After talking to Anton ZL1KR he assured me there was a track up Tihia. So I was keen to give this a go. The track starts from SH47 near where it crosses Papanetu stream. There is a slight pull off area on the side of the highway to park. The track starts here.
The track is relatively easy to follow up – marked by pink (and sometimes orange or yellow) ties. There is a junction at about the 760 m contour – turn right here. At about 1000 m the forest opens up and there are some magical views of lake Taupo and the town of Turangi. The top isnt marked however its fairly easy to tell when you get there. Theres not much to use for a mast – my dipole was strung between shrubs and over a rock.
Only 6 contacts from the top but this included a summit to summit with Wynne on his home summit Lowry, who was working on busting 1000 Summit to summit points this day.
Details
Summit – ZL1/WK-023 Tihia
Height – 1165 mASL (climb 500 m)
Access – From SH47 near Papanetu Stream
Nominal time to summit – 2 hours
Mobile and internet coverage from the summit – Good cell and 675.
Summit Marker – None
Land Access Permission – Not required
NB: Photos are not for use elsewhere without prior permission
ZL-SOTA. Warren (ZL2AJ) and Emma 