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This tramp was the fourth of a series of day trips over the past year to cover the Hillary Trail in the
Waitakere Ranges. Today’s trip was the section from North Piha to Bethells, and this time cars were left
at both ends with drivers swapping keys when the two groups crossed.
Both groups met at the Waiatarua
tearooms to sort out the groups and transport before each group went to their respective starting point.
The group who started from Bethells set out at 9:15am and crossed the sand dunes to come to the artistic
toilet block before Lake Wainamu. The lake itself looked as if it was made of mirror glass.
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There was some confusion about taking a right turn at this point as the leaders had been told. We
hunted around for a track going up the hill behind the toilet, whereas in fact the track in question
was the one along the edge of Lake Wainamu. Instead of taking this one, which did not look so obvious,
we went around the longer route along the lake’s left side, and paused briefly to view a small waterfall
at the head of the lake.
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We continued around the lake to the Houghton Track and our first big grunt for the day. At this point
we had to spray our boots to help fight kauri dieback. When we almost reached the top of this long climb,
we met the other group and swapped keys; it was just after midday.
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The bush track came out at the Wainamu Junction, and we carried on along the Kuataika Track, a wide
vehicle track. Some of us scrambled up to the Kuataika Trig for a quick view of the west coast.
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There was a steady descent to our lunch spot at the Kuataika Stream at 1:05pm. We had no formal devotions,
but Jonathan gave an impromptu reflection about there being no evidence from fossils that one species
evolved from another. John replied that the fossils were the legacy of the flood of Noah, being the remains
of animals and plants trapped in the sediments, and there was no death before Adam and Eve ate the apple.
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A further grunt followed before we dropped down much further to cross the Anawhata Stream. Then came
the final long uphill and we came out to the open pasture of the Anawhata Farm. Five minutes later we
came out to the Anawhata Road, just after 3pm.
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We roadbashed a short distance before coming on to Whites Track. This began as a wide level track
with occasional views to the coast before continuing as a downhill bush track with steps. At the bottom
we came to a wedding party, and come out to the North Piha carpark at 4pm, bringing to a conclusion a
lovely tramp with plenty of uphill workouts.
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