Hiking at Whatipu

Do you want to go for a hike? The answer in this place is always yes! 9:45am and I was ready to go with my bright orange runners on (mistake 1), my tracksuit with waterproofs over the top (mistake 2) and my warm rain coat (mistake 3). We, two other international students (Charlotte from Washington D.C and Harry from Perth, Scotland) and I, were collected by Charlotte’s friend Richard and his friend. Richard drove for about 45 minutes heading out west of Auckland down winding roads and through forestry that made it look like we were in a rain forest. The weather was apparently in on this little guise so there was no shortage of rain. Once we arrived at the little carpark we sat and waited for a couple of other guys. While there we saw a couple come out of the woods in runners and Richard made some comment laughing about the idiots who go hiking in their runners. ‘Yeah’, says I as I look down at my fluorescent runners.

As we set off I noticed that all the locals were wearing shorts and after about 30 seconds I realised why when we came to a small puddle about 2 foot deep and was actually more like a pond. We waded through with the double layers on my legs really soaking up some extra weight. We had to clean our shoes after we emerged and then begin the climb. We were only going up about 350m but it was quite steep and very muddy nevertheless. As a consequence of this I became quite warm so had to remove my coat, accept that I would get wet, and carry it the rest of the way. On we went through the dense wood, occasionally getting a glimpse of the sea and the sounding vegetated headland. Despite the thick trees and bushes the path was always very clear as it is maintained by the department of conservation in New Zealand which is made up largely of volunteers.

Eventually we reached the summit and were treated to wonderful views that are best described by looking at the images. We continued on along ever muddier tracks and began to descend through the undergrowth towards the sea. Soon the path became a semi submerged board walk, through an area that reminded me of the marshes in Lord of the Rings, before the scenery changed again to the dunes of a black sand beach. Our journey continued along the gorgeous sand and we were able to see where we had been hiking before up above. After passing through a tunnel in the headland, wading through some even deeper water and again wading through the original puddle it was two and a half hours later and we were back.

However, this was not the end. We spotted a waterfall and we decided to go explore. After the hike the plunge pool looked strangely inviting so we stripped off and headed into the fresh water. There was quite a lot of screaming but it was extremely refreshing and very fun. Admittedly we didn’t stay in very long but it felt like my first real taste of New Zealand and I was excited! It was Harry’s birthday so that evening we went to an Irish pub called Father Ted’s and enjoyed some live music, content after the day’s exploits.

You can see all the photos from the hike plus the video of swimming in the waterfall here.