Let’s twist again

Let’s twist again

We decided it was time for another walk, and after consulting Google, fixed on the little village of Huia, west and slightly south of the city.  From there we could take a track to see the Karamatura Falls.

Naturally, there are hilly bits in the way, so round and round and up and down we had to go again.  Some of the road is quite narrow, but it seems to be a commuter belt for Auckland, so the road is in good condition.  One of the problems with all the official web sites is that they don’t give you decent satnav references.  It’s all very well saying the track starts from the Karamatura picnic area, but where the hell is the picnic area?

After a couple of false starts and photo stops we finally found it and set off into the bush.  Several trails start from this point, so we can actually say we walked the Hillary Trail … except for about 75km of it.

One of the major problems in this area is that the kauri trees are dying back.  Shortly after the trail starts, there’s a gate with a shoe scrubber and spray.  You have to scrape all the soil off your shoes on joining and leaving the trail to prevent the spread of any disease.  From there, an easy gravel trail winds through the bush, ascending gently alongside the river.

This is just a decoy!  After about 30 mutes, the track turns left and loops back to the car park.  However, the falls trail continues straight on, and is literally an earth trail through the bush, including several ascents and descents and some stream crossings – which fortunately weren’t in full flow.  So, round and round and up and down we went again, for another 30 minutes or so.

We did meet the odd person coming the other way but mostly it was just the two of us in the deserted bush, totally silent except for the cicadas.  Oh, and a bird that sounds like a car being unlocked!  Finally, in the middle of nowhere, we came to the falls – and there were two women sitting on the rocks, sunbathing.

So, we had a good look – at the falls – took a couple of photos and retraced our steps.  Round and round and ….