Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk
The walk around Lake Waikaremoana is a 3-4 day walk, one of NZ’s Great Walks. It is in a remote area, with astounding geology and wonderful native plants. The area was formed from 10-15 million old sediments of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, which were originally part of the sea floor, now uplifted above sea level. The area has been shaped by continuous erosion with major valleys carved from softer mudstones while the bluffs and cliffs are of harder sandstone. The lake itself is young, formed only 2,200 years ago when a huge landslide created a natural dam across the Waikaretaheke River.
The ridges and valleys are all covered in lush vegetation, with more than 650 types of native. The changing patterns of volcanic activity, fire, storm and animal damage create a dynamic environment for the vegetation too. The lowering of the lake by 5 metres for power generation in 1946 encouraged forest regeneration along the shore.
The stewardship of the land that the Lake Waikaremoana Walk traverses is unique amongst the Great Walks and provides a fascinating resolution of an indigenous land claim to a former National Park. In 2014 the Te Urewera Act was passed which created Te Urewera as its own legal entity which will own itself in perpetuity with a Board (majority of members from Tuhoe who are the local iwi) to speak as its voice to provide governance and management in accordance with the principles of the Act. Section 3 declares that: "Te Urewera is ancient and enduring, a fortress of nature, alive with history; its scenery is abundant with mystery, adventure, and remote beauty. Te Urewera is a place of spiritual value, with its own mana and mauri. Te Urewera has an identity in and of itself, inspiring people to commit to its care." Te Urewera ceased to be a national park although it is enshrined as a place for public use and enjoyment, for recreation, learning, and spiritual reflection, and as an inspiration for all.
The Act acknowledges the special importance of Te Urewera to the Tuhoe people explicitly setting out the requirement to strengthen and maintain the connection between Tūhoe and Te Urewera. For the Tūhoe people, Te Urewera is their ewe whenua, their place of origin and return, their homeland. Te Urewera expresses and gives meaning to Tūhoe culture, language, customs, and identity. There, Tūhoe hold mana by ahikāroa; they are tangata whenua and kaitiaki of Te Urewera. Other iwi and hapu also prize Te Urewera and have special associations with and customary interests in parts of Te Urewera. New Zealanders treasure Te Urewera for its outstanding national value and intrinsic worth; for the distinctive values of its vast and rugged primeval forest, for the integrity of those values, for its indigenous ecological systems and biodiversity, its historical and cultural heritage, its scientific importance and as a place for outdoor recreation and spiritual reflection.
You can read more about the legal status here:
Onepoto to Panekiri Bluff (9 km, 6 hours): 12th August
Our walk around Lake Waikaremoana began when the pre-arranged shuttle picked us up at 8.00am from the Big Bush campground and took us to Onepoto where there were a number of fascinating information boards about the history of Te Urewera. The walk began at lake level and headed immediately up the hill. The stunning views across the lake showed the amazing geology of the bluffs and indicated how much climbing was ahead of us.
The track required concentration as most of the path is steeply uphill through tree roots. Every now and then it burst out to a clearing above the bluffs which offered panoramas of the lake and views of the enormous bluffs. This is the most popular part of the Walk, so that we met more people on the first day than all the other days put together – all of them international visitors to New Zealand. Several people told us not to miss the short spur trail ahead, which leads to a particularly impressive set of rocks and a view of snow-capped Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe.
We were pleased to arrive at Panekiri Hut by about 4.30 pm with enough light to chop some of the wood from the wood shed into appropriate lengths for the fire. The wetness of the wood meant that the fire never burned hot enough to warm Panekiri Hut significantly so we spent a rather cold night, in an echo of the previous time I stayed at Panekiri Hut back in 1988. Just as dusk deepened into night, we finished eating dinner and a young Korean Choe Seung Wai came up the track, very pleased to have reached the hut. Another 30 minutes later, the head torches of a German father and son signaled their arrival. Without much conversation we all settled to sleep, mostly on mattresses on the floor close to the fire in an attempt to make the most of what warmth there was.
Panekiri Bluff to Waiopaoa: 13th August
+ side trip to Korukoru Falls (8 km, 4 hours + 9 km, 3.5 hours)
Ross managed to get out of his warm sleeping bag to check out the sunrise on a cold, crisp, clear morning. He got some wonderful shots of golden light through the forest, as well as this magical misty scene that Te Urewera is famous for. The group of trampers were much more social in the morning, buoyed by the beauty before us, there was more conversation and sharing of plans for the day, while we all got ready to get on with the descent from the Panekiri Bluff.
The track was better quality than the previous day with more steps to assist, so the level of concentration on the track was lower. The views were not quite so stunning, but the quality of the bush was stunning, and we kept stopping to admire the light through the forest.
The huts for this day are placed an awkward distance from each other, so that it is either a long day or a short day. We had planned to stop at Waiopaoa which we reached by lunchtime. The hut was in a peaceful sunlit glade in the forest, right by the lakeside. We ate lunch on the terrace, glad to soak up some sunshine in a sheltered spot. The Waiopaoa Hut was a lovely modern hut, light, clean and airy – a considerable improvement on the Panekiri Bluff Hut which was old and dingy.
