My favourite hikes in the Waitakere Ranges

I have been doing quite a bit of hiking in the Waitakere Ranges over the past year and was recently asked what my favourite hikes were.

1. Whatipu Road at top of Omanawanui Track --> Omanawanui Track --> Whatipu (Lunch on the beach) --> Kura Track (it is long and steep near the end). This is a very scenic track and there are some challenging portions.
   
2. Scenic Drive --> Waitakere Reservoir --> Fence Line Track --> Long Road Track --> Upper Kauri Track --> Cascade Track --> Anderson Track --> Waitakere Tramline Track back to the Reservoir. This is a decent walk and from recollection took about 4 hours.
   
3. Arataki Vistor Centre (on Scenic Drive) --> Slip Track --> Pipeline Track --> Lower Nihotupu Dam Road --> Hamilton Track --> Huia Dam Road --> Huia Store for lunch and then the return trip.
   
4. Constable Road --> Goldie Bush Walkway --> Mokoroa Falls Track and then back via the Mokora Stream Track (if you want a technically challenging walk that you _will_ get wet feet on.
   
5. Piha Road --> Kauri Grove Track --> Kitakita Falls --> Kitekite Track --> Piha for lunch and then back by whatever mixture of tracks.

Flatter tracks that have something vaguely interesting that come to mind:

1. Beach walk from Karekare to Whatipu (or Pararaha) and back. There is a small tunnel along the way you can go through too.
   
2. Auckland City Walk in the Cascades portion of the Waitakere's is apparently a good introductory walk. I haven't done it. It is only 1.5km so is very short.
3. Walk around Lake Wainamu near Bethells Beach. There are also huge dunes here. Don't attempt Houghton Gully Track (if you're after a flat track) since it goes up and up and feels like it will never end. The walk around the lake isn't huge.
   

Call to action - Emergency Kit

I am fearful that my timing in posting this may be construed as disrespectful or somehow insensitive, and yet it is prompted by my own feeling of helplessness in supporting Christchurch and Canterbury in this horrific time.  This is in many ways my own tribute to your plight.  I am not near enough to bake, or open my home, but I can stop and ensure I don't take my access to supermarkets, power, water and shelter for granted, and be prepared myself, for something that none of us ever want to go through. Kia kaha and aroha nui.

---

We had a long power cut at home after a massive storm some years back, prompting us to actually do something about an emergency kit.  We got as far as buying a bin to put everything in, getting 5 litres of water, a first aid kit and putting in a bundle of supplies I need (on account of having Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES)).  Since then, we've frequently talked about getting some actual food and such like in there, along with a radio, torch, batteries etc.  Well, until today, the kit had got to the point of being full of bottles of Simon's home brew.  The first aid kit was somewhere in the store room, along with my supplies, and the container full of water had expired (seriously?  apparently anyway).

Oddly enough, current events have meant that we're thinking a lot about emergency situations and being isolated, without water, or access to supermarkets.  So we've finally made significant improvements to our emergency kit, and I'd like to challenge others to do the same.  If you, like us have been putting it off, at least begin to asssemble an emergency kit and plan. As we support Canterbury in this unimaginably difficult time (I have agonised over words for the last hour, unimaginable is all I am left with), let us also take a moment and be prepared ourselves.







What we have in our emergency kit to date (click the logo above for the official recommendations):

6 x 1.5 litre bottles of water
1 x 10 litre plastic container of water
4 cans of tuna (each has enough for 2 people for a single meal)
3 cans of salmon (again, 3 meals for 2 people)
3 cans of mixed bean salad
2 cans tiny taters
2 cans green beans
3 cans fruit salad
3 cans baked beans with sausages
2 cans minestrone soup
my CES related supplies
first aid kit (including personal medical requirements)
hand sanitiser

We've made a point of predominantly getting things that don't require additional water, and that don't require heating if we don't have the ability to do so. Oh, and in sizes that we will eat in a single sitting so that there a no scraps left sitting around, in anticipation of not having refrigeration. We've also tried to accommodate the possible need to take the emergency kit and ourselves away from home.

Still to go:
Torch (preferably wind up)
Radio (preferably wind up)
batteries (in case of not getting wind ups above!)
candles
matches
pet food for the cats
rubbish bags
can opener
toilet paper
something like cabin bread maybe
burner from the fondue set, with fuel


and possibly some other things, which I'll update here once I've had more of a think about it - there are probably some glaringly obvious things missing, but as Simon emphasised, lets just get it started and have at least the bare essentials.

