Today’s adventure was a walk in the woods, and these woods felt different from all our other walks in the woods! We visited the Ohinetonga Scenic Reserve at the edge of the small town of Owhango and the Tongariro Forest Conservation Area. The native forest had been heavily logged from the early 1900’s when the railroad arrived in the area until the 1960’s when the accessible timber was gone. In the 1980’s local residents and the Tongariro Forest Park Promotion Committee fought government plans to clear cut most of the remaining forest. However, the Ohinetonga Scenic Reserve was spared the ravages of historic milling because it had been preserved by the town as a scenic reserve early in the 1900’s! Since the 2010’s further work to eradicate plant and pest invasives has revived the native fauna as well, with native bird species including the whio (blue duck), keruru (big colorful pigeon) and kiwi finding refuge here.

The beautiful lacy skeleton of a leaf greeted us as we entered the cool shade of the forest.

This forest felt more open and airy with large trees and tall tree ferns shading us. The lack of thick underbrush was noticeable and we had the feeling of entering an ancient landscape.

A huge totara tree dominates a section of the forest.

We have been to small remnant pockets of the once vast kauri forests in the northern reaches of the North Island and they are impressive. Kauri does not grow in this area though, the big trees here are tōtara, rimu, kahikatea and a few others.

The trail crosses a central lagoon on a boadwalk surrounded by the native forest.

The openness of the forest seems a hallmark of an old-growth landscape.

Going north today we stopped to hike to Omaru falls on the Mokau River.

Someone wants to be clear about the direction to the Falls!!!

Along the trail we had to cross the narrowest, most rickety swing bridge we’ve encountered! We should be glad it’s still here, the recent flood waters were clearly up to the deck of the swing bridge and overflowed onto the trail at several places!

A 30 min. hike through forest and along paddocks brought us to the overlook above the impressive falls.

For a slo-mo video of the falls click HERE.

We decided to drive a loop route back to the B&B and detour into the Pureora Forest Park to revisit the Maramataha Suspension Bridge along the Timber Trail bicycle route.

It is long and high over the gorge!

I can’t imagine riding a bike over it, or even walking a bike over it! It does move a lot with every footstep!

We went waterfall hunting today. Our goal was Tupapkurua falls about a 45 minute drive from the B&B. It looked like a less touristy, less tramped track to get there. On the way we had a much clearer view of Mount Ruapehu!

Snow capped, with a few clouds behind.

We found the car park for our trail and started hiking up through a thick forest of mostly tree ferns and shrubs with a few large trees rising above the canopy. It was nice and cool in the shade.

At Taranaki Lookout we had a view over the forest to the west towards Mt. Taranaki, which we could not see though the skies seemed clear in that direction.

We finally reached Tupapakurua falls which is impressive, except that it is across a deep and wide gorge! We couldn’t see the bottom! The hike through the forest was worth it though!After hiking back down the trail we drove in search of another falls, this one closer to the highway, but much more popular.

Tawhai Falls is just a 15 minute walk from the car park in Tongariro National Park.

For a slo-mo video of the falls click HERE. Our drive back to the B&B yielded great views of Mt. Ruapehu (with more clouds around the flat summit) and the cone shaped Mt. Ngauruhoe.

We are staying in the town of Taumarunui in central North Island for the coming week. We took a nice walk along the Whanganui River, just a few blocks from the Airbnb near the edge of town, to where it converges with the Ongarue River, near the opposite edge of town. There had been a Flood recently!

Walking along the trail through the park we noticed the trail had been gouged out, then it abruptly ended with a huge chunk of land washed away!

We learned later that the river flooded during torrential rains just 2 weeks earlier. The main roads into town were blocked by ‘slips’, what we would call ‘landslides’, and several outlying communities were cut off for a few days! All seemed cleared up and back to normal, save the missing section of riverside trail! October showers bring November flowers!

Although it looks like fall colors, these are springtime blooming azaleas!

On our walk back to the B&B through town we stopped at the local grocery store and were greeted with this Māori entryway into the store. According to news from the store opening;

“The new store [opened in 2023] has a specially commissioned … tōtara [a species of native tree] carving called ‘Nau Mai Ki Te Ao Hou’ which depicts the Māori food gods. Translating to mean ‘Welcome to New World’, it was made by local carvers from Ngāti Hāua [local iwi or tribe]…and the tōtara was sourced locally before being shaped using traditional methods over the space of three months. Situated in the kūwaha or store entrance, Nau Mai Ki Te Ao Hou will welcome future generations of shoppers to New World Taumarunui. “

More about the Māori presence in the area in later posts!

On the move again! After an early morning soak in the hot spring with coffees!We packed the car and headed down the road. We stopped in the town of Tokoroa for a mid-morning snack and to see the Talking Poles that the town has become known for. ‘Totem Pole’ art works are scattered throughout the town and tell stories of various aspects of the myriad cultures of the townspeople.

The Talking Poles Forest is in the center of town, along the main street.

A concentration of the poles is in the Talking Poles Forest where we stopped. For detailed descriptions of the many poles around town click HERE. We continued down the road and stopped at a quiet campground along the Waikato River for a lunch break and a nap!

The clouds were beginning to build.

At a lookout viewpoint the clouds were thick enough to almost obscure the mountains we were traveling near.

Mount Ruapehu is the farthest to the right, with a large base and lots of snow. Mount Ngauruhoe is the cone to the left of center with the peak in the clouds, and Mount Tongariro is the lowest mountain to the left, relatively flat topped, below the clouds. All three are active volcanoes;

Volcanic Activity of Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro

Mount Ruapehu

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 1996

• Details: Ruapehu is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It has had over 60 eruptions since 1945. The volcano features a deep crater lake, which is monitored for changes that may indicate increased volcanic activity.

Mount Ngauruhoe

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 1977

• Details: Ngauruhoe is considered the youngest and most active cone of the Tongariro volcanic complex. It has a history of eruptions approximately every nine years until its last eruption in 1977.

Mount Tongariro

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 2012 (from Te Maari Crater)

• Details: Tongariro has erupted more than 70 times since 1839. It consists of multiple vents, with the most recent activity occurring from the Te Maari Crater.

Good thing I didn’t read this until after we left the area!