The Korukoru Waterfall was billed as one of the must do’s of the Waikaremoana Walk, so we decided to visit it in the afternoon. It meant about 3 km of backtracking, but fitted better into our short second day rather than the 18 km we planned to walk on day 3.
The first 3.6 km was alongside the Lake and disappointingly muddy. The track improved once it turned inland to follow the very attractive Korukoru Stream. The track was tricky in places, not exactly challenging, but requiring concentration to negotiate obstructions or slippery places. Then came the excitement of crossing the Korukoru Stream, using a steel rope to assist with the large steps between the big rocks which served as stepping stones. The final 5 minutes was steeply uphill until the Korukoru Waterfall was revealed. It is a perfect curtain of water, dropping straight into a fern surrounded basin in a perfect image of a fairy glade.
The slight breeze created a mist adding to the spiritual atmosphere. Well worth the 90 minute detour from the main track. Fortunately it was faster returning to the main track downhill, so that we got back to the Waiopaoa Hut, albeit with some frustration about the muddy track, in time to eat dinner before dark descended upon us. Even after a long discussion about route options we were in bed by 7.00 pm.
Day 3: 14th August
Waiopaoa Hut to Waharuru Hut (18 km)
Day 3: 14th August Waiopaoa Hut to Waihururu Hut
Our plan for the day was to walk 18 km through to Waihururu Hut in the hope of hearing kiwis at night. So we woke early and got on the way making good progress to Korukoru Campsite despite the muddy track conditions. There was a little rain, so we were grateful to stop at the shelter there, remove some clothing layers and eat a museli bar.
The next stretch, through to Maranui Campsite was supposed to take 2 ½ hours, but it took us more like 3 ½ hours. At times it seemed more as if we were walking up a mountain, rather than around a lake as the track wound up and down, over and around headlands. The rain made the colours of the bush intense which had me reaching for the camera frequently, particularly when shafts of sunlight spotlit graceful patterns and shapes amongst the bush. A glimpse of the Maranui shelter energized us and helped pick up our pace, as lunch time beckoned.
We had a decision to make about whether we had sufficient energy to push on past Maranui Hut to Waihururu Hut which was several more kms and another couple of hours. Cheered by the fact that we were matching DOC times again, we decided to press on past Maranui, without even checking out the hut. It took us 2 hours 15 minutes to reach Waihururu Hut which we were pleased with as it was the end of an 18 km day, walking in the rain and the mud. The track for last section of the day was not so challenging, although there was a lot of slush and rather too much picking our way through the mud rather than being able to walk confidently.
When we came upon the Waihururu Campsite a cheer went up, and the Hut was 5 minutes further on. The Hut was the best we encountered on the Walk, beautiful, large, new and entirely empty. We decided to sleep and eat in the same room. Imagine our delight when we heard the repetitive call of the kiwi on dusk. What a great reward for pressing onto Waihururu.
Day 4: 15th August
Waihururu Hut to Whanganui Hut pick-up point (7 km, 3 hours)
Despite the early hour we had gone to bed, we slept through to 7am. Our morning routine was focused upon arranging our day to meet our rendez-vous with the water taxi at 2pm at Whanganui Hut. We reshuffled our packs so that I had more of the heavier gear to carry this last day, hoping that would even up our pace. This was more steadily up than the previous day.
The day’s walk began up and over the headland of the peninsula where the Kiwi sanctuary has been established. This work supports recovery of the kiwi population and seeks to reverse the effects of predators such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, dogs, cats, pigs and possums who have decimated the national populations of kiwis to a tiny proportion of the original 12 million. The Lake Waikaremoana Hapu Restoration Trust (a local Maori hapu trust) formed a partnership to halt the decline of kiwi at Waikaremoana with DOC and assistance from the Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Programme.
Their focus is on predator control on the Puketukutuku Peninsula, by laying traps to kill stoats, who are the main threat to kiwi chicks, complemented by possum and rat trapping. Kiwi numbers and movement are monitored and show that kiwi numbers are increasing in the area.
The route was much more steadily uphill than the previous day, with a better quality track and gorgeous bush to lift our spirits. It had rained hard overnight so the bush was sparkling, vividly coloured and sometimes lit by dappled sunshine. The air was so clear and heavily oxygenated, it was a blessing to be in such a beautiful corner of the world.
We dropped down off the headland and immediately arrived at Tapuaenui Campsite, where we stopped for a morning snack and to remove a layer or two of clothing as the day warmed up. The path for the next hour or so to Whanganui Hut was beside the lake and back to being rather wet and muddy. There were some enchanting streams with clear clear water bubbling happily and beautiful forest.
Just when our packs were beginning to be a burden we came upon the water taxi pick-up sign. It was just on noon, so we had plenty of time to spare before our 2pm rendez-vous. Within 30 minutes our young Korean acquaintance from a couple of nights ago, Choe Yeung San, had joined us and arranged to be collected from the same spot. We hoped we might bring the pick-up to an earlier time, but it was a cold wait until just after 2pm when we heard the boat motor. The ride back across the Lake was entertained with some local lore and tall stories about life in remote places as well as great views of a rather grey Lake Waikaremoana.