Huia

Took another quick hike up in the Waitakere Ranges a couple weekends back. After a day of rain, and more threatening, we wanted something outside but low risk if it got nasty.

The loop we took was a nice hike, but not especially photogenic, as it was dense bush most of the way. On the way in though, we got a good view of the mouth of the Manukau Harbour.

You may recall, loyal readers, that we were trying to get out to the end of one of the headlands when we wound up at Hamiltons Gap. We were trying to get to the end of the land mass on the left in the above shot.

While staring at this rock, we did get a rainbow right in front of us, which was pretty solid.

The actual hike was good. There were a number of giant kauri trees scattered through the forest. Pretty impressively tall and straight for the most part, but occasionally, there were some that seemed to just go wide, as this one, the Tom Thumb kauri.

As you can see, it was pretty much a muddy mess. We were pretty filthy at the end, and pleased to be in gaiters. Here we are at the highest point in the Waitakere Ranges - a whopping 474 meters. The sign had been updated to the latest survey data using a sharpie.