Official Department of Conservation page regarding Hihikiwi Track.

Allow about 8 hours return (including lunch and other short breaks). The track undulates quite steeply (as much as 150 metre drop followed by a 150 metre ascent).

For those who it’s first time hiking up Pirongia, better to approach it from the Grey Road Trail head instead: go via the Mahaukura, Tirohanga tracks and looping back to the car park via Ruapane / Link track. See Department of Conservaton page regarding a variation of this route.

Official Department of Conservation web page about this reserve can be found here.

Speaking of which, there’s been a gazillion of outings for which I’ve yet to upload photos. The reality is, the hikes are all beginning to look much the same.

Official DoC information page and map… Rangiwahia Hut Track.

Took me around 2 Hours 20 minutes with a day pack including short stops along the way to cool off.

Elevation gain is around 500m – 580m. First part is relatively steady, before a short 80m drop down to the arch bridge and then a steeper climb of about 350m up to the hut.

If time permits, can do a much longer loop via Mangahuia.

This was the first time I processed a photo set entirely using tools available to Ubuntu Linux. ImageMagick (Command Line tool), ShowFOTO and Shotwell. Aside from my job obviously, current plan is to change over almost completely to using some flavor of Desktop Linux going forward for my specific personal computing needs.

Waitonga Falls was visited in the past myself just after snow fall.

Waitonga Falls is around 2 hours return including an explore up to the Falls themselves

Mangawhero Falls is right beside the car park, with just a short stroll to the viewing platform itself.

More photos from the trip will gradually be uploaded over the next month.

See also… Tupapakurua Falls short walk

Walk to the Tupapakurua Falls is about 1 hour 30 minutes (one way) to the base, an additional half hour (4 hours return)

DoC webpage regarding Tupapakurua falls.

Maketu falls is accessible from Maketu Pa Cemetery Reserve. There’s a gravel parking area out the front. Entry to the established designated path is to your right under some trees. Goes up steeply then down steeply. Sturdy footwear recommended. Takes around 5 minutes to get to the falls.

The ARC brochure (2003) makes mention of information signs, but there no longer appears to be any signage nor any information panels there upon revisiting the area on 12th March 2023.

Do not remove or disturb any remains (They are an important record of the history of the area and are protected by law).

—

Republished 26 March 2023 / Updated 29 June 2023: Removed reference of “stream bash” outside of the reserve in the crown hydro parcel due to an objection that was raised. Please see details further below.

I’ve been advised that the path beside the waterfall actually leads into an area deemed Sacred (Tapu). According to the last Email received from Zaelene Maxwell-Butler (who I understand is also a Cultural Liaison Advisor and Consultant acting for Ngai Tai ki Tamaki)…

“The entire area behind the falls, upstream, the vegetated areas in our view should be considered tapu (sacred)”

The header image in the ARC brochure includes a photo of children playing in the pools upstream of the falls which based on the above statement is now no longer deemed culturally acceptable to access.

Despite doing additional research (including through Heritage NZ), have not yet been able to discover anything more pertaining to this area as a member of the public.

I firmly maintain that without any sort of public advisory, I feel it is unreasonable for the general public to understand the path leading up from the waterfall enters an area that is considered tapu / sacred and I maintain my suggestion as advised to Zaelene in earlier Email communication that she instead contact the Council and Ngāti Tamaoho to express her concerns and see what could be done to advise and educate the visiting public on this.

See the Matamata-Piako District Council’s Official River walk page for more information (includes detailed route map)

Anyway, looks like the latest Huawei EMUI 11 Update has caused the P30 Pro camera to severely degrade substantially from it’s original firmware EMUI 9.1. Will try and figure out how to roll it back to the original.