This one has been on my list for a long time so on the 3rd of December (2nd December UTC) I made my way out. To get here head to A.R.A drive and you will get to a carpark with facilities. Park up there and then you can walk the road in. Head up the dam first then turn left and along until you see a road to the left. Head down that a short way then on the left you will see a locked gate. Around that and follow the four wheel drive track to the radio site at the summit. Many of the other tracks are closed and this is the only way available to get to the summit currently.
Due to low cloud (I even had a small rain shower) I didn.t get much of a view, but the dams are full as you can see. Water is flowing into the spillway. This dam is often in the news when Aucklanders are being asked to conserve water – you may remember images of it looking very low (or google them).
From the top it was wet and it felt like it could still rain however I still made 9 contacts including 2 contacts with Nick ZL1IU on 2m (FM and SSB). The walk down was easy – road walking is sort of boring but you can get a quick pace on. The sun decided to come out on my way down too.
Details
Summit – Mangatangi ZL1/WK-136
Height – 487 mASL (climb 330m)
Access – Via A.R.A Road only. Other tracks are closed.
Nominal time to summit – 1.5 hours or less.
Mobile and internet coverage from the summit – good coverage on spark.
Summit Marker – Radio Masts
Land Access Permission – Not Required.
NB: PHOTOS NOT FOR USE ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION
ZL-SOTA. Warren (ZL2AJ) and Emma 