Ruapani Circuit (A Waikaremoana Walk)

My BNI commitments took me to Gisborne on Friday for a breakfast meeting. As it was my last meeting for the year I thought I would treat myself and go home via the Waikaremoana Rain Forest route and run a new trail.

After a bit of research I decided that the Ruapani Circuit looked about the right sort of length for the time I was prepared to spend (about 2 hours) and so I left Gisborne at about 9am and hit the road. Turn off at Wairoa and follow the signs. This is the easiest route into and out of the Waikaremoana area. This road has about 20 or so kilometres of gravel road and most of it is pretty good. Coming from Murupara and you have about 80km of very tight winding gravel road absolutely guaranteed to have all but the passengers with the very strongest stomachs needing to stop. If you are travelling this way in winter, check before you leave as slips are common.

From the Gisborne end you keep driving past the entry to the Great Walk (saving that for another weekend) and past the turn off to the main camping ground and not long past that you will see the sign for the Information Centre. Park in the carpark opposite the information centre. The entry to the trail is about 200m further down the road and while there is parking opposite the entrance, I am not sure how secure it would be. Parking in the main carpark seemed a much more sensible idea.

Once you have walked (run) up the road from the carpark to the entrance, head up the trail not more than about 20m and you will see the start of the Ruapani Trail on the left. You can run this loop either way, but clockwise works best for a couple of reasons.


Firstly, the climb this way is much more progressive and enjoyable. The climb in the anti-clockwise direction is pretty much straight up a '4-lane highway' type trail. However that is just my taste.


Secondly, running anti-clockwise brings you to Lake Waikareiti near the end of your run and it is worth the wait. More on that later.






The climb at the start is steady and almost all runnable. The trail quality is excellent and further reminder of just how lucky we are here in Godzone to have a fabulous organization like DOC to run our reserves.


You will pass several wetland areas to the left and right of the trail as you wind your way up... and up... and up.


It's one of those trails where you know you are climbing, but as most of it is runnable (well should be) it seems to slip by. I say should be, because as I mentioned earlier I had a business breakfast in Gisborne that morning and - in my wisdom - had bacon, sausages and egg... not a good move. A motor only runs as well as it's fuel and I was very flat for this run.
 

Nevertheless I decided early on that I would be breaking no records and would run where I could and walk where I had to and enjoyed it immensely.  


In amongst a series of wetland areas (all signposted) you will pass on your climb, you will also pass Lake Ruapani on the left of the trail (left).






You will also get a few fabulous views through the canopy and at times you will realise just how high you have climbed. There is only one marked trail that leaves the main route. This is the trail to the Sandy Bay Hut. This trail takes you around the back of Lake Waikareiti. If you still have loads of energy to burn you may like to head down there for a bit, as the toughest part of the loop is behind us.


However I ignored that trail as I was rather weary and headed to the right. 

Shortly after this turn off I began to see glimpses of Lake Waikareiti through the trees and the trail meanders down to where you can take a short detour (less than 30m) to the side of the lake.


As it was a lovely day and I was hot and buggared, I decided to cool my legs off. Being used to the Rotorua Lakes I carefully eased into the lake expecting a very cold dip and was very surprised at the lovely water temperature.

After this short refresher it was back on the trail along the edge of the Lake until you reach the boat shed. There are some hireable rowboats and a launching area in the bottom corner of the lake and this is the point we start our downhill route back to the trail start.


You may enjoy this bit, for me it was just a little disappointing in that the trail was so well looked after and wide that it felt like a State Highway. This is in no way a criticism of the trail... more a measure of what I personally like in a trail.


The benefit though is that it's fast and safe and quick and 95% downhill... so take the brakes off and go for it. At the end of the trail I backtracked a kilometre or so back to the Motor Camp to grab a drink and a bite to eat.


