Blog

While climbing Taranaki Maunga from Carrington ridge a year ago I spotted a new track line on the Pouakais leading from Henry peak down over the minor peaks to the north of Ahukawakawa and then up one of the ridge lines to join the Holly hut track. I had often looked at this route in the past thinking that would be a great place for a track and now it looked like DOC had cut a new track presumably for conservation management.Around March last year I climbed Henry peak via the Kaiawai track and a …

Every spring I look forward to doing a snow climb to the summit of Taranaki Maunga. There's nothing like being up above the snow line the early morning in the crisp clear air and crunch of crampons on ice and snow. Every climb is different with changes in snow conditions, ice crystals and wind and cloud.  For this climb I decided to take the Kyber pass route up past Humphries castle crossing the very bottom of the lizard to get into the bottom of snow valley leaving a long continuous s …

Sandy Bay at Oanui is one of those rare spots on our coastline where a coastal reserve has been established and with the help of many hardworking volunteers, the rare coastal dune environment is being preserved and some of our threatened coastal birds given a chance to nest.  It also has great views back inland to the mountain though on many of my previous visits the mountain has been covered in cloud. On Friday morning, I woke early and saw that it was going to be a cold clear morning …