We've just come back from a few days in sunny and warm (compared to Canberra) New Zealand. I was looking forward to the chance to get a day's worth of bushwalking while my gorgeous wife was enjoying some horseriding with a friend of ours, Sig. I was keen to do some walking, not only because I love bushwalking in New Zealand, but also to keep up the exercise regime as part of the mission, and was joined on the walk by Sig's partner, Phil.
The walk we picked was the track to the summit of Mount Karioi, near Raglan. The 756m high mountain is an extinct volcano that has two tracks to the summit - the Mount Karioi Track from the northside, and the Wairake Track from the southside. According to the description on the NZ Department of Conservation website, the Wairake Track is the shorter and easier track - Wairake it was.
The first 40 minutes or so was walking through private farmland (with permission) to the forest edge, before going uphill through the forest to the summit. There was no view on the way up - the path was very muddy, lots of tree roots, but easy to follow. On the way up I only slipped once, discovering what's it's like to get a shock from an electric fence :(
Despite the cloudy day, the view from the summit was impressive. It was blowing a gale at the top so didn't stay up there long. Only managed to fall over once more, though it took several handwashes to clean the mud off my trousers and boots.
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A note of thanks: I posted a link to this blog on my Facebook page and got wonderful responses and encouragement from my friends there, especially Tim. Thanks everyone - really appreciate it.
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