Today was the first settled sunny day we’ve had in a while, so like Mole, I bolted out of the house, and went tramping in the Waitakere Ranges. From the Falls carpark I followed the Anderson track and Waitakere Tramline up to the Waitakere Dam (an old favourite).

I could hear the tram whistle as I was coming up to the tramline and wasn’t too keen on meeting it in the tunnel, but as it was we (me and another guy doing the walk) passed the tram at the end of the line where there was plenty of room. I think the tram gives plenty of warning, and you’d normally have enough time to find a place where you could get off the track although in some places it might require a bit of backtracking.

There’s definitely no water shortage in Auckland with the dam brim full and the overflow making an impressive waterfall down into the valley below.

I came back via the Cascade and Upper Kauri tracks. It isn’t the most direct route back, but was definitely worthwhile. The birdlife in the Waitaks has had a fantastic recovery. Thanks to the Ark-in-the-Park project I’m told. The bush used to be dead quiet, but today I enjoyed the company of a raucous flock of tui and several kereru. I recorded some of the birdsong on my phone as I was walking along.

Technical: The photos and birdsong recording are from my phone. (My camera battery was flat.)

To upload them I used Bluetooth. This required starting the Linux bluetooth daemon, running bluetooth-properties, making the phone visible, pairing with the phone, setting ‘Receive files in Downloads folder over Bluetooth’. Then I could hold my finger on an item on the phone, choose Share, Bluetooth and then my computer. And with that the item would magically flick across to my computer.

The birdsong was recorded in the AMR format, so I used audacity-freeworld with the ffmpeg-libs to convert it to OGG and MP3. I’ve tried using the new HTML5 audio tag to publish the sound files, but there is also an old href tag above that.

At 10am I was just finishing the bottling of my latest batch of home brew when Michelle and Brian arrived as previously planned. “So where are we tramping?” I asked, quickly packing my gear. Dome valley was suggested, but it is a long long way away, we didn’t have an early start, and on the way back we’d probably hit heavy traffic returning from the long weekend. We wanted a tramp we hadn’t done before, nearby, and preferably in a loop. The top part of Parau track, joining on to Nihotupu Ridge track and with a return via Sumitt-Hamilton tracks and the Lower Nihotupu Dam Rd met these requirements. Parau carpark is 24mins drive from my place. We’d done the lower part of the Parau track from near Cornwalis, but not this top part.

The tramp passes through some splendid mature forest with some largish kauri trees, nikau and punga ferns, some views, and an optional shortcut on top of one of Auckland’s water supply pipes.

Not sure if it is really permitted to return via Lower Nihotupu Dam Rd. On the map it is marked “Private Road pedestrian access only” which seemed fine, but where we came out was signposted “Do not enter”. (That’s ok because we were exiting not entering) Looking at the map closer, it may just be the portion of the road from Hamilton track to Pipeline track which is open for walking. There is another note on the map “No public access” after that. Though we didn’t see any signs there.

The National Party proposal to nationalize Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges Regional Park into a National Park seems to have been quietly dropped. It’s hard to see DoC being given the resources the ARC puts towards maintaining this jewel of Auckland. Good thing it’s not a National Park (speaking of jewels) as they are under a threat of being ripped up for mining under the current government.

Moore photos

On 3rd to 5th March, Rebecca and I tramped Mt Arthur and the Tableland near Nelson. Photos here.

Got my hedge and the tree in front of my house trimmed. Pulled a selection of light switches and plugs out to check the wiring has PVC insulation.

My cellphone died, and being busy I hadn’t checked messages for a few days. Dad and Suzanne came round Saturday the 4th expecting to find me dead. Sorry about that! Tim has since given me his old cellphone, so I am TXTable again.

The next day had Griffs and Heather over for lunch. Suzanne created a garden for me which is still alive a week later. And Heather and I unpacked my stuff from the boxes and found places for everything. I’ve set up the front room as an office with the bed back from the street where it is a bit quieter.

Good Friday the Electrician checked my wiring and found the old fabric wiring is only looping from the meter to other parts of the board. Everything going back from the switchboard is PVC insulated, so it is ok. Also managed to get the oven working by bypassing the timer on it.

Had friends over for a BBQ on Saturday. The last BBQ of this summer. Went pretty well I think. Some people were pretty determined to sit outside even in the rain, but in the end we gave in and moved inside.

Today (Monday) Michelle, Brian and I tramped the Panto-Parau-Farley tracks in the Waitaks. A decent 4 hour walk, with some nice views, tree cover and interesting fungi.

The inorganic rubbish collection is due on my street. Collection day was notified as being today, but I don’t think they realized it was a public holiday. There must have been at least 100 vans/trucks/cars cruising up and down looking for good stuff. It’s interesting what they think is worth taking. I had a small rusted thru piece of roofing iron, it’s gone. And an old chest which was once very cool, complete with the airholes for being locked inside; but now is borer-infested and falling apart; and that’s gone too. Though they’ve dumped the plaster board I had in it on the ground.

OK, now this blog is up to date!

Warning: Possum cuteness can impair your judgement in the ongoing struggle to protect native trees from these destructive cute little leaf (and egg) eating marsupials.

Leaving Auckland at about 7.30pm we drove out past Huia to do some Night Tramping. Falling back to the last place I’d tramped, I suggested Goat Hill as I knew there is a carpark we could park in which is not locked up at night there. The tramp was a bit more serious that Michelle and Brian were thinking, but with a Morepork calling in the background, we headed up Karamatura valley, navigated the stream crossing, mostly stayed on track (“is this still the track?”) and climbed the hill for views back at Auckland’s lights (way too late for sunset). We came straight back down the hill, fairly steep that way, but quicker and no stream crossing. Saw glow worms and a couple of possums, one of which (pictured) after startling Michelle just hung around watching us. Came out by the Huia Dam and returned to the car by road. Car hadn’t been stolen or burnt out, so managed to get back to Auckland by 11(?).

Te Toiokawharu is the highest point in the Waitakere Ranges (474m according to the map). Today, being Auckland Anniversary Day, I climbed it as part of a tramp around the ridges surrounding Karamatura valley. The walk took about 5 hours, a days walk not an afternoon stroll. The tracks were pretty well maintained. The ground was dry, but looks like it would be very muddy if wet. There is board walk in places, be careful though it can be slippery. The tracks I followed were: Karamatura, Huia Ridge, Twin Peaks (side trip up Goat Hill), Tom Thumb and back down Karamatura again.

Te Toiokawharu and the Twin Peaks (448m and 443m) are covered in bush, so don’t give any views. There are other places on the track where you can look over the valley and the Manukau Harbour though. And Goat Hill off the Tom Thumb Track has great views all the way back to Auckland and Rangitoto.

This clay figure was lying on a step way up on the Huia Ridge Track. Is he saying stop? Is it like the Gondor statues on the Anduin? I left him lying there.

This walk was well worth doing.