Day One: Travel Day – Wellington to Mangatutu Hot Springs campsite Day Two: Makahu Road to Ballard Hut Day 3: Ballard Hut to Te Puia Hut and hot springs Day 4: Te Puia Hut to Wellington
The long weekend started with a Friday evening drive to Norsewood, to camp overnight. This allowed us to break up the long drive, along winding gravel roads, to the beginning of the track at Makahu Road road end – about 1.5 hours from Napier. It was sad to see some of the damage caused by … Read more
The last long weekend for a while meant quite a few people headed to the Kawkeas for three days of excellent tramping. The medium’s plan was to camp out all three nights, which meant lugging our tents up hill and down dale. No huts for us, even though there were a few on the route. … Read more
This was the third time I’ve gone to the Kaweka Hot Pools, or the Mangatainoka Hot Springs as they are more properly known. My introduction to the Hot Pools was back in 2005, doing an Easy tramp with Helen McDermott. Then two years ago I led a Medium tramp to Ballard Hut and the Hot … Read more
“Hey Justin, doesn’t the fuel gauge say we’re on empty?” “No, the fuel indicator needle is just having a little rest below the ‘E’. We’ll be fine”. “Are you sure about that?” “Um, not really, but you weren’t supposed to ask that question. I’m sure we’ll be, um, fine. Maybe we’ll make it back. . … Read more