Tramp Reflections 828 - Tarawera to Okataina

11 October 2009

The tramp attracted a lot of interest, and we ended up with two vans of eager trampers. This allowed us to have one van at each end of the tramp, and swap keys when the groups met in the middle. The trampers were divided into the two groups before we left Hamilton: Brett Robinson leader group 1, Gail Rose co-leader group 1, John Sittlington, Ann MacIndoe, Dianne Bowen, Sue Kempthorne, Peter Welton, Elanor Duncan Sittlington; Janey Nolan leader group 2, Lynne Ironside co-leader group 2, Danny Kennedy, Ian Kennedy, Alistair Maitland, Louise Carter, Emma Taylor, Christine Barnett, Rose Dickson.

The vans travelled together until the Okataina turnoff, and the Tarawera group (group 1) then travelled on the Kauwerau, collected a permit to enter the private forest area, then travelled through the forestry roads for a further half-hour. It was about three hours since we set off from Hamilton before we were at the start, getting our boots and packs on.

The Tarawera end of the tramp has many features that make this tramp so interesting. We started out going a short distance beside and across the crystal clear Tarawera River to the Tarawera Falls. It had rained for several days before the tramp so we were treated to a spectacular water fall - more so than the last tramp to this area. The falls are distinctive in that the river discharges through a hole in the rock face, rather than over the top. After a photo opportunity, we trudged up to the top of the "hill" beside the falls.

The ground flattens out at the top of the rock face, and it is here that you can see why the falls do not go over the top. The river disappears into the ground at several points before the rock face. Two points are quite distinct, with the river just ending in a small depression, but the others are just cracks in the riverbed - a hazard rather than a feature. The river then travels underground to the falls. We then meandered along beside the river to its source at Lake Tarawera, pausing at the pools and swimming holes for photographs.

There is a bridge where the river starts at the lake, and we crossed over for a lunch stop at the DoC camping area, admiring the large trout swimming under the bridge as we did. Once fed we followed the lake edge for about half an hour through picturesque bush before heading up over a spur then down to Humphries Bay, still on Lake Tarawera. It was in this section of the tramp that we met the other group (and remembered to swap the keys).

Humphries Bay is another beautiful setting, with a view across the lake to Mount Tarawera (site of the dramatic volcanic eruption in 1886). We had a coffee break here, before heading up over the ridge between the two lakes - Tarawera and Okataina. We then follow the edge of Lake Okataina to its north end, where the only access road leads in to a boat ramp, and our other van was parked. The day involved about seven hours of tramping, and by the time we all reached the van at about half past six there were a few tired bodies. We then travelled the two hours back to Hamilton.

The other group (group 2) did the same tramp, but in the reverse direction. They were in the van travelling back earlier in the day, but with the extra distance from the Tarawera end they were back in Hamilton about the same time.

Written by Brett Robinson.

Photographs by Lynne Ironside (Fuji FinePix F480).