This was a trail that was harder than I expected, partly because I ate badly and partly because it had over 700 metres of vertical climbing. But wonderful scenery, some amazing and enormous trees. Mix this in with Lakes, wetlands and great running trail and it is well worth a visit. Below are some more pics I took and a link to my Garmin map. Click on any of the pics in the blog to see the original size.

 

 

 

 

Ruapuni Circuit (Waikaremoana Walks) by mike3950 at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuahu Track

I have had a few excursions into the Kaimai's and with a bit of time on my hands this week I thought I would check out a new trail.

The Tuahu Track is an East-West crossing of the Kaimai range that can be started from either side. As I had been in Morrinsville for the morning I chose the Waikato side. From Morrinsville you head out to Te Aroha and at the main intersection you will be looking at Mount Te Aroha right in front of you (I will climb that trail again in the future for the blog). Take a right at the intersection and follow the road right out of town. About 14km out you will reach Thompson's Road off to the left. There is a rather large sign indicating that this is the way to Thompson's Track, Tuahu Track and Killarney Lakes. Follow Thompsons Road for about a kilometre and turn left into Wairakau Road. Another kilometre or so along you will come to a forestry road on your right with a barrier over the road. Find somewhere safe to park... you are there.

The first part of the road is just over a km of pretty boring forestry road, but not unpleasant. After about 1.3km the little orange triangles, that we know and love from trails around the country, indicate a left turn and we have our first stream crossing. Don't bother taking your shoes off... your feet are going to get wet, if you can't handle that then hop back in the car. Just after the crossing the road splits in a 'V', take the left branch and head through the second crossing and start climbing - still on the roads.

Just over 2.5km you will come to what appears to be the end of the road with nowhere to go. However at the left hand edge of the forestry skid you will find a small trail leading up the hill (left).


This is where the real work starts, a tight narrow climb up sometimes grassy, sometimes clay trail. Not much running here unless you are a machine and I found myself wondering if it stayed like this.

But it doesn't... right out of the blue this grassy trail slides into a classic native bush single trail. And even better, most of it is at a lovely angle for uphill running, enough to know you are working but not enough to make you totally knackered.


The only negative was that the day I ran it was wet underfoot after two days of rain and a heavy dew. As the trail has lots of stones/rocks and roots it was rather treacherous in the wet. Especially as it gets very narrow in quite a few places and you would not want to slip with a 150-200m bank about 100mm to your right.

That couldn't detract from a lovely trail. I crossed 3 waterfall crossings and stopped at the 4th as it looked rather treacherous to attempt on my own and I was very near the saddle anyway and headed back.


The overall impression to me was that this trail would be fantastic in the middle of summer, the trail would be pretty dry and and waterfalls would have a lot less water and be easier to cross. Another option for those feeling fit would be to complete the trail to the BOP side where it meets up with Hot Springs Road just south of Katikati... just a couple of km down the road to Sapphire Springs, have a soak and lunch and the run back!

On the way back I stopped for a few more pics of some of the great views over the Waikato.


My total run was just over 10km with 795m of vertical climbing... so it is a nice workout and worth the time. Probably better with 2 or more... but up to you.






Here is my link to my Garmin recording...

Tuahu Trail - Kaimai's by mike3950 at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuhoto Ariki... worth the climb...

Tuhoto Ariki Trail was a first for the Rotorua area... a dual use MTB and walking (running) trail through Department of Conservation (DOC) land. The name of the trail celebrates Tuhoto Ariki, the famous Tuhourangi tohunga who predicted the Tarawera eruption and then survived it. He was dug out of his debris covered whare after being trapped for 4 days.

The bad news first... Tuhoto Ariki starts at the highest point of the Redwoods/Whakarewarewa Forest Park.... so climb, climb, climb.

There are many different ways to get to the trail, Keith Crook and I ran it the other way a month or two back. Running it in reverse makes the trail a steady climb followed by a rapid decent... todays route made it a steep climb followed by a long steady decent through fabulous native bush trails.

