The Saturday of Waitangi weekend dawned clear and crisp for our tramp to see the Cookson and Wainora Kauri trees. We donned our boots on the sunny veranda of the lodge and started walking from the Kauaeranga Forest Education Camp down the road to the Wainora track. The trail wound along beside a stream before climbing up many steps to a spur with a view of Table Mountain and the first of the large Kauri trees. After climbing up to see the rest of the forest giants some headed back to the lodge and on to the visitor centre café then a swim in the river.
The rest climbed on to reach a ridge with views out towards Crosbies Hut and the Camel's Back summit further up the Coromandel Peninsula. We tramped the ridge up and down eventually to Orange Peel Corner for lunch in a patch of sunlight. Then it was down again over tree roots and under a canopy of podocarps and tree ferns to the road. A short road bash in the hot sun was followed by a welcome shower back at the lodge.