Waitakere Ranges
Waitakere Ranges
5 - 6 February 2017 (Waitangi Weekend)
Due to being Waitangi weekend, we decided to have a bit of an overnight trip to our local Waitakere Ranges and running it as 2 day trips. I was joined by Vanessa, Chris S, Staci, Tim F, Stuart and Alicia.
Day 1 | Ngaro Te Kotare (NTK) Hut - Ongaruanuku Hut - Waitakere Dam - Ngaro Te Kotare (NTK) Hut Ridge Road Track, Fence Line Track | 5 Hours 13.5km |
Day 2 | Falls Road Carpark - Waitakere Dam - Falls Road Carpark Piha Valley Track, Centennial Track, Home Track | 4.5 Hours 5km |
By late morning we arrived at Ngaro Te Kotare (NTK) Hut that we booked through Auckland Tramping Club. This is to be our base for the rest of Waitangi weekend. A little known fact that this hut was used on the movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Once dropped off our gear we then set off to explore some of the Waitakere Ranges, initially heading to AUTC Ongaruanuku Hut. This is where we stopped off for lunch. Then we all split off into smaller groups to do different tracks. Tim and I headed to Waitakere Dam and returned back the same way.
Got back to the hut and relaxed before cooking up some dinner. After dinner we played card games before going to bed.
Had a sleep in as we were not in a rush. Had breakfast and then cleaned up the hut. We then decided what track to do, deciding to do one near Piha, so we loaded up the cars and headed there.
Arrived to a packed Piha, after finding a car park. We decided to have lunch at a picnic table before we set off. We then headed up Piha Valley where we could see some views of the area. We took the afternoon casually as we were in no rush plus it was quite a warm day.
Once back at the cars we then headed home, stopping at an ice cream vendor on the way. It was a very enjoyable weekend.