Ok the first step is getting there... turn into the main Waipa Mill entrance just out of Rotorua on the Taupo road. Drive straight by the main MTB carpark on the left and carry on down the road, you will see the Mill barrier arm appearing ahead... however just before that take a right turn. Follow this road for about one and a half kms and you will see the hoist off to the left of the road for lifting logging trailers onto the main truck bed when empty. Just past this the road sweeps around to the right and on the outside of this curve is a parking area. Find a spot and get ready to run.

Head past the barrier (above right) and you will see a map ahead (left). Take a left here into Larch Road and a hundred or so metres along the trail veer right into Nice Road... and it is a nice road. Follow this to the end of the road and then turn left and follow the road to a 4-way intersection... you will find it hard to miss as it is just after a nice wee climb. At the intersection you will see another MTB map... but you don't need that, turn hard right into Direct Road and climb.... for me, this is a walk, run, walk, run road... there are two intersections of roads on the way up, take the right hand option both times - take the left at the first if you like punishment as it comes out at the same place but you just work harder.


Eventually you will climb a road that ends at Hill Road, If you veer left here you will see another MTB map (they get looked after well here) and to the left of that the entrance to a MTB trail called Frontal Lobotomy - yup, that's where we are going. Despite the name, this is a nice climb for that takes you all the way up to the start ramp for the National Downhill MTB trail. Carry on past the start and head up the road for the last part of this climb to the start of Tuhoto Ariki.
 



Before you head down the trail, if you head to the towers opposite the entrance you will get some glimpses of distant Mt Ngongotaha and some idea of how high you have climbed.

 Ok, so this is what we climbed up here for, head into Tuhoto Ariki and enjoy... right at the start you will see the start of a new trail Te Tihi o Tawa... this was still to be opened when I wrote this and is due to be opened on the 1st December 2011 so you can be sure I will be testing my Salomons either up or down it soon.

Tuhoto Ariki, is great forest running, roots, mud, flowing downhills and sharp corners. There are 4kms of running from the start, although we will be leaving it slightly before the end to extend the run through the other trail through the DOC land.

On the run you will come to a nice grass clearing.... just run through and look for the continuation of the trail off the left of the clearing. Shortly after this you get a bit of a wake-up with a 50m (vertical) climb... but it is all runnable and then it's off down again... lots of fun here with more roots, mud and tight turns.

Keep an eye out for the sign (left) and head right down Hatupatu. This is a Grade 5 MTB trail, but makes for a nice downhill run. Knarly at times and a couple of "ooh, better be careful down here" spots. But overall it is a nice run that finishes on Moerangi Road almost directly opposite the start of your next trail (signposted with an exit only MTB sign).

That trail is an 'almost never used' MTB trail that winds down nicely to another MTB intersection (right). You can do as I did and head down Chestnut Link into RollerCoaster or you can take the right-hand option and follow the road through to the road at Hill Road. If you take this option, take a left at the road and follow it down to the intersection where you will see the Shuttle queuing area, follow the road to the left here and follow it back to the start.



If you take the route I took down the MTB trails, beware of MTB riders behind you (you can usually hear them a long way off). They don't generally mind as long as you give way to them. As you head down the trail is pretty cool to run. You will see the sign to RollerCoaster and the only split in the trail is a t-junction where the main trail appears to go right and that's the way you head. The trail will eventually come out on another forestry road with the continuation of the trail just over the road. 








At the end of the MTB trail you come back to the road. Take a sharp left and follow the road for just over 1.5km and you will find yourself back at the start having covered just under 16km. Keep an eye out for a short road to the left just before the finish - especially if it's hot - because it leads to the Waipa Spring which provide much of the water to Rotorua. On the post is a tap with pure spring water... a great way to cool down and fabulous days like today.




