This is a great area to go to when the Waitakeres are mud clogged in winter. Tracks here were very well maintained. It was a real pleasure walking here, fingers crossed we will continue to be able to when some of the tracks are closed to protect the kauris. On that topic we saw a family of black piglets on the Wairoa Cossey track – they seem to be an on- going problem in the ranges and are surely significant contributors to the spread of kauri disease as they fossick round the roots of mature trees in search of kauri snails. We did our bit as responsible trampers and used the boot spraying stations.
It was good to see a good turn out on day the day when daylight saving ended. Brian arrived at the bus just in time – because, he said, he was saving even more daylight. Not sure about that, Brian! It did however seem a long time until lunch time ………..
Our group – the medium fast lot, started at the Hunua falls- and took time to admire them as usual, then on to the Wairoa Cossey track. Some of us added the Wairoa loop track at the end, which was very pretty. Others didn’t!
It was nice to see two youngsters out with the slower party – they were in front for most of the day apparently. Well done, lads.