Well this summit generated a bit of excitement for me. Hauhungatahi is the 4th tallest volcano in New Zealand after Ruapehu, Taranaki and Ngauruhoe. This summit is clearly visible from National park if you are driving south on SH4 towards Raetihi as that large hill on the left hand side of the road. There are no marked tracks on the map to the summit, so … Continue reading Even a SOTA GOAT needs a little help sometimes… ZL1-MW/020 Hauhungatahi

This summit is part of a loop track – so I figured I’d walk the loop up to Otamatuna Ridge, then on to Koaunui circuit track, down tot he stream back to the lodge and then North along the road back to the car. This loop took me 9 hours and there was some stream walking on the way out to the lodge. This is … Continue reading Otamatuna Ridge ZL1/BP-162

Umukarikari is a summit near Turangi in the Kaimanawa ranges. A big summit. 1591 mASL makes it a 10 pointer. 13 if you do it in winter bonus period. I walked up this summit only 2 weeks after cyclone Gabrielle had caused devastation to parts of the North Island, including leveling pine plantations in the area. As such there were a lot of downed trees … Continue reading Zl1/WK-009 Umukarikari

This is a little summit in a pine plantation near Benneydale on Waimiha Road. I received permission form the forestry owner and activated this on the way back from Pureora summit. The walk was short up the track. I could see a disused track at the top and took that however it joined back up with the main track anyway at the top. The activation … Continue reading Zl1/WK-131

Pukemako is a summit not far from Pureora. I had spotted it on the maps before and wondered if it would be get able. Access is via a forestry road that peels of the road to the Pureora summit not far from SH30. Dont do what I did, and stay on the same forestry road until you get to the last turn off to the … Continue reading ZL1/Wk-068

This trip to Wellington was primarily driven by an open day at Steam Inc, where amoung many other things you could drive the full sized steam engine down the 200 m long track and back. Well how many people can say they have driven a steam engine? Now I can, having driven (is that even the right word here?) AB 608 down the track and … Continue reading Belmont ZL1/WL-110

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 … Continue reading Mangatangi

Continued from the Kohinga Blog Once I packed up at the summit of Kohinga I needed to find the shortest way to Burns Ridge. I came down the southern side of the ridge which was mostly grassland and looked for a good path down. Ultimately there wasn’t one but given gravity was on my side and I could see a skid site below I aimed … Continue reading Burns Range

Kohinga is a summit I have climbed once before – when we were trialing different radio repeater sites for the Kaweka Challenge mountain marathon. The marathon doesn’t exist anymore but the mountain is still there. I contacted the forestry and the manager gave me permission to enter. Based on this and previous conversations he seems happy provided its outside of the roar and the fire … Continue reading Kohinga / Bonny Mary

After leaving ZL1/WK-110 I carried on to Ngaroma. I parked up near an impliment shed and walked up through the paddocks, accross the airstrip and to the bushline. From there I found what I thought was a track however I got vined out. So I found a way around the vines and climbed up to a ridge where I unexpectedly found track markers. From there … Continue reading Ngaroma – ZL1/WK-080