There are a myriad of ways to get up to Tuhoto Ariki, but they are all worth the effort (during summer you can even cheat and catch the MTB Shuttle up 90% of the way). Best time to run is during the week as there are less MTB riders around, but today was Sunday and the weather perfect and I only saw 5 riders on the trails I was on and as I got out of the way quickly there was no problem. Below is my link to my Garmin and as always, give me a bit of notice and I will come with you and show you the way!

Nice, Direct, Frontal L, Tuhoto Ariki and down Roller Coaster by mike3950 at Garmin Connect - Details

Te Iringa Track... (abbreviated)...

One of the pluses with my job (and there are lots), is that I travel all around the top part of the North Island and as from quite recently I have 3 trips per year down to Queenstown and Invercargill.

This week saw me in Napier for a night and the next day I knew I had a free day to travel back to Rotorua... a great chance to check out a trail I have been eyeing for a while.

About 27km from Taupo on the Napier Taupo road you will see the sign for Taharua Road, turn down here and proceed until you see Clement's Mill Road... take a right here and carry on to the end of the seal and on into the bush... in summer most vehicles should manage this road with no problems... although it was a bit rutted this week and a 4WD does make you feel more confident. In winter I am guessing a 4WD or AWD would be pretty important.

After a few km's you will see the sign for Te Iringa Track, park here, there is a nice picnic area where the non-runners or early returnees could set up lunch! There is a basic map that gives you most of the required info... interesting to note that this trail is open to MTB's... although it has a Grade 5 rating.




 


I expected a back country rough trail that would involve rugged trails and sometimes a struggle to pick out where the trail is... how wrong was I ... what a fabulous trail.










 




3km of steady climbing, most of it runnable gets you up on top where you get some great views through the trees, there is a stream crossing (right) which in November was not even deep enough to get into my Salomons wet inside.







 


At around 3.5km you come to the clearing where the old Te Iringa Hut used to be... great place for camp or to stop for a bite to eat... otherwise carry on. More great views after that... you can even get some neat views of Lake Taupo nearly 30km away!









This is where the "abbreviated" part comes... I had intended to run about 10km out and then back... however after getting to the trail start I found I had left my backpack at home and while I had food and drink to take with me, I didn't have my first aid kit or my exposure blanket. So when at about 4km the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the sky started to get dark, descretion became more important than valour and I turned back.


 

I figured that the Kaimanawa's were not the place to be caught on my own in rough weather without the right gear. I had of course let my partner know where I was running just in case and had chatted to a DOC worked on the way in.


This trail so impressed me that I will travel back and do a longer version... I may even try to run the 21.5km to the Oamaru Hut and then back... that might be one to drag fellow trail nutters Keith Crook and Steve Neary along with me.

Toi's Challenge... just a run around town...

... I wish. I have been eyeing this race for a few years and finally this year it did not clash with anything else I had planned. 

Very reasonable entry fee of $40 pleased me straight away. I did a bit of research and could not find a Garmin profile anywhere... so looking at the map it looked pretty straightforward... I was in for a few surprises!


I got there nice and early (as I usually do), got a good close park and picked up my registration pack. Saw a few familiar faces including Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon organizer Paul Charteris.

The race starts out with a bit of a dash across the park to squeeze through the chute and out onto the road into downtown Whakatane. 

Not a great start for me as I am now a true trail-runner and do not like roads at all... but it was only for a km and a half and then it was replaced by my other non-favourite, steps! They were very nice steps... with pictures on (called a vertigraph I hear, see, you can learn new stuff reading my blog)... but steps nevertheless. However the field was not too spread out yet and this was a walk up for just about everyone.

Then a few hundred metres more up the road and we hit the trail  - Nga Tapuwae o Toi. Could have been a great trail... but more steps made it hard work. And we climbed.... and climbed and then climbed a bit more until we were well over the city we left just a few minutes before.




Nice running up and through the Kohi Point Scenic Reserve, tight single trail procession, hard to get past anyone in front without just about sending them down the cliffs... although a few nutters tried to push past.

