This is another Lord of the Rings location, not as well visited as the other locations. It’s a bit off the beaten track, but the road is worth travelling as it also takes you to the fishing village of Ngawi and the Cape Palliser Lighthouse. There’s a nice camping and picnic area at the beginning of the walk.
Here we walked up the Putangirua stream bed to the pinnacles where the Dimholt Road scenes from LOTR were filmed.
The rock formations are stunning. The tall pillar like formations are known as “hoodoos.” The rock protects the soil from rain and prevents the soft gravel from eroding.
I was here in 2017. I have returned for a second visit in 2024 with my friend RoseEaster Island?LOTR, Legolas on the Dimholt Road
Lake Ngaroro is a peat lake in the Waipa district of Waikato. It’s ten minutes from Pirongia or Te Awamutu.
The lake is surrounded by farmland. When European farmers drained the swamps for pasture they pulled rata, kahikatea and totara logs out of the ground. The logs were all found lying in the same direction and it was quite likely the trees were knocked over by the Taupo eruption of 233 AD.
The path around the lake is easy and well maintained with some interesting info boards.
I liked the fish ladder and the planting that’s been done around the lake to improve water quality. It took me an hour and twenty minutes to walk around the lake.
This battle was the largest ever fought in NZ with an estimated 16,000 warriors involved. It took place between 1790 and 1807, before muskets. The war between Maori tribes was caused by a dispute over the fish harvest.
Maori buried their taonga (treasures) in swamps to protect them from being pillaged. Uenuku is one such treasure, found in the lake area and now cared for at the Te Awamutu Museum.
The Maori maintain Uenuku was a rainbow god and it was carried into battle before being buried in the swamp surrounding Lake Ngaroro. They claim it’s the only one of it’s kind. However, two such pou (poles) were said to be on Mount Pirongia, the home of the Patupairehe. They would have long rotted out, this one was preserved by the swamp.
Is the artifact Maori or did it belong to earlier people?
Interestingly, for those who say the Moriori never were in NZ, the Moriori also have a god called Ouenuku. This confirms for me that the Moriori were in NZ first, which is what I was told as a child. Source: Tangata Whenua
This walk features a Lord of the Rings location, where after leaving the Shire Frodo and Sam hide from the Nazgul under a bank on the road. The tree was artificial and the tree roots were props … so the real spot is a bit anti-climactic, but we took a cringey tourist photo anyway as we are fans of the Lord of the Rings.
Further on in the walk there are all sorts of interesting structures to play on based on native creatures, insects and fish.
When we reached the top of Mount Victoria we found the view was spectacular. We were fortunate the wind had died down so we were able to enjoy being there.
The Pettifar and Gilchrist loop tracks lead you down a series of terraces to the Pohangina River. Both walks make use of the Old Coach road, the original horse and cart track that wended its way through the Pohangina Valley.
We chose the Gilchrist loop, which passed through a mixed kahikatea and totara forest. Kahikatea Trees grow in the wetter areas. An abandoned tree nursery on this loop was the source of most of the large poplars now visible throughout the beautiful and picturesque valley.
Virginia Lake is Wanganui’s jewel, a really pretty lake on St John’s Hill. You’ll pass it if you’re heading west-northwest to Taranaki. It only takes about 45 minutes to walk around.
There’s also a bird aviary and the Winter Gardens, an art deco hot house. My favourite thing is the Higginbottom Fountain, installed in 1971, the year my family arrived in the Wanganui area. The copper fountain is in the shape of a lily. A 40-minute lighting display occurs every evening, coinciding with when the streetlights are switched on. The display can be activated at any other time by placing a gold coin into the slot.
The aquatic bird life is prolific, with lots of chicks to be seen on our walk.
The video features my young cousin, and a goose who remembered her from last time …
Virginia LakeThe Peter Pan statueThe Higginbottom fountain was modelled atfer the water lilyBy the gates, reminds me of Aslan
This is my first walk from Wanganui, my new / old hometown. Sadly we had to relocate and there will be no more Auckland / Northland walks for the forseeable future. We arrived back on the 7th November 2021, after enduring 82 days of lockdown in Auckland over one Covid case. Auckland is NZ’s largest city, and it’s still locked down, 112 days later.
There’s more freedom in the regions but discrimination as well.
I would have happily put a link for the cafe in the old caretaker’s cottage next to the Winter Gardens, but not after seeing their sign.
“Only Vaccinated Customers please”
I’m not able to go in. I’ve been having cancer treatment since November 2020, and for safety reasons have elected to wait until 2023 before even considering the so-called “vaccine.” So people like me are discriminated against.
We came back and had a picnic on the lawn in front of that cafe a few days later. I thought there’d be three friends but 30 people turned up. How much business are cafes like this going to lose?
