New Zealand off the beaten path : Mount Hikurangi: Going East on SH 35
A few years ago, one of my first hikes in New Zealand was going off the beaten path to see Mount Hikurangi:
It’s not one of New Zealand's great walk, but it’s still a nice two days hike.
Hikurangi Te Toka Tapu, the sacred mountain of Ngati Porou holds a special place for the Maori people. Hikurangi represents “home” for the 70,000 plus Ngati Porou tribal members who live on the East Coast.
Standing at 1754 meters, Itis the highest non-volcanic mountain in the North Island. It is 130km north of Gisborne and the first point on the New Zealand mainland and the world to greet the morning sun.
The path starts at a car park after crossing the Pakihiroa Station bridge. From there, its approximatively 11,5kms of climbing to the hut. And then the summit is approximately 2.5km from the hut. But, to the hut, its an elevation from around 200m to 1200m, so no piece of cake.
We left Lottin Point Motel at 7 am in the morning, to reach Ruatoria around 9 am to pay for the Hutt (it’s 15NZD a night by person). Time to circle back and do the 20km separating the car-park from…
