Left Mahia Peninsula in sunshine and headed to Wairoa. We were uncertain what to expect but it is a pleasant town beside a lovely river, with lots of trees and amazingly enough a lighthouse in the middle! Lots of nice old commercial buildings, some which have seen better days, some delightfully restored. Of course it was affected by the 1937 earthquake which hit Napier so it probably lost of few buildings then. There is quite a large maori population and doesn't give an impression of affluence, but very tidy and clean and pleasant. We only stopped to stock up and enquire at the i-site about the condition of the road to Lake Waikaremoan which I dearly wanted to visit but Stu was a bit dubious because of the size of the caravan. However we were assured it was OK, 2/3rds seal, last 1/3 gravel in good condition. So off we went. A nice drive with lots of nice views of the river, interesting historical area. The i-site had provided us with a list of things to note along the way which was quite good as otherwise we may not have noticed them. The river provides hydropower to Wairoa from the Tuai powerstation. The drive to the Lake took us about 2 hours, the last 1/3 being slower and extremely dusty gravel road, so by the time we arrived there you couldn't tell what colour the car and caravan were - lovely! However, it was to prove well worth the effort. The DOC camp (privately managed so therefore NOT covered by our pass and not cheap) is quite large, and set right on the lake edge. We had our choice of sites and were fortunate enough to get one right beside the lake but still quite sheltered. . All the facilities were good especially for campers with a very large kitchen and dining facility. We were lucky to get a fairly nice sunset the first night after a short exploration of the camp and it's surrounds. After a cold night (quite normal I think) we awoke early to a mist over the lake, so of course I grabbed the camera and took off before breakfast to get some shots. Thank goodness we didn't stay in bed late or I would have missed it. Our first walk that morning was a short one just out of the camp but very lovely with views over another part of the lake and one of the largest rata trees in NZ. It is over 1000 years old, having started it's life as a tiny seed which germinated in the forks of a tree which was probably itself 400-500 years old and which has long ago succumbered to the rata. It is a miracle it has survived as a possum prefers rata flowers and leaves over virtually every other plant and it's intensive browsing on the new seasons leaves can kill a tree after just a few seasons. The rata vine descend the host tree's trunk to reach the secure water and nutrient supply in the soil. As the rata gows its roots/stems thicken and coalesce, and the host tree reaches old age and dies and decays. The rata then becomes freestanding and often grows to a massive size.Another highlight was the number of beautiful tawa trees with their delicate willow-like yellow green foliage. These were a native tree quite new to us as they are not a species which grows in Northland.
There are so many walks it's hard to choose , but in the afternoon we walked to the visitor's centre via the Black Beech walk, again a tree we are not accustomed to seeing up north. The tracks are covered in their delightful little leaves of goldy brown and looking up through the branches is a tracery of light green with the blue sky beyond. So very pretty and tranquil. The visitors centre is currently situated in a ' temporary' building as the old building is supposed to be updated though there didn't appear to be anything happening. Probably the credit crunch again and DOC not getting the same funding at present. Adjacent to the visitors centre there are walks to 5 different waterfalls which of course we had to do. They were so lovely and it was nice to be able to get really close. Naturally I took lots of photos.
Next morning we did a short walk to Whaitiri Point which was once the site of the Lake House Hotel which opened in 1900 & became the offical Government Tourist Hotel in 1909 and for years the only accommodation close to the lake. By 1930 it had purchased it's own boat the "Ruapani". Because of financial difficulties the hotel closed in 1972 and was demolished 5 years later. We continued onto the Tawa circuit with it's delicate willow-like yellow green foliage. Also many more northern rata growing on their host trees - what a pity they weren't flowering.
Next morning at 8am we had booked a hire dinghy on Lake Waikareti. We collected lifejackets and a key from the Visitor Centre which we then had to wear or carry along a 1 hour walk to the lake. It was once again a lovely track though lots of uphill and we were glad we had chosen the early morning as wearing a lifejacket would be rather hot later in the day. On arrrival at the lake we proceeded to launch the No 4 dinghy (no mean feat as it was a 12ft alumninum one which happened to he in the most awkward spot of all the boats there). That done with much heaving, we suddenly realised there were no oars! I stayed very quiet, as I had had no hand in the arrangements and was mindful that getting annoyed was not going to help if we had walked there for nothing. However, I reasoned that there could have been no way that we would have been expected to carry oars as well as lifejackets, so decided to check the area and hey presto, there was a shed which we could unlock with the boat key and obtain the oars. The sound of relief from us both drifted through the bush! So, of we set, lovely sunshine, a very light breeze, to find the island with a lake on the large lake! After about 35 minutes of rowing we arrived. There is a very steep but very stable stainless steel ladder to climb onto the island, then we found our secret lake. Have to admit it was smaller than we imagine, but very pretty with lovely reflections, and gave us a feeling of 'Robinson Crusoe' on a deserted island. There were no tracks to walk around the island, so we didn't linger too long, mindful of the fact that we still had to row back and return the boat by 12.30. There was not a soul anywhere - we had a total lake and it's 3 islands to ourselves. The return was a little breezier but seemed shorter as we knew the direct line to take instead of having to search for the island. Took a few photos and replaced the oars and boat, and walked once again back to the Info Centre. The walk back was much easier being downhill and we were really glad we had chosen the morning as it became quite a bit breezier which would have made the rowing harder for poor boatman Stu. Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sun by the lake edge back at camp reading etc. A great couple of days, well worth the drive.
