South New Zealand is one of my favorite destinations in the world. It was time to pay the North Island a visit, focused on hiking & trail running.

A long overdue post. I went there in February of 2019… I wanted to hike on its Great Walks (40-80km long hiking routes), several of which I had hiked in the South Island, and check some more around. Another “adventurous” trip option for the post-Covid.

Land on Auckland airport, pick up the SIM card, rental car, and directly go to Thames for an early sleep. The next day go up to The Pinnacles in slowish trail running mode. Good start for the trip. Nice views atop of the famous Coromandel peninsula. The area is well known for its beaches and ondulating hills. I went to see some and trail run Coromandel Coastal Walkway route, going back and forth.

On my way Southwards I stopped at Wairere falls. Short hike to the top of the 153 meters waterfall. Within the very civilized path is difficult to appreciate how impressive it is, as you either see it from far away or already on the very top. Nice walk anyhow and back down. A video summarizing it.

Carefully you could go even a little further, closer to the edge. Be careful!

The driving was a bit rough and slow at times. With tons of gravel sections and all kinds of animals (horses, rabbits, possums, etc) wandering around.

Arrived finally at Waikaremoana Holiday Park.

Perfect spot to rest before starting the first of the Great walks.

I decided to do both Walks anti-clockwise, reverse of how most people hike them. In my case, it was a no brainer considering that I was going to do the routes in fast mode. Two days instead of the recommended 3 or 4 days hiking. Flatter initial sections with most weight on, the food to be eaten on the first day. Additionally, in Waikaremoana the logistics only allowed to do it that way.

There used to be a company providing water taxis to any point in the lake, but they stopped operating just before my arrival… Therefore, the Conservation department itself was the one providing limited land transportation and boat transfer between two sections that had a broken bridge in the middle. Tiny speed boat that you needed to book beforehand.

Get all the equipment ready for the two days. Sleeping bag, toiletries, water and filter, warm clothes, rain jacket, and food enough.

The route was quite muddy. Nice views on top and forest to walk through. By far the best though was out of the main route itself: Korokoro Falls.

The hut where I slept was quite busy. I was the only one doing it in fast mode. Soon I could hear some talking about “the guy” who had done more than half of the route + the path of the falls in one day 😅  Nothing especially challenging for a trail runner. Soon I realized that there were some seasoned hikers, but also a lot of people not really into hiking that had been suffering a bit with the route. Early wake-up and most of the altitude gain and loss on the second day, with the high lookouts. As mentioned, nice, but way less impressive than those enjoyed in Routeburn track or others in the South Island.

One more night in the Holiday Park and the next morning check the Onepoto caves short hiking in the area.

Interesting looking rocks around.

Although the caves I visited were small and mainly the corridors among them were the most photogenic.

Supposedly it was late summer, but to confirm the sentence that you read everywhere (you can experience four seasons in one day in NZ), from there I had a long drive under the rain. Arrive at the Tongariro Conservation department information center with freezing temperatures.

This Great Walk is extremely exposed, almost no trees, and the conditions can vary greatly. Luckily the weather forecast was kinda good for the next days. Cloudy initially but with little chances of rain. Chilly though with temperatures below ten even in the low lands initially and windy.

After a little time hiking, you arrive at Taranaki Falls.

Little upper you will find another detour to go up to Tama Lakes, “empty craters filled with azure blue water” as per the brochure. Not very impressive. May be due to the light. Quite gloomy and drizzling around that time.

The path started to become what it would be most of the day: dirt and gravel with little vegetation ready to handle the lowest temperatures.

The area around Waihohonu hut was the only really green on the first day. And with quite some sandflies… A little forest around a couple of rivers on both sides of the hill, where I stopped for a lunch break. Moving forward, long gravel areas and finally arrive at Oturere Hut, where I’d spend the night. Just next to it there is a nice waterfall where to clean yourself… If you are able to bear the cold!

Wash, put all my clean/warm clothes on, and time to cook dinner, chat a bit an early sleep. The next day was the volcanic experience itself.

Desolated beauty. Initially completely on my own. Later, with people coming from the opposite direction. You can do a one day ascension to the craters. For that hikers avoid the initial section and take a bus to Mangatepopo Hut. So it got a bit crowded, with the slow hikers going up and me crazily going down 😉  Stop in the aforementioned Hut to get some extra water (not much in the previous one), chat with the guard and continue my easy run back to the information center.

I had still a couple of extra days, so decided to go to Waitomo for more adventures. This time, completely arranged by a company. Glowworm caving + canyoning + tubing all in one. Not exactly with this company but kind of similar.

Drive back to Auckland. A little bit of sightseeing and back to Hong Kong.

More adventures abroad.