Pararaha Valley / Karekare
Waitakere Ranges
28 February 2015
In preparation for Coastal Challenge for the following weekend, I decided to have a bit of a day tramp. So we took to the Waitakere’s and have some fun along the west coast. I was joined by Shawn.
Day 1 | Lone Kauri Road Carpark - Karekare - Pararaha Valley Buck Taylor Track, Zion Hill Track, Zion Ridge Track, Coast route, Pararaha River route | 12km |
In preparation for upcoming Coastal Challenge, I decided to have a bit of a day tramp. So we took to the Waitakere’s and have some fun along the west coast.
First of all parked the car at a convenient location (Lone Kauri Road) where the start and finish is, so this made it a circuit. Started by heading downhill and along Mt Zion to Karekare. This was all in nice bush but you could feel the heat of the sun.
Onto the beach at Karekare with the black sand, so practicing this is a core part. This proved quite hard as the sand is very fine and soft. Stopped at Tunnel Point for a break before continuing on to Pararaha Valley.
Started heading up the valley and stopped at the campsite for another break. Then continued up the valley over rocks and through the river. The water in the river was very pleasant, which you could be in all day. So a lot of the time we were wading through the river and over rocks. However we had a few waterfalls to climb and a few swimming holes to get through.
Finally got to the top of the valley, then there was quite a number of steps to climb before we got back to the car.