
The path across a valley, with steps
Walking across a landslide that was still quite loose
A nice group shot, early in the hike
A red river, colored by the volcanic soil
Signage explaining the damage that the introduced possums did to the native cedar trees, leaving them like bones
It was clear below us, so we had a view (when looking back down the steps)
Bailey stumbled and broke a nail. You can see the walkway. It was not kind to our feet
The first hut was off the trail so we did not bother to go and look
The ground is great at filtering the rain but is ecologically sensitive

The terrain was slower than we had expected, and the wooden walkways hard on the feet. We stopped for lunch but realized we’d not really brought as much food as we wanted to eat, which was sad.

Crouching down out of the wind

Onward we marched.

Steps
More steps
And more steps. You can see the boardwalk snaking through the bog in the background, but that was even harder to walk on as the wood is harder that dirt

After our second big climb, which was taking its toll, we finally reached the sign to the yarn. It was a 1/2 mile detour with little prospect of a good view, but Samuel and I had to go check it out anyway. This was the best case I have experienced of reality being so different from Instagram!

We are finally near the yarn!
What others post. There was a similar view the previous night.
Our view from the same location
The tarn is small and not very appealing without the reflection. It has lots of the slatted wooden walkways!

After returning and finding Janet and Bailey sheltering in the hut, we finished off the food and headed down the three miles of continuous steps. Yup, three miles continuous downhill.

The Pouaki hut. The large round container is a toilet, which was pretty rough. Inside the building were basic sleeping quarters.
Samuel had some energy to run down the steps
So did Bailey. Janet and I did not agree, and nor did our knees!
One of many similar bridges
The downwards view clears again
We passed through some cool forest, as we limped down the steps…
Bailey tried to raise our spirits with the bottom of a cool uprooted tree

At the final sign, the others did not want to join me for a selfie and I could tell I was in the dog house for choosing this walk.

Interesting

A large group of hydrangea was a highlight of the day!

They also grow wild

After quick showers, we found the local burger joint BurgerFuel, which hit the mark.

I loved the way the burger container converted into a burger holder
Another common pretty flower, this one growing just outside our hotel

Reflecting on the hike, while it was the limit of our comfort at 12 miles and 3000 fr elevation change, we’ve done that before and enjoyed it. The lack of view was a bit of a downer, but the biggest issue was the steps. I’d expected a few, but maybe 80% of the whole trail is steps or boardwalk. The wood is hard and has gaps so is not kind to the feet, and we had a few stumbles. I guess the NZ government is trying to protect the trail, but we were not the only ones finding them horrific. We cannot recommend walking the Pouaki crossing, though Samuel would go back to the tarn in a heartbeat to get THE photo.

I am sure we will sleep well tonight, looking forward to fun tomorrow.

This page is part of our New Zealand trip set of posts

Published by Peter Ireland

"Cajunlimeys" combines Lousiana (Janet) and England (Peter). For "limeys," check out scurvy in the English navy. We love adventures and use blogging to write a photo diary to preserve our memories. Some crazy friends enjoy following us and my notes might help others plan.

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