January 2026

Part 1: Taranaki

New Year 2026 – the weather across Aotearoa is looking pretty crap, but the west coast (Te Ika ā Māui) looks like the best we’re going to get for the short time we have unless we stay in the Tron. So, we loaded up the van and headed off to Taranaki Maunga. Drove through the Waikato & Te Rohe Pōtae in wind, rain, sunshine, blue sky and threatening clouds.

We stopped for chips in Mōkau – highly recommend the wee roadside kiosk, and ate them overlooking the sea in one of the spots of sunshine.

We stayed at the Taranaki Aviation and Technology Museum – a great wee NZMCZA POP we have stayed at before. The museum is also well worth a visit. We arrived before sunset and enjoyed a pleasant evening in the sunshine.

Day 1: Kōkōwai Round Track

It promised to be a beautiful day, and we set off reasonably early to drive up to the Visitor Centre.

Our plans had been a bit fluid as we weren’t sure where we would be able to park. The main aim was to walk the Kōkōwai Round Track – a 12km loop described by DoC as:

“From the visitor centre, follow the Holly Hut Track through subalpine scenery to the junction with the Kōkōwai Track, just past the Boomerang Slip. Descend the Kōkōwai Track through forest to where it joins the Kaiauai Track. Turn right to head toward Egmont Road. Return to the visitor centre via the Ram Track (longer and overgrown in places) or by walking up the road.”

We had been prepared to walk it in reverse if necessary, depending on parking. DoC was advising that parking would be restricted as they are rebuilding the Visitor Centre, but we found a spot in the main car park. Clearly, everyone else had read the information too, and all the pull-ins at the side of the road were full.

The climb from the visitor centre is easy going on a well-groomed, tree-lined trail. We came out above the trees to see a path stretching out in front heading towards the maunga. A perfect place for a New Year handstand! It took a few goes to get one as the terrain was not as flat or as wide as we first thought, and it was very windy!

Onwards and upwards until we turned right off the ridge, then headed along the Holly Hut track that skirted the maunga just below the treeline. The trail descends steadily and crosses a few streams. The views across the valley floor were stunning, as were the changing faces of Taranaki Maunga as the clouds blew across it and created patterns in the sky.

It was easy going along Holly Hut Track, so there was plenty of time amnd opportunity to look around at the spectacular views. We crossed Boomerang Flat and then we soon came to the the junction where Kōkōwai track goes off.

We reached the junction quicker than we had expected, so we decided to carry on down to Holly Hut for lunch. It is a steady but quite downward trending track with shallow steps. The last time we did it was in reverse as part of the Pouakai Circuit. Nigel didn’t have good memories of that and we were going to have to come back out the same way!

At the bottom, the track to Holly Hut went left but we decided that the Ahukawakawa Swamp lookout would be a nicer place to have lunch so we went right. Five minutes later we emerged from the track into the boardwalk and the swamp. The 360 view of Pouakai and Taranaki from the look out is fabulous. “The swamp was created by a lava extrusion known as the Dome, which, combined with a later debris flow, blocked the Stony River (Hangatahua). The swamp contains a wide range of plants that can survive in acidic soils at low temperatures.”

After a quick bite to eat, a few photos of the flora and the views, we set off back up the trail. In a book I read recently it said that the trauma of a bad walk in the hills takes 5 – 6 yrs to dissipate. You know how it goes – you have a traumatic experience – dreadful weather, too unfit, an accident or injury and you vow never to go back and do it again. A few years later (for most, but it seems that for trail runners the memory is much shorter!) there you are again, on the same track! The last time we climbed this track, Nigel really was unfit, the weather had been pretty bad on the previous day and he was tired, so the route from Pouakai track to here seemed interminable. This time, heaps fitter amd carrying only a day pack, it was certainly much easier!

We soon made it back up to the junction – I found another good lookout spot while I was waiting for Nigel – plenty of flowers to take photos of and a great view back towards the swamp and up to Taranaki. It was another good handstand spot and this time the terrain was flatter and soft!

Then down Kōkōwai track. The DoC description was fairly sketchy, but looking at the map, it seemd that we would follow the ridge along before dropping down quite steeply into the valley. It was cool to keep high along the ridge and have views all around us as we descended gently.

The ‘skeleton’ trees stood out bleakly white against the lush green of the vegetation. These are remnants of the old forest which was decimated by the introduction of possums.

Unlike the Holly Hut Track, this was a rough, narrow track that meandered along the ridge for a while before dropping steeply. It was overgrown and, at times, quite eroded so there were big steps to negotiate lined with roots and mud. There were times when my walking poles were more use as tools to fight my way through the vegetation and see where to put my feet!

Just as ridges descend, they also climb and so although we were trending downards, we did a fair bit of climbing too. As we went down the vegetation grew thicker and the trees taller. We knew we were still on the ridge as we could hear the wind – or was it the roar of water in a river? I really wasn’t sure but looking through the trees we could see the steep drop down to the valley. It was hard going bushwhacking our way through the vegetation and it seemed to go on forever! This was the gnarliest trail we had done in a long time! I decided it deserved a GAF categorisation (Gnarly as fuck!)

Eventually, we came to the junction with the main track to Pouakai and from there it was only 20 minutes or so of relatively easy trail. A walk in Aotearoa wouldn’t be complete without a swingbridge and this trail duly obliged.

We had a final choice to make which I actually think we had made a long time back; up the road for 3kms or more gnarly trail on the Ram Track? We decided that the road was preferable to negotiating more of the same as we had just done! A 12km walk had turned into 19kms and we were ready for a cup of tea!