Our small group of ten had not ventured to this part of Pirongia before. After a brief stop at the car park we trailed the grade threes up the mountain, following the forest access tracks upwards and heeding the avid mountain bikers who are keen enthusiasts and users of the mountain bike trails that exist in this area. 

We had a couple of brief stops (as we didn’t want to overtake the grade threes!) before deciding to venture on to one of the mountain bike tracks.  Despite following the directions from a couple of bikers who said that the track should loop downhill back to an earlier intersection, we continued onwards and upwards eventually coming out at the very top of the forest access road.  ‘Hard labour’ was this name of this track but we knocked it out in about 20 mins. 

Regrouping, we retraced our steps back to the van. We headed into Pirongia, on the way having a good look at the very interesting Alexandra Redoubt for our dose of history and heritage. We parked up for lunch and a comfort stop before venturing over to the nearby church which is now the local information centre. They directed us for a brief walk to the Eastern redoubt which is situated just above the river flats.

Heading back to our van we ventured off to Yardley forest.  This is a beautiful stand of kahikatea trees which was enjoyed by all, and within strolling distance from the road. 

Our final destination was Lake Serpentine (Rotopiko), which is the often sighted but never visited wetland that sits between Ohaupo and Te Awamutu (SH 3).  This was an amazing site, operated by the National Wetlands Trust, which has even bigger things planned for this area, including more heritage trials and research and educational facilities.  We roamed through the aptly named Jurassic forest before departing for our final stop at Ohaupo. 

Hot drinks and cakes for some before arriving back in Hamilton just after 4pm.  A big thank you to the Triad of Keith, Pam and Diane. 

Scribe – Mountain Resign.