A Trip to and Around Waikaremoana.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XV, 11 April 1903, Page 1026

A Trip to and Around Waikaremoana.

(By

J. A. Wilkes.)

Thursday night, November 6, at midnight, saw me aboard the s.s. Tangaroa, en route for Wairoa and Waikaremoana. We arrived off Wairoa Heads after a very pleasant passage of about 4J hours. A large number of passengers were carried this trip, and some little time was taken in landing us in surf bouts on the beach, from whence most of the passengers were conveyed in brakes to the town. I had to wait about two hours for my bike to be landed, so that by the time I reached Wairoa (two miles) breakfast was ready, and at about 10 o’clock I started on my cycle trip to Waikaremoana.

Aly load on leaving Wairoa was no small one, consisting as it did of camera, one gross plates, tent, tucker and a change of clothing, in all weighing about GOlbs.

I encountered a fair wind all the first day, and it proved of considerable assistance, as the road was very heavy. From Wairoa to Frasertown, five miles, where the Wairoa Biver is crossed by a ferry, the road was very good, but it seemed to get worse the farther I went. For anol her fifteen miles the road was fairly level, with a few small rises, but was either very bumpy or very sandy, except for about two miles, which was hard and very fair geing. In the next ten miles there are a few more hills, with very steep gradients and awful surfaces, but this is compensated for by the lovely views obtained of the swiftly-flowing Waikare Taheke River, which the road follows for miles; here rushing and darting just a few feet away from the road, and there, at the bottom of a cutting round some projecting hill, but never very far away, while here and there along its banks are scattered the picturesque kiangas of the Maoris, who greet the passers by with a cheery call or a wave of the hand. The whole makes as pretty a picture as one could wish to see, and worth travelling over many a mile of sandy roads or hills to see. At Terapatiki (James) I had tea, and spent some time in bargaining with the Maoris to row me round the lakes. This I arranged for eventually at 7/ per day per man, I to find tucker and boat. Nearly all the men were away shearing, or I might have arranged better terms. By this time it was nearly dark, so I resolved to push on to Onepoto for the night, in order to make an early start on the lake on the following morning. At about thirty miles the road starts to ascend the long hill (five miles) to the lake, and a view of the road winding round the hill miles ahead and hundreds of feet above is not calculated to drive despair from the heart of the weary cyclist, who has already ridden (and walked) thirty miles of unmentionable road.

In a little bush about quarter way up a swift mountain torrent crosses the road, and this has to be waded, a process calling into use a lot of latent profanity, as the bottom is strewn with tremendous boulders and small sharp-pointed stones. You place your foot, you think firmly, on a boulder, and you slip quickly from thence on to the sharp stones, other boulders and stones meeting your ankle and shins half-way. This is bad enough in daytime, but I crossed it at about 0 p.m., besides carrying a very heavy load, and didn’t even have the advantage Of seeing the boulders. The new skin hadn’t grown when I left Rotorua two weeks later. The effects of this and a “tired feeling” that I felt coming on caused me to look, with more than usual Interest, for signs of the Waimoko Pa, about half-way up the hill, and I did not feel at all sorry when at about 9.30 the barking «f innumerable dogs betokened my near approach to the pa, where I was very hospitably received by Hurae Puketapu and his people, who provided me with very comfortable quarters in an mnyty whars. '

Tire following morning turned out very windy, and as this would prevent me going out on to the lake, I decided to take advantage of my friend’s request that I spend the day with them, as this was their Sunday (they being Hauhaus). It afforded great pleasure to the tribe to have me riding round the pa on my bike, as many of the natives had never Been one before, and when I departed in the afternoon they all turned out and followed me for some distance up the hill. I arrived at Onepoto (J. R. Phillips’) at about 3.30, and had the opportunity of seeing the lake in its very roughest state. The remainder of the afternoon I spent in looking round the sights near the outlet, such as Colonel Herrick’s old redoubt, subterranean outlets, etc. I also saw a tree which has lifted up, and is now supporting, a huge mass of stone, weighing about 20 tons. The following morning, in the company of young Phillips, I ascended Panekiri, a steep climb of nearly 1000 feet, through bush the whole way, and I was amply rewarded by the magnificent view obtained of the lake and surrounding country.

In the afternoon I rode round the lake by the new road to the Government accommodation house at O Kereru, about 4* mile. This road is fairly flat the whole way, and was in splendid condition, except in a few places, where blasting operations were being carried on. This road is sure to be a great attraction to tourists on account of the lovely scenery the whole way, and the splendid views obtained of the lake from almost any point. The view, looking from the head of Rosie Bay towards Panekiri, is one never to be forgotten, and such might almost be said of hundreds of other spots on the way. In a few places the road leaves the lake side, and runs inland through some of the thick bush which comes down to the water’s edge nearly all round the lake.

I have travelled very extensively through the bush in the North Island, and have seen most of the lovely spots described in the guide books, but I have never yet seen bush scenery that can compare with that passed through on this road. The beauty is quite beyond description, and I think about the finest part of all is at O Kereru, quite near the accommodation house, where, after many a twist and turn through the dense bush, between immense trees and luxuriant undergrowth, one suddenly comes upon a few workmen’s cottages scattered over a small clearing. I found the accommodation house still in the carpenters* hands, and I had to sleep on the floor with what blankets I could get from the men, who treated me very well. The house is now (February) finished, and should provide very comfortable quarters for tourists. It is a large house, containing about 14 bedrooms, sitting, dining, smoking and bath rooms, besides every convenience, and the Government are to be congratulated on having provided such a substantial house in this out-of-the-way place. The view from the verandah or from the small hill alongside is perhaps the best general view to be obtained of the lake, excepting perhaps from Panekiri, embracing almost the whole area of Waikaremoana, with the entrance to Wairaumoana away in the distance.