We still need to work out a plan - ie what if we're at work, or one at home & one elsewhere, what if we have to leave home, with or without a vehicle, how will we make sure our families are ok, what about the cats etc.

At least right now, if we were isolated for 3 days, we're significantly better prepared than we were yesterday (although some might argue a kit full of home brew might not be such a bad thing!).

Saturday at Waiheke - Sculptures, Olives, Stony Batter tunnels and more

We spent a lovely day at Waiheke on Saturday.  This island has so much to offer that there was no shortage of things to do and we ended up doing quite a bit.

After an excellent breakfast at our accommodation we set off to explore the Sculpture trail.  This is a free outdoor exhibition that runs for a couple of months around the headland of Waiheke with magnificent views to be seen along the walk.  There was also a nice touch of sun umbrellas along the walk you could pick up and make use of and drop off at another location.

After the sculpture walk we headed to the middle of the island and sampled some lovely Olive Oil at Azzuro Groves (where we purchased a Greek Olive oil) and then had some excellent Herb Spread from Rangihoua Estate.  We then continued across the island (it’s a lot bigger than you think!) to Passage Rock for a magnificent lunch.  See previous blog post for further details.

We then went in search of a couple of geocaches on the far eastern side of the island and found one of them, but more importantly got to see some of the island’s beautiful scenery and go to parts of island we have never ventured to before.

The fort at Stony Batter was our next stop where I did a self-guided tour through the tunnels (pitch black without a torch) and emerged via a ladder at one of the gun turrets.  There is an $8 entry fee to the tunnels and you can hire a torch for $5.  Thoroughly recommended, although getting out of the ladder at the end won’t be for everybody so you can opt to return via the tunnel.

For dinner we had a lovely meal at the Te Whau vineyard restaurant.  Another blog post will detail this.

Hamurana Springs (Hinerua)

Thanks to our recently adopted hobby of geo-caching, I had the pleasure of visiting one of the most beautiful and memorable places I can think of this weekend. In fact, I had the pleasure of visitng 3 such places, but one was the clear stand out.

We took the opportunity of a long weekend to run away and avoid all the things that desperately need doing at home, because quite frankly, we both needed a bit of a mental holiday, and housework, or even the reminder of it, was simply not going to do the job.
So we waited until late on Thursday evening, once the worst of the crazy Easter traffic had died down and headed to Huntly to settle the cats in with their grand parents and their country holiday-home, and turned in for a good night's sleep before heading south to Rotorua on Friday morning.

After a leisurely trip down, we wandered out to the Blue Lake - I love fresh-water swimming, but haven't been anywhere suitable for longer than I care to consider. I went for a refreshing (read 'bracing'!) swim while Simon headed off around the lake to find a cache, and leave his sunglasses at ground zero, and get half way back, and have to go all the way back again before returning to find me just arriving at the car as I'd given up waiting and was by now getting really really cold! But he did find the cache and managed to find his sunnies on the return trip. Happy endings on that little tale!

On Saturday Simon had 2 caches planned for us to find, one in suburban Rotorua in a little area where all the roads were named after star signs. We walked through a public access way to a stream-side path and wandered along, admiring the crystal clear water and cool shade. I'm happy to say I located this cache, after decyphering the additional clue admittedly. We wandered a little further on, as several other geo-cachers before us had encouraged us to do, and were delighted to come upon a peaceful private beach and reserve, complete with jetties and kids enjoying the thermally heated waters at the lakeside. We both just stood and enjoyed the complete and utter peace of the place. We certainly would not have made it there if not for the promise of a geo-cache to locate - we're both fairly goal oriented it's fair to say!

Next we headed back to the car and proceeded to drive around the lake, noting the queue of traffic heading into Rotorua as we went out and expressing relief that we weren't coming back that way! At the northern most part of the lake is the Hamurana Springs. This is a place I simply will not forget in any great hurry, and plan to return to. Soon and often.

First was the beautful stream that we crossed over to get to the trail to the springs - we stood on the bridge admiring the pristinely clear water, the abundance of plump trout and the grace of the geese floating with the current. This alone was a welcome dose of tranquility, and yet it was nothing compared to what was still to come.



Shortly along the trail we glimpsed the stream again and were astonished at the almost unnaturally vivid blueness of currents within the flow. The picture to the right is very true to what we saw. But still, I have not reached the most wonderful place.


