Wharariwharangi Trail

Inspired by yesterdays walk in Wainui (see that spit below, we walked all around that - on the way back from the walk!), we decided to do the Whariwharangi tramp which takes you up high (hint: wh is pronounced as an f!). What a day! What a walk! We zigzagged up and up, amazing views out to the sea, dense exotic bush behind us on the mountains. Then the walk took us through a different kind of bush, dense spindly manuka trees, the temperature dropping. Fantails flitted and weka rootled. Finally we emerged into an odd patch of green and came across an old farmstead, built in 1898 by John Handcock and his wife who kept sheep and bees, and had a saw mill for extra money. We tried to imagine what life must have been like living somewhere so remote but failed. Today the house is used as a tramping hut where you can stay whilst roaming the Abel Tasman National Park. It has a communal eating area with woodburner, 20 bunks and lots of original features - just don't feed the weka! 12kms, 3 hours, cheese and biscuits and some spectacular views. Not bad.
And the BVM blue is coming on a treat in Takaka!
And what a great tribute to Admirer. Well done 60Plus for organising. I'm sure Admirer will be giggling somewhere.