Latham's Hill Track

17th July 2020.

 

This walk is located on the Awakeri Road (highway 30) not far from where it joins highway 2 (that loops around from Matata, through Edgecumbe, and then meanders its way over to Gisborne).  From that junction, drive about a kilometre South West along the highway 30 to a point where, suddenly, the narrow strip that makes do for a carpark appears on the left, just before the driveway to a farmhouse, causing you to brake suddenly and pull in sharply before being rear-ended by the car behind.

 

It was almost exactly mid-winter on the day I chose to walk this route.  I arrived dead on 9 a.m.  Looking at the sign that gave some information about the walk, that I could hardly read, I saw a time of 2 hours for the walk, but I was not sure if that was up to the trig and back, or up to the trig, down to the hot pools (further along the road), and then return via the road.  I had an hour to spare and knew from experience that I generally did these walks in about half of the stated time so thought if I had not found the trig within half an hour I could turn around, trace my steps back to the car, and return to walk the track another day.

It took me a few minutes to sort out what would be the best layers, and I ended up removing a rather warm fleece I had been wearing and opting to just wear my thin, short-sleeved top and the bright orange “waterproof” (not really) jacket I had purchased in Fort William in Scotland; not bad for a winter’s day.  Grabbing my rucksack (which contained unnecessary items required for a walk, like some parcels I had to post later), I swung it over my shoulder and set off.

The first section was across a farmer’s paddock and through a couple of electric wire “gates.”  Into the second paddock and the ascent began.  It was mostly uphill (except for a couple of short level sections) all the way to the trig (there goes the suspense; I’ve just given away a huge plot point).  Not too long into the walk I thought back to when I had left the car, not remembering if I had hit the “lock” button on the key.  In fact, I was pretty sure I had not locked it, but I was already at a reasonable elevation and had a bit of a time limit on the walk, so carried on, but the possibility dominated my mind for a while and I kept having thoughts of returning later to find the car stolen; taken by some joy riders and left abandoned in an isolated place and not be found for weeks.

I curved around through another paddock with a brief glimpse down to a small quarry (which I did not take a photo of, as I usually find them ugly, but I could have taken one for illustration purposes).  The track then entered some native bush and I thought it would remain bush for the rest of the walk, but after a while I came out into more grazing land that was interspersed with pongas and other native trees.

At this point, the marked route curved around to the left, but I could see a definite shorter track to the right that I was sure ended up at the same place further up the hill.  I was compliant and followed the marked route.  When I had gotten further up, I saw I had been right; I could have gone either way.

A little further on was a fence that had been decorated with signs made by (what I assumed was) primary school kids notifying anyone walking through to protect the kiwis.  Some of them also asked dogs to be kept on a leash –I found it a little unusual that they mentioned dogs because in most protected kiwi areas dogs are not allowed at all.  Shortly past there, and too late to turn back (remember, I had a time limit) I had the realisation I should have taken a photo of it for this blog.

I carried on and up (be aware that this walk is almost a constant ascent all the way to the trig – gah!  There I go reinforcing that plot point slip) with knees creaking somewhat and lungs straining.  I kept looking at the time on my phone as I was supposed to be at the SPCA in Whakatane at 10:30, and I had wanted to catch a movie at the Whakamax theatre just after 11.  9:30 arrived and I still had not reached the trig, however the terrain implied that there was not too much higher ground in the direction I was heading, so I carried on.  Views can be deceptive, especially on bush covered ground, and around every turn I found myself still going up.

 

Then, suddenly, the trees parted on my right and gave a view out and across the plains over Edgecumbe and back to Matata.  I had reached the trig point 37 minutes after parking the car.  I took a quick (photographic) snap, and mentally made another snap - decision, in this case - reasoning that continuing onward and down to the hot pools should be faster than the ascent, considering it should be all downhill, and that I (hoped that I) should make it back to the car within the hour, so I carried on.

I should have realised that the fact the trail did not immediately head downhill, but continued to undulate along a ridgeline, meant that my timing estimates would be incorrect.

Eventually the track did start going downhill, and quite steeply at that.  I slipped slightly on tree roots a couple of times on the descent.  Finally, I exited the bush and came to another sign that pointed further down the hill, stating that the “bush” walk was in that direction (whereas the bush, or the majority of it, was behind me).

Then I saw water, and initially thought I had found the hot pools, but it was a duck pond.

Just beyond the duck pond (and after skirting past the heap of discarded rubbish) was the entrance to said hot pools, but I inconspicuously slipped out through the entrance and alongside the busy road.  It had taken another 30 minutes to descend from the trig.  I was already over time.  Another 15 boring minutes walking along the road (and avoiding the spray from the traffic on the wet road) saw me finally get back to the car (which had miraculously not been stolen and I discovered that I had locked it after all) at 10:22. Yay!

 

If you were wondering, I did get to the SPCA around 10:40 and made it to the movie theatre in time for the movie (which wasn’t that good, so why I rushed to get there I have no idea).