As we continued along the trail, we entered a narrow stand of Redwood trees - breath-taking in their size and in the atmosphere they created. As we kept quietly ambling through (I had a strong sense of being in a place of wonder and felt as though I ought to be talking at nothing above a whisper), the narrow stand opened out into a beatiful grove of these incredibly majestic trees. The carpet of fallen leaves, the golden glow of filtered sunlight reflecting off the myriad trunks, the perfect, uncompromising straightness of their reach toward the sky all combined to make this a place I feel entirely inadequate to describe without doing it some sort of injustice of understatement. To stand and spread your arms in this place seemed the most natural thing in the world to do. To drink in the peace, the power, the energy, the pure life of this place was a wonder, an honour and a treasured joy.



I could have spent a lifetime drinking it in and still have not wearied of it. I will return. For now, I will do so often in my memory, but so too I will return in body and draw from the energy and peace of this place.

There was more to the journey, as we continued, seeking a waypoint to a geo-cache, and happening upon the source of the spring - a shaded pool with a deep deep chasm that seemed lit by that same eerie blue we had noted in the stream further down. The current from the spring was so strong that even the ducks seemed to be straining to swim to the source.


I'm afraid I'm out of words on this one. Hopefully I've managed to portray at least a little of this magnificent spot.

More pictures in my flickr stream.

Clooney: My new favourite restaurant

This evening we went to Clooney in Freemans Bay, Auckland for the first time. I had heard great things about this restaurant so went in with high expectations and was not disappointed. I would even go far to say it is one of the best (if not the best) meals I have ever had.

Situated in a bizarre location with a non-assuming entrance, the internal decor is equally “different” (but in a good way) with curtains of floor-to-ceiling tassels segmenting the restaurant, individual spotlights for each table and beautiful hand-blown light globes.

The wait staff were very knowledgeable about the menu, efficient and professional, yet with a nice relaxed nature.

The restaurant was very busy this evening, yet we were attentively waited on as if the restaurant was empty. It did get a little noisy at times but this just added to a nice relaxed upbeat ambience.

We started with Ciabatta that came with three different spreads; an olive oil, a herb mascorpone and a parmesan butter. They were all good, but I particularly enjoyed the herb butter.

I then followed this with a superb Kawau Blue Soufflé that just melted in my mouth whilst Jane had the Scallops. Whilst Jane enjoyed her entree, she felt the Scallops weren’t anything special.

I had the Venison for my main course whilst Jane had the Pork. The Venison was lovely and tender and the tastes of red wine, chocolate and cherries worked well. Jane found her Pork to be nice and tender although didn’t think it was rave-worthy; the creamed Celeriac was in fact her favourite part.

We accompanied our mains with a Radicchio and Wild Arugula salad which had lovely samplings of Roquefort dispersed within, and marinated Portabello mushrooms. Both of these were good.

I finished with a Creme Caramel that was excellent and had a great consistency and Jane had a couple of lovely French cheeses.

For drinks this evening we went with the advice of our waiter. I had a TerraVin Omaka Valley Pinot Noir 2004 from Marlborough and Jane had a Onyx Merlot Cabernet. Both of these were excellent matches for our main courses.

Whilst not a cheap night out (~$270 for 2 people tonight) it was an excellent experience and I will happily return.

Relaxing Saturday

Its very late on Saturday evening after Earth Hour 2009. We've had an easy day today. Had to try really hard not to laugh at the cat who fell out of bed this morning then just kind of stayed where he fell for several seconds before realising he was looking undignified and high-tailing it out of the room. Then a late rising, just in time for me to leave Simon at home while I picked up a girlfriend and went out for a very leisurely lunch. Even the waiter commented as we left the courtyard 3 hours later 'you've had a lovely sojourn haven't you?'. Well indeed yes, we most certainly did!

Simon and I headed up to Browns Bay with the primary purpose of checking out Janssens butchery - they make (?) continental style (and South African) sausages. We ended up buying quite bit actually! (oh, they do other meats and deli goods as well, but the sausages were what brought them to our attention).

Before we got there though, we tried to find a cafe to have a late afternoon tea. Hmm, not a successful mission I fear, so we ended up in Starbucks. (Which I won't call a cafe, but they do make good fruppucinos I will concede (shame about the coffee)).

I renewed my artistic license and took some questionable photos. I had fun though.

(in case you're wondering, its Simon's hands. he's turning pages in the newspaper)

Then this evening, we turned out the lights for earth hour, again I took a few more gratuitous photos and then we looked through the photos of our nieces' (yes, 2 of them, twins even) 2nd birthday party.

A very uneventful blog post for a very relaxing, chilled out and pleasant Saturday. Hope yours was a good one!

Obviously Simon took this photo of me watching stars during Earth Hour.:)