Urewera Tamp - Around Lake Wakareiti to Sandy Bay Hut

Setting Sun at Sandy Bay Hut after a day’s tramping

Today is the first day of our five day tramp which is supposed to be only a four hour walk but as always we took quite a bit longer and Robin is still getting used to tramping with a pack on his back for hours on end.

Lake Waikareiti is a smaller lake just north of the much larger Lake Waikaremoana and its well known Great Walk. It was only a short one minute drive from the holiday park camp ground to the start of the Lake Waikareiti tramp.

The first section of the walk was like a highway with a large clear track heading north with a gentle up-hill climb over 3.3 kilometers towards the shore of Lake Waikareiti. Even so young Robin really struggled with this constant uphill climb and kept stopping every 5 – 10 minutes so it took a while to get up to the Lake itself.

But while Robin is still getting used to tramping Julianne is a tramping machine. Because of the physical nature of her massage therapist work Julianne is by far the fittest of all three of us. And as for poor me, as I have not been able to take any public transport to work for the last five months due to Kiwirail doing major basic repair work to the train lines I have done zero exercise for months – and I may well be in the most unfit state I have ever been in my life – which is not a great place to be when starting a five day tramp.

But what is fantastic is that Robin is really becoming a ranger as he can spot nature amazingly easily. During this walk he spotted many native birds including the little Rifleman, NZ’s smallest bird at only 6 grams. Robin spotted 4 – 5 on the way up to the lake and he also spotted several interesting bugs which he then stopped and examined with his insect guide book which he got for Christmas.

We also head a lot of Kaka. The kaka is the forest version of the parrot Kea which everyone knows.

But what was really amazing, wonderful and absolutely lovely was walking in a forest which is so old and has never ever been cut down which was so unlike where I have been walking recently it’s simply extraordinary.

Recently I’ve been walking through forests which are all regrowth after being cut down for farmland or for Karui logging whereas this forest in the Urewera’s is so old and primeval, with these majestic massive native trees which are hundreds of years old surrounded by new young trees which are just starting out and everything in between.

And in all these old trees there are plenty of holes for the wildlife so no man-made nesting boxes required. Everywhere you can see decomposing trees which have fallen over and are now bursting with new life – it’s the circle of life in full display. Of course it is not perfect as there are possums, deer and other mammals in the forest as well which do a lot of damage but even so the Urewera National Park looks utterly amazing.

We arrived at the shores of Lake Waikareiti to find there is a great shelter with excellent information on the area, history, geography and wildlife. And also surprisingly row boats which you can hire so you can row around the lake which sounds like a lot of fun actually, but of course to hire the boats you need to walk three kilometers back down to the Holiday Park to get a key for the oars.

Arriving at the shores of Lake Waikareiti after a 3 kilometer walk

After a short stop at the shelter we continued on the tramp around to Sandy Bay Hut which happens to be on the other side of the lake – a recommend three hour walk.

This walk was reasonability gentle with a bit of up and down as you follow the edge of lake which is not actually visible for most of the walk but the track is a lot rougher than the superhighway from the beginning of the walk.

And then Robin spotted the best tramping lunch spot I have ever seen in my life! Robin spotted even more little Riflemen birds and they were staying in the area and not moving off. So we decided to stop and have lunch while these amazing tiny balls of feathers with no tails where zipping through the trees around us – which so very cool. Normally when stopping for lunch there is no wildlife or if you are lucky maybe a Robin or Weka but nothing like a whole pile of Rifleman – Thanks Robin!

Along this section of the tramp Robin got his second wind and broke through what I call “the wall” and instead of stopping every 5 minutes and then walking at a small pace Robin was off like a rocket and I almost struggled to keep up with him. There was no stopping him which was great to see. It was also nice to have Robin getting used to tramping and is enjoying himself which is fantastic.

We arrived at Sandy Bay hut around 4pm, and ohh my goodness what an amazing hut!!

Sandy Bay Hunt could easily be my favorite DOC hut. It is built right beside this bay which is full of lovely sand and not mud like the rest of the lake and the water gets deeper super super slowly so is extra warm being so shallow. I normally try and get in the nearest river or lake at the end of a day’s tramp and no matter how refreshing it is my toes go completely numb in seconds as it is so cold but not here at Sandy Bay hut which was so nice and warm.

And then when I headed out 150 - 200 meters to get the water up past my waist. It was still very idyllic with sand under my feet and being able to gently drift in fresh water after a day of tramping with the banks of on either side full of native trees and bird sounds.

First Julianne and I relaxed in the water, and it was great to see Julianne enjoying the water as she is not normally a fan of swimming.

And then Robin came in as well and the depth was good for him and we had fun playing games in the warm fresh water. Robin also noticed there was this fantastic echo from the middle of the bay, so it was a lot of fun was had creating phrases to echo around the bay.

When we finally got out of the water time spent reading and relaxing.

It was a great evening spent in the hut with only one other older couple who were staying in a room on the other side of the hut so we didn’t see them much which was nice.

Later that evening Robin and I went for a walk to the end of the bay around the sand, and then explored back via the bush to the hut which was fun.

I really wish we were spending several day’s here as it a brilliant location and I will have to come back sometime.

Julianne then made a wonderful chicken curry for dinner before some games and more reading before bed.

Evening walk along the shores of Lake Waikareiti

Heading back to the hut through the trees