Two Summits, One Day

We hit the road early the following day as there was a bit of distance that needed to be covered if we were to hit our next campsite for the night.  The road we were taking is known as million dollar view road, so of course we made a few obligatory stopovers at some beautiful bays despite any sort of schedule we were trying to keep.  I'll let you sneak a few peaks at those beaches below, but today I'm here to talk to you about tramping.  You see, the million dollar view road ends in a largely undeveloped harbor called Whangaroa Harbor.  There is a (very) small town where deep sea fisherman come to try their luck with the marlin, but we weren't there to fish.  No, today we were going tramping.

Here are your photos of the bays: Matauri Bay

and…Tauranga Bay? They're getting hard to keep track of. 

The first trail we did was a warm up for the second.  Named St Paul's Rock, and commanding 360 degree views of the harbor and it's surrounds, after Velma got us to the trailhead (and admittedly did half of the work for us) we were on the summit the rocky hill in less than 30 minutes taking in those views.

The second trail was longer, more challenging and more rewarding.  It is one of the only walking trails that snake's its way into the heart of the Whangaroa Harbor.  I had been looking forward to this trail ever since I'd seen the photos in our travel book NZ Frenzy.  This was to be  the first serious tramp since leaving Auckland.  After finding the trailhead, we geared up and headed out.  The trail first climbs up to a ridge by means of an old unused dirt road before descending through dense coastal lowland forests on other side.  The trail then emerges onto a flat river valley and follows the stream to it's mouth at Lane Cove where it climbs steeply to the top of a rocky outcropping called the Duke's Nose.

We were admittedly a bit tired from the St Paul's hike, so the initial ascent of the ridge was something of a thorn in our side (or was that a cramp?).  When we got to the first river crossing at the end of the descent things started getting good.  Along the bank of the river are thick mangroves, and beyond those grassy meadows before the hills carpeted with forest climb steeply to the base of the towering black rock walls the border the valley.  As we proceeded through the valley, we even managed to see an airy waterfall coming over the side of one of the walls.  It reminded me of Yosemite, if only on a smaller scale.

The valley

Do you see the waterfall?

Once we reached Lane Cove, all that remained between us and a spectacular view was the 20 minute trail that scales the Duke's Nose.  Those final 20 minutes made both the ridge ascent and St Paul's rock feel like the rolling plains of Kansas.  We huffed and puffed grabbed onto every tree root we could to crawl up the near vertical hill before reaching the rock itself.  From there, chains were graciously provided to pull yourself up the remaining hundred feet or so.  Then we got to the top.  Whoa! 

Lane Cove

Couldn't you see this landscape being in the next Avatar?

All is worth it

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with the view, since sunset was rapidly approaching and we had a two hour hike back to the car.  I get the feeling that even if we had had hours to pass at the top of the Duke's Nose, the view is so spectacular that regardless how long you stare it would still be heartbreaking to peel yourself away from it.  Best hike in New Zealand yet.