Beautiful Lake Waikaremoana

We hadn’t tramped together since walking the Milford Track in 1972 but a couple of weeks ago my sister, two brothers and I completed the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk.  Forty-six kilometres long it took us four days and lots of hard work!

Setting off from Onepoto

The track was formed between 1962 and 1972 and although it is the least popular of the nine New Zealand Great Walks there are still over 5,500 people who complete it each year.  Te Urewera is the ancestral home of the Tuhoe people who call the lake the bathing waters of their ancestors.  Due to its remoteness Te Urewera was one of the last areas to be settled by Europeans and has the largest stand of native bush in New Zealand.

Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk

Spring was a great time to walk the track as the weather was mild and there were very few other people around.    We were lucky with the weather – only one day of rain and it wouldn’t be Te Urewera if there wasn’t a bit of that.

Climbing the Panekire Bluff made the first day the most demanding but we took it slowly and had plenty of stops.

Ascending the Panekire Bluff

Bald Knob

Panekire Bluff

Negotiating the beech tree roots and rocks took a bit of time and made the easier parts of the track all the more enjoyable.  DOC is carrying out six months work on the track at the moment to bring it up to Great Walk standard and we’d suggest that they fill in the patches of missing track markers as we found walking for over an hour with no sign of one a bit concerning!

Swingbridge on the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk

The huts were comfortable and in good order.  Cooking by candlelight was a novelty  and we lit a fire each night.

Waiopaoa Hut

On our last day we walked to Hopuruahine Landing to travel by boat across the lake back to our car, exhausted but filled with a sense of achievement.

Hopuruahine Landing

Hopuruahine Landing