Hunua Ranges Regional Park
This park is located about an hours drive southeast of Auckland, and covers more than 14,000 hectares of native forest. The Maori used the hills and forests primarily as a source of food and timber. We did the 8km Cossey/Massey Loop and also the 6.5km Wairoa Loop Track.
We hiked through a beautiful fern forrest,
and saw some huge kauri trees, which can grow to more than 50m tall.
Huana Falls is a 30m waterfall, and you can swim in the pool, if you like.
This beautiful park is located 30 minutes drive from 'our' house. In the 14th century, this was the first place in this harbour to be visited by the Tainui canoe; one of the great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, around 800 years ago.
and the 8km Farm Loop/Whakakaiwhara Pa Walk has some stunning views.
Andy saw 'dinner', I saw a cute lamb!!
A 80km drive southeast of 'home' at the shore of the Firth of Thames and into the eastern foothills of the Huana Ranges. Waharau was one of the larger Maori settlements along the coast in the late 1800s, and was a summer residence of the Maori King from the 1890s. We tramped the 14km Waharau Ridge Track Loop, mostly in the trees. The first hour was just uphill, but the view was great at the top, so, as almost always, worth the climb.
Mount William
The views from this 460m 'mountain' is spectacular, and gave us a good excuse to get our breath back.
It is such a treat to be able to go for a swim in the ocean after having hiked, and often we also treat ourselves to an ice cream made with fresh strawberries.
We are building up our levels of fitness, as we want to do some longer hikes when we go down south, at the end of January. We think we soon can be issued a 'Warrent of Fitness', (abbreviation WOF) which we see advertised at every gas station and car dealer. It actually is a regular check that a vehicle is required to undergo, to meet minimum safety standards.
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