Last sunday I travelled to Pureora Forest, with the Te Kuiti Tramping Club, for a day in the bush. Pureora is a 2 hour drive from Te Awamutu. Our first stop was at Link Road, and from here we walked up through the beautiful bush, crossing a couple of small creeks, heading to the trig at the top of the mountain. The birds were singing loudly in the trees above us. These were mainly Kaka, Tuis and Fantails, all natives of NZ. And occasionally we would here the familiar swishing sound of a large fat pigeon flying from tree to tree.
Eventually we came out of the bush into the open spaces, and there in our view was the trig. To-day the weather was very kind to us - no wind, no rain, no clouds and no sleet, all of which we experienced on our last trip up this mountain. Needless to say, the view in all directions was exceptional. Mt. Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe in the centre of the North Island, looked almost at our feet. Mt. Egmont, further down the west coast, stood out looking very much like Mt. Fuji, and to the north were Maungatautari, Kariori, Kakepuka and Te Aroha. The view was so magnificent we decided to make it our early lunch spot.
Reluctantly, we decided it was time to head back down the mountain, then we drove to a tall lookout tower, which has been built in the bush, allowing people to climb up 8 flights of very steep steps, and look out on the canopy of the bush. The large old totara trees still towered above us, but we could look down into the centre of ponga trees.
From here it was a short drive to see another very old, and large totara tree. This old giant was estimated to be between 1750 - 1850 years old, and had a girth of 4 metres. Fortunately, this one managed to escape the bushmen's axes years ago, when they felled and milled a large percentage of our native trees. Today these trees are protected, and incur a hefty fine for anyone caught felling them.
And then it was time to head back to the cars, kick off our tramping boots, and make our way back to Te Awamutu. We all felt reluctant to leave this beautiful bush on such a perfect day, but promised ourselves we would return again, and hope that our next visit would be as perfect as this day was. Thank-you weather gods. You got it right this time!
