Just a brief report as we attempt to get fit for the Tararuas next month. The Waitaks at present are pretty soggy, but there are a few tracks that are still user-friendly despite all the rain, and this has to be one of the best. We went there a week or two back and again today. Last time there were a number of tree-falls creating problems, especially for the elderly and stout, but by today, a team had been through with a chainsaw and it was all cool running. For those who don’t know it, a report, in reverse direction, can be found at http://wudhi.com/mrwalker/montana/montana%2005.htm and the next file, http://wudhi.com/mrwalker/montana/montana%2006.htm There’s a few hundred metres of level streamside track before we head uphill, and about 20 minutes to the Cascade track junction. Then it’s relatively gentle and undulating on it’s way up to the far end. A good chance to stretch out after the initial uphill warm-up. I never completely trust that the board walks are not going to send me for slipsliding gutser, and I still don’t like them after many trips, especially in the wet, but that apart this is an exceptionally rich track for spotting native plants. Today there was an exquisite little green orchid, as far as I can tell, one of the Pterostylis genus, but which I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s early. Salmon lists its flowering period as September to December. Today I did not take the camera. The track is listed at ARC time 1hr 30 min from the carved statue of Tiriwa to the junction with Long Rd. We managed it in 1hr 14 going up and 1hr 3 coming down, from the carpark, including sitdowns along the way. Fatman time is looking better as we approach the Tararua tracks around Mt Holdsworth.
August 26, 2008
August 17, 2008
Exhibition Drive, Titirangi
This walk appears in the ARC list of tracks published on the back of their Waitakere ranges map, but there are none of the usual ARC signs to indicate its whereabouts, it’s end, or it’s beginning, or point a stranger in its direction. It seems to be a purely local secret – popular but strictly not advertised.