Just before the 5 km mark the first major descent occured as we worked out way pretty quickly back down to sea level and onto the rocks. A little bit of rock running interspersed with some hard and soft sand made this a fun bit of the run. Ever since my first Xterra at Shakespear Regional Park on the Whangaparoa I have loved coastal rock running. This was not quite at that level... but a bit of fun nevertheless.



 
That fun was rather short-lived though as we were greeted with yet more steps to climb up from the beach and out of Otawairere Bay. This climb was only about a half a kilometre (felt longer) and then we were back down and onto the beach for the run to the Surf Club and the turn away from the coast.

Through the lovely carved 'gateway' and the climbing starts again. Still a few steps thrown in just to 'p' me off and a steady hard slogging climb for about 4km with a few little downhills thrown in to make you think you were finished. Then, just past 13km it really heads down and down... the body is saying "praise be this is good!" ...


 
....and then someone changes the script and your totally knackered body finds itself battling to get up another climb that lasts the best part of a k and finishes you off. But this finally is the last hill and then its down... largely down steps and onto the road. A km around the road, skirting the park and then down the chute to a welcome finish and a fabulous punnet of strawberries from the sponsor Julian's Berry Farm. 


2 hours and 9 minutes was about what I expected and a wee bit slower than I hoped.

All in all a well organized event by the Whakatane Athletic and Harrier Club. The club have been doing it for years and it shows in a polished product that most of the pro companies would be happy with. The only negative for me was that the prizegiving was 2pm... 3 hours after my finish. I was going to stay, but like most of the out of towners, in the end I got on the road and headed home.




Would I run Toi's again? Probably not, I like races that I can run most of, Toi's Challenge - like I found the West Coaster - is a race where I had to walk too often with lots of steps and hills too steep for this old bugger to run. It was an enjoyable experience though and one to file away with my growing list and one I felt I had achieved something by finishing!


My Garmin link.... Toi's Challenge by mike3950 at Garmin Connect - Details

TECT Park...

Today's run was a nice 10km loop around part of TECT Park... but as I intend to run a lap of the recent Tauranga Trail Run there with my mate Keith Crook from Auckland and share it with you after that, I thought I would tell you all a bit about TECT Park as outside parts of Tauranga it is a bit of a secret.

About equidistant from Tauranga and Rotorua on the Tauranga Direct Road, TECT Park is approximately 1650 hectares of land that was purchased in 2004 by Western BOP District Council and Tauranga District Council with support from Tauranga Energy Consumers Trust (TECT) and Bay Trust.


The park vision, “to develop a unique recreational venue and regional destination that caters for a wider range of adventure and education activities, in a managed sustainable way.”


Already there are many groups using the park with a myriad of horsetrails, several MTB & motorcross trails and of course forestry roads and a few walking trails.

As a runner I have found this great as firstly; I visit Tauranga pretty regularly and it is a great stop on the way back and secondly; the trails and feel of the environment is so very different to the Whakarewarewa forest where I do the majority of my local running. There are hard dry trails, muddy tight trails and knarly root covered trails.

Below is a map of some of the runs I have done in the Park and I have barely scratched the surface....

 

Click pic to get fullsize

One neat thing for runners with kids is that just recently Adrenalin Forest have set up a fabulous multi-level aerial rope course through an area of trees at TECT Park... so drop them off there for a while and shoot off for a run.

There are several Toilet blocks around the park and at the main base area you can even fill your drink bottle with fresh filtered cold water - for free!

This is a fantastic facility that will only get bigger and better with age, much of the park is bare at the moment as many of the trees have been harvested, but as the new ones grow and the areas of native bush regenerate, TECT Park will be a mus stop for any runner in the Bay.... watch out for my description soon of the trails used for the recent Smith's Sports Shoes Tauranga Trail Run .

* Click highlighted text to link to webpage.