Really quite excited we all loaded on the bus, finally getting the chance to go check out what the council track re-surfacing looks like on the Omanawanui Track! Excitement because the views from this track have always been nothing short of spectacular! Views across the lush Whatipu valley below, across the Manukau Harbour to the cliffs of Awhitu and the Lighthouse and out to sea over the treacherous Manukau Bar that has been responsible for the demise of many boats.
We drop the distance party off at their start point up the lovely Karamatura Track following the stream up the steep valley through to Whatipu to meet us.
Big Yellow arriving in the Whatipu Beach carpark we head off to start our accent up to the undulating ridgeline of the Omananui Track. The steps are well graded and sized about 15-18cms tall, not hard on the knees as some other new flights of stairs elsewhere that are well over 20cms. First track junction, and the others in my group have never visited Whatipu, so the Signal House Track views was a must do! Needless to say, they might have been a wee bit impressed with the views at the end of the track! Back tracking, and keep climbing! 3 people sitting at the first summit taking in the view. We find the first bit of boardwalk before gliding down the next flight of steps. Having a laugh about the joys of digital photography being just as well, given how many photos we'd already taken! Not all are goin' to be keepers. So excited to see that one tiny chain climb over a rocky outcrop has remained, just the way it's always been. Lots of fun! Yeehaa! Heading up the next flight of steps to the trig point at 241 metres, was a real wow moment as a really bright rainbow lit up the dark clouds, arching over the track with one pot of gold in the valley and the other disappearing into the sea. Nearing the end of the Omanawanui Track, we see what this particular track re-surfacing is about, a grove of reasonable sized Kauri. Pleased we'd done our bit for gear/boot hygiene to help protect the Kauri, we cleaned and scrubbed at the exit station as well.
Despite hearing from many people how gruelling all the new steps are, and there are a massive number of steps, the muscles were pretty chilled. One foot in front of the other, marching down to the black sand beach, the clouds brooding, looking more threatening we find a cool raised lump of sand to sit and enjoy the view, even though we shallow waded through the tide to get there.
Munching happily through our lunch, we started to pack up and those aforementioned brooding clouds burst in style! Not just rain, but hail! We're sitting on this bar of sand with no cover. Scrambling to get raincoats and laughing our heads off. Good times! Wading the tide again, onto the beach, and beach track towards the famous caves. https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/74151776/whatipu-caves-buried-dance-floor-reveals-forgotten-history
The caves have a lot of history, including a wooden dance floor which is reputed to still be buried below the sand that is gradually filling the cave. It's still an amazing cave, and big, with some interesting air vents around the entry from many thousands of years ago when Waikatere was still an extremely large mountain.
Geologically, the Waitak's are extremely interesting. Our fill of caving, we work our way back along the wetlands track to Big Yellow with perfect timing, as the other group had just arrived. Another stunning recently re-opened tramping track completed!
Cheers, Imogen
