8-12 November 2007

From the Psychotic to the Sublime

The Lake Waikaremoana Track

Day 4, Page 5: Marauiti to Waiharuru

As it turns out, there was more ahead of the yellow ribbon than I'd realised. Almost a whole bay had fallen into the lake. Our detour takes us down about 8 m of quite steep tree roots, with a length of sheep netting to discourage impetuous head-downers coming the other way.

We're descending quite quickly, with some stand-alone steps to assist.

Off we go at a new level.

with quite a lot of rocky track to negotiate.

Then it's back into a tree-ferned bush tunnel.

and increasingly there looks to be a lot of man-made landscape.

What have we got up ahead for heaven sake?

For the next kilometre or so we walk along a carefully constructed highway. I keep looking for a dairy, or a supermarket, or some other appropriate sign of civilisation and high use such as might have prompted such excess, but it's not to be.

Later, someone at the hut suggests that it's a function of low lake levels at present. "When levels are high, that area will be very marshy and you'd properly appreciate the assistance of the gravel-walk."

On and on we go along this magnificent minihighway

and on

Here's a spot where we come right down to the lake before heading inland again.

Lovely, wide, leaf-covered thoroughfares