Te Kuiti – The Convergence

Aotearoa – New Zealand

Te Kuiti o nga whakaaro o te iwi – The convergence of thoughts of the people.

Mangaokewa Stream To Pureora

A few kilometres out of Te Kuiti the Mangaokewa Reserve. The reserve is well known to Maori/Native peoples of the area containing an ethereal gorge that echoes historical importance in the minds and culture of the Maori people today. A swing-bridge crosses the Mangaokewa River here, a track extends a short distance up the river, and the bluffs that overhang the reserve have all the sepulchral leaching, the pitted overhangs and layering that makes limestone such an attractive rock.

It is possible to do a 35 kilometre trek on a continuous strip of public land, either DOC reserve or esplanade reserve. There is no formal trail.

There is a rough track upriver that moves out about four kilometres up, at the first big bluff. You can climb the bluff with an east route up through the limestone cliff that edges the top of the valley of the river valley.

Gorse and blackberry perilously intrude on the access route. Dense thickets of thorns lay between the top of the cliff and the farmland beyond. Along the cliff top forty metres along the cliff, the blackberry thins allowing passage to the paddocks above.

That 40 metres is a cliff-hanger. You have to climb under branches extending out over the drop.

This can be a perilous trek but climbing the Mangaokewa Bluff is worth the effort.

BackNext

Home