Whirinaki Forest
Alistair Ross
Whirinaki Forest in the central North Island is a place of crystal-clear water,
blue ducks and soaring forests of ancient podocarps and beech. The forest park
offers over 100 kilometres of tramping tracks that range from broad, almost
flat trails through towering podocarp forest to rugged climbs over remote
ranges clad in beech forest and routes that follow streams and rivers through
beautiful valleys.
Roughly 70 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, the Whirinaki State Forest Park
lies between the wilderness of Te Urewera National Park and the artificial,
serried ranks of Monterey pine trees in the Kaingaroa forest. It ranges from
giant podocarps in the river flats (stands of totara, kahikatea, miro, matai
and rimu) to moss-covered beech forest in the higher and more rugged areas.
In the 1970s, an industrious and thriving timber industry was busily logging
its way through the stands of podocarps when protests by conservationists
halted the clear-felling. In 1984 it became a state forest park and
conservation area.
Of course, this killed the small towns in the area. Minginui (in the
Whirinaki River Valley) and to a lesser extent Murupara (20 kilometres
back towards Rotorua) were devastated by the decision. Minginui once
had huge sawmills, jobs, shops and services. Now it is a bleak place
with few jobs and not much of a future. Some people in the area, such
as the owners of Whirinaki Forest Lodge in Te Whaiti, do make a living
out of tourism, but this does not compare to the employment opportunities
offered by forestry. However, the kind of logging that had been going on
was unsustainable in the long run. The wholesale felling of trees that
take three or four hundred years to grow is inevitably a boom and bust
industry and characteristic of much of our colonial exploitation of New
Zealand's resources.
Actually, the forest has probably been destroyed several times before, but
by volcanic activity, and it's always had millenia to recover in. Layers
of hot pumice and ash from cataclysmic eruptions in the Okataina area
blanketed the area on several occasions between about 260,000 and 40,000
years ago. Later, the awesome eruption at Taupo about 2,000 years ago
left charred logs that are still clearly visible in pumice deposits
(pictured). The layers of pumice mean that streams and the Whirinaki
river are filtered clean and sparkling clear. Trout are found in the
lower reaches of the river, below the 8 metre waterfall on its course,
and blue ducks, or whio, can be seen effortlessly navigating the current.
We got shuttled up the Okahu Valley by the people from the Whirinaki Forest
Lodge and spent the day crossing and re-crossing streams that we followed up
and down long valleys. On our way we surprised a couple of pairs of blue
ducks, or whio (named by the Maori for their whistling call), which was a
real treat as they're not common. The forest of mossy beech trees and ferns
with rippling shallow streams felt quite primeval. Being young (younger
than now anyway), we continued past the first hut (Whangatawhia or Skips
Hut) and over a low saddle to another valley and the Te Wairoa Hut (pictured).
It's a classic back country hut with a corrugated iron chimney and fireplace
that function as an expressway for mosquitoes, and it had more possums on
the roof than you'd imagine possible.
After a hot and disturbed night's sleep using towels over our faces to keep
the mozzies away, and occasionally going outside to hurl a lump of wood or
similar abuse at the possums, we again followed streams along a couple of
valleys, passing another hut (Mangakahia), and came to Central Te Hoe Hut.
Just before the hut we crossed the Te Hoe River, which had a fairly confined
and narrow channel and is probably prone to flooding. Central Te Hoe Hut is
clean, modern and a delight after Te Wairoa hut.
The next day we crossed the Te Hoe River again and climbed about 600 metres
up a ridge that gave great views over remote valleys. We saw a kakariki
(green parrot), the only time I've ever seen one in the wild. Descending the
ridgeline towards Upper Te Hoe Hut, whole slopes were cleared of undergrowth,
presumably by goats or deer. Where old beech trees had fallen over, erosion
was carving great slips out of the exposed pumice under their upended roots.
At dusk a lone blue duck flew honking/whistling past the hut to the valley below.
Our fourth day took us up to nearly 1200 metres on a ridgeline where whole
stands of old beech trees had been felled in storms. Happily there was dense
undergrowth and regrowth here, but the track disappeared at times and involved
a fair amount of circling and orientation. On the track down into the
Whirinaki River Valley, the air stank of decaying possums (dead possums
are a good thing, but the rank smell in the fresh forest air is not).
The Upper Whirinaki Hut (9 beds) was full - a shock for us after the solitude
and remoteness we'd experienced so far. Probably to the delight of our
companions in the hut, we headed downstream for our first good wash in
four days, and slept really well on the floor.
Our last two days were easy, following the course of the Whirinaki River.
We stopped at a large cave carved out of huge deposits of pumice and stayed
in the spacious Central Whirinaki Hut. The river grew from an ankle-deep
babbling brook to a broad, powerful flow, and the forest turned from beech
to soaring podocarps with an understory of tawa and tree ferns. It's a
wonderful place.
We took my ten year old son 16 kilometres up the trail from the River Road
carpark to Central Whirinaki Hut. I think it took about 7 hours through
showers and misty rain with lots of treats and encouragement on the way.
It was a long day for him - but an authentic experience of the rainforest!
Our next day's tramping took us to the Mangamate Hut (9 beds). We spent
most of the day walking in streams that were beautiful, but required
considerable concentration. Mostly they were only ankle or knee-deep,
but occasionally they concealed gritty sinkholes of soft pumice and
deeper pools, and were fringed with stinging nettles and dense clumps
of cutty grass. My son entertained himself by counting stream crossings
and got up to about eighty. On a hot sunny day it would be lovely.
We had grey, cold weather, quite a few nettle stings, and were delighted
to reach the hut, get the fire going and dry out.
The next day (pictured) was sunny, and we walked down the stream to rejoin
the Whirinaki River and the main track back to the carpark. At first it
was easier walking in the stream bed than trying to follow the track as
it criss-crossed the stream. Later it got thigh-deep and some of the
last crossings would be dodgy in heavy rain. When we stopped for lunch,
the number of rotting possum carcasses by the stream made us glad that
we'd brought the water filter! As we were munching our cheese on crackers,
we saw a long-tailed cuckoo marauding through the forest, searching for the
nests of unsuspecting grey warblers. It was a straightforward and enjoyable
day and we got out in time to meet our scheduled pick up and drove to
Rotorua to hit the hot pools.
We hiked up to Central Whirinaki Hut from the River Road carpark.
Though I've been here a few times, I never tire of the magnificent
podocarp forest and the track is so good that you can actually look
around and up while you're walking. I took my son and his elder
step-brother, and though we'd done training beforehand, it's still
a long way. About 15 kilometres in, and a kilometre before the hut,
the track passes through an odd little tunnel. Coming in that last
kilometre took us nearly forty minutes with breaks: going out it took
us fifteen. We'd started early and fortunately got to the hut (18 beds)
before a whole tramping club and a number of others arrived.
That Saturday night there were over 27 people in and around the hut or
in bivouacs down by the river.
On the second day we splashed our way up the Taumutu Stream and meandered
over to the Upper Whirinaki Hut on winding paths and through grassy clearings
sprinkled with deer poos. At the hut we were entertained by a tomtit who'd
staked out a territory by the front verandah. Returning to Central Whirinaki
Hut via the river and the caves was a nice, easy day with the crossings
being in the shallow upper reaches of the river (pictured). On our last
day we walked back out, but crossed the river at the waterfall (bridged
and a nice place for lunch), and followed a track on the west side of the
river. It doesn't pass through forest as impressive as that on the east
side, but it has good views and some pretty little waterfalls.
It was a lovely tramp - fairly safe, with a variety of scenery and some easy
and some challenging days. The boys loved it.
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