Adventure Magazine

three go wild in taranaki By Lynne Dickinson I have spent a bit of time in Taranaki, back in the day when the World Surf Tour used to visit its shores. Taranaki, and in particular, Surf Highway 45 that heads around the coast, is world renowned and this was almost the extent of my exploration of the region. So, when a friend suggested a few days exploring New Plymouth and the surrounding area, I was keen to go. Flights, accommodation and car hire booked we got together to plan the days ahead. High on the list of things we wanted to do was to explore Mt Taranaki. (In the dialect of Taranaki Iwi, mountain is referred to as mounga rather than maunga so we will use this spelling when referring to Taranaki). I had read a lot about the summit hike and knew a few people first-hand who had escaped a close call on the mounga when the weather suddenly turned bad. However, I knew little else about the tracks and trails surrounding the mountain, of which there are many. Mt Taranaki has an elevation of 2,518 meters and was first ascended in 1839. It’s a dormant volcano and the highest point in the North Island behind Mt Ruapehu. According to Māori legend, Mt Taranaki once stood with the mountains of the central North Island until a dispute over the maiden Pīhanga had Taranaki flee his home carving out the Whanganui River on his journey to the coast. The area surrounding the mounga became Egmont National Park in 1900, and the mounga was given an English name of Mt Egmont by Captain Cook in 1770. The mounga is now referred to by its traditional Māori name of Taranaki Mounga, with Egmont National Park dually known as Te Papakura o Taranaki. There are a few main entry points to the Egmont National Park/Te Papakura o Taranaki; Egmont Road on the north side; York Road and Pembroke Road on the east and Manaia Road on the south. After some local advice we decided to do the Pouākai Tarns Track but headed up the wrong access road and found ourselves at the Taranaki/Egmont National Park Visitor Centre. Explaining our “wrong turn” we asked for advice and with the clouds closing in they suggested making the most of the fine weather we had now and heading up the Holly Hut Track instead and coming back via the Veronica Loop Track when we felt we’d walked far enough. 46//WHERE ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS/#235

Mt Taranaki as seen from the ocean at Back Beach - Image compliments of Venture Taranaki Leaving the Visitors Centre, the trail followed a boardwalk through the bush before reaching a series of steps that seemed to go on forever. It’s no surprise that many of the hikes on Taranaki Mounga require some climbing, the mounga has a distinctive cone shape with only one way to go, and that was up. The climb up the steps took us to a platform that looked out over the whole of North Taranaki. We were lucky that the weather was still clear, and the clouds were only obscuring the top of the mountain so we could still see all the way up the coast. A few more metres further up and the bush cleared, and we found ourselves in typical alpine terrain of tussock and rocks. With the clearing of the surrounding bush, the temperature seemed to fall sharply, and you could see how easily people get in trouble on alpine hikes. Note to make sure you pack for all weather conditions… From here the track lead steeply up a scoria-like path before edging round the side of the mounga. We cautiously scrambled over what appeared to be a dried riverbed (surprising considering the amount of rain we had been experiencing) with large rocky boulders littering the floor, before continuing past the impressive towering lava columns of the Dieffenbach Cliffs. Above: The trail map Right: On our way down from the Holly Hut Track just before we reached the steps. The views from here were incredible. Image by Linda Lennon ADVENTUREMAGAZINE.CO.NZ//47