Things are not going back to normal, but even if they did, I wouldn’t go back in there. I understand the cafes are between a rock and a hard place, but the sign excluding me was there before the 2nd December when NZ adopted the medical aparteid system.
We are also barred from DOC (Dept of Conservation) huts and camping sites. “For our health.”
You’ll hear us mention the NZ government on the walk. I wish the lion on the plinth at the gate would turn into Aslan and boot the witch out of Narnia.
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Note: the above cafe has appeared in the local paper since I wrote about this on the 7th December:
Owner of the Funky Duck Cafe Dave Hill said increased costs across the board alongside very low numbers of customers has them in a tough spot. Photo / Bevan Conley
This forest stretches from Rotorua City to the Blue and Green Lakes and there are heaps of tracks to choose from. We did the half-hour Redwood Memorial Grove track.
The North American redwood trees were planted in 1901 as part of an experimental forest to see which imported trees grew the best in New Zealand.
The Redwoods Tree Walk is also here, where you can walk on 28 swing bridges suspended above the understory layer. It costs $35 each and the night walk is included in the price. I recommend it.
The walk starts at the very Edwardian Government Gardens. From there, we walked to the lakefront, then Ohinemutu and finally Kurau Park. We walked back through town and finished at the Princes Gate.
The highlight of the walk for me is the window at St Faith’s Church, Ohinemutu, of Jesus walking on the water wearing a feathered cloak. The soldier’s graves next to the church are buried above ground because it’s a thermal area.
Ohinemutu is a Ngati Whakaue settlement. They’re an Arawa tribe. The 1887 carved meeting house of Ngati Whakaue is named for the captain of the Te Arawa canoe, Tama-te-Kapua.
Rotorua is the town my husband considers his hometown. His family moved there from the USA when he was twelve so the walk was a trip down memory lane for him.
The A H Reed Memorial Park in Whangerei is a beautiful remnant of the original Northland kauri forest.
From the Carpark there’s a track to the Canopy Walk and the Pukenui Waterfall. The canopy walkway takes you over the Koromiko Stream and right through the trees. You can even touch a mature Kauri.
The site received recreational reserve staus in 1889 and was named in 1956 after A H Reed, a well known author and publisher who had an interest in long distance walking, the environment and kauri trees in particular.
The site of his parents homestead is on the opposite side of Clapham Road from the upper car park.
A H Reed was a significant player in protecting the falls from quarrying and retaining the kauri trees in the forest.
The Ruakuri walkway is a short 45 minute walk following the Waitomo river. I returned with my husband to do the walk a second time, just before New Zealand went into lockdown.
Lake Taupo is New Zealand’s largest lake. The whole basin is an old caldera. The last eruption around 180AD, believed to be the largest in recorded history, blew Taupo dust to Java. There are still active thermal areas, especially at Waireki in the northeast and Tokaanu in the southwest.
This walk is in sections: one from Taupo to Five Mile Bay, and another section from Wharewaka Point to Five Mile Bay, which I walked on New Year’s Day the year before.
The official walk begins in town where the lake empties into the Waikato river and goes for 7kms to Wharewaka Point.
Here are some of the Lake’s measurements:
Wharewaka Point
Wharewaka Point to 5 Mile Bay
I did this walk on 1st Jan 2018.
Taupo nui a Tia walk
This walk is from Wharewaka to the Yacht Club by the Waikato River. I did it with Meredith, Colleen and Lyn on Easter weekend 2021.
Walk: Taupo 36
Stone Alignments, Wharewaka
There were stone alignments at Waipoua Forest, Maunganui Bluff, Northland and Koru Pa, Taranaki. This appears to be another site. Many of the rocks are in an unnatural standing position. If these were boulders spewed-forth from a violently erupting volcano, then they would neither look so regularly shark’s-fin shaped nor would they sit so perfectly upright.
Fortunately these boulders haven’t been lost to the bulldozers, they are sitting in plain sight at the Lake Taupo Scenic lookout reserve.
Lake Taupo is named after the explorer Tia, a chief from the Arawa canoe. The full name of the lake is Te Taupō-nui-a-Tia. When the people of the Te Arawa landed at Maketū, Tia travelled up the Kaituna River to Rotorua. Tia continued west until he came to the Waikato River. He noted the murkiness of the water and reasoned that someone was ahead of him. This place was named Ātiamuri (Tia who follows behind). Determined to meet those responsible for the muddy water, Tia hurried after them. At a place near Wairākei he came to some river rapids whose tiered form fascinated him. Today they are called Aratiatia (the stairway of Tia). Journeying on to present-day Lake Taupō, he was disappointed to find a large tribe, *Ngāti Hotu, already living there.
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