Haurata
I spend half a day on the web, trying to find somewhere we can go on holiday with the dogs, and that will give us walks not an hour's drive away, but from the doorstep. Surely there's a farm out there somewhere that can offer that. And just when I'm getting bored and about to give up, I find one. Haurata, in the Eastern Cape. Offering not just dog walks - three of them - but dinner cooked for you in your cottage: what could be better!
It sounded like a bit of magic, and it was one. The cottage is huge (we only use half of it and rattle around in that); there's a log fire, an expansive garden (with a possum up every tree after dark); the owners are delightful and can't do enough to make sure that we're content; the dinner is wonderful; and the views are to die for. And as for the walks....
On the first day, we do =what's described as the most challenging walk - a 10km loop out from the cottage along a valley to where the tributary meets the main stream to see three waterfalls, then back round and over the ridge. Somewhere we lose the trail, and miss one of the waterfalls, and once or twice we end up scrabbling through thick bush and squelching through mud. We lunch on a rocky outcrop beneath wind-carved trees, while the dogs lick their paws and look a us accusingly. On the way back we skip the extra climb up to the top of the ridge. We're all tired by then. But for an early spring day, the weather's been good and we've enjoying ourselves.
On day two, feeling that our legs have been broken in now, we do the longest walk - a 15 km loop. It's up a long but steady climb onto the ridge north of the cottage, and then round in an arc to a cluster of small buildings and radio-masts on the peak at just under 1000 metres above sea level. All the way, the views are wonderful: far across the rippling ridges to the distant sea; down onto a huge circular flat-topped hill that looks for all the world like an ancient hill-fort, or perhaps a scale model for Wilpena Pound in Australia. We eat our sandwiches in the shelter of rocks below the radio station. Then it's downhill to the farm-track, and another 2 km home to the cottage, for warm showers and a huddle by the fire, while we wonder what dinner will be.
On the last day, it's walk number three - a mere 10 km. We walk over a ridge and into the next valley, past an old oil-drilling site, and then follow the river to and up onto the flank of another strangely-shaped hill. It's the site of a battle between the Maoris and English in 1869. Te Kooti, a Maori leader, took his people to a pa site on the top of Ngatapa Mountain, where he was surrounded by the English constabulary and allies from the Ngati-Porou tribe. A battle ensued, and the palisades were breached, but Te Kooti escaped to the Ureweras, to fight another day. We walk over the hillside, tracing the lines of the defences and outlines of the pa. We try to imagine what the battle must have been like - but the views and the peacefulness make it impossible. History can't sustain itself in the face of landscapes like this. Afterwards, we sidle our way down the steep face of the hill, and head home, revelling in memories of the last three days, already planning when we can come back again.
It sounded like a bit of magic, and it was one. The cottage is huge (we only use half of it and rattle around in that); there's a log fire, an expansive garden (with a possum up every tree after dark); the owners are delightful and can't do enough to make sure that we're content; the dinner is wonderful; and the views are to die for. And as for the walks....
On the first day, we do =what's described as the most challenging walk - a 10km loop out from the cottage along a valley to where the tributary meets the main stream to see three waterfalls, then back round and over the ridge. Somewhere we lose the trail, and miss one of the waterfalls, and once or twice we end up scrabbling through thick bush and squelching through mud. We lunch on a rocky outcrop beneath wind-carved trees, while the dogs lick their paws and look a us accusingly. On the way back we skip the extra climb up to the top of the ridge. We're all tired by then. But for an early spring day, the weather's been good and we've enjoying ourselves.
On day two, feeling that our legs have been broken in now, we do the longest walk - a 15 km loop. It's up a long but steady climb onto the ridge north of the cottage, and then round in an arc to a cluster of small buildings and radio-masts on the peak at just under 1000 metres above sea level. All the way, the views are wonderful: far across the rippling ridges to the distant sea; down onto a huge circular flat-topped hill that looks for all the world like an ancient hill-fort, or perhaps a scale model for Wilpena Pound in Australia. We eat our sandwiches in the shelter of rocks below the radio station. Then it's downhill to the farm-track, and another 2 km home to the cottage, for warm showers and a huddle by the fire, while we wonder what dinner will be.
On the last day, it's walk number three - a mere 10 km. We walk over a ridge and into the next valley, past an old oil-drilling site, and then follow the river to and up onto the flank of another strangely-shaped hill. It's the site of a battle between the Maoris and English in 1869. Te Kooti, a Maori leader, took his people to a pa site on the top of Ngatapa Mountain, where he was surrounded by the English constabulary and allies from the Ngati-Porou tribe. A battle ensued, and the palisades were breached, but Te Kooti escaped to the Ureweras, to fight another day. We walk over the hillside, tracing the lines of the defences and outlines of the pa. We try to imagine what the battle must have been like - but the views and the peacefulness make it impossible. History can't sustain itself in the face of landscapes like this. Afterwards, we sidle our way down the steep face of the hill, and head home, revelling in memories of the last three days, already planning when we can come back again.
Summary
Location: Haurata Homestad, Makaretu Road, off SH2 ca. 20 km south of Matawai
Access: $15 per person per day, or as part of an accommodation package (contact owners for booking)
Length: up to 35 km
Configuration: three long loop routes
Grade: Undulating to steep, informal paths and farm tracks
Status: on-leash; walks closed September and October for lambing.
Cafes and restaurants: none locally
More information: http://www.haurata.co.nz
Access: $15 per person per day, or as part of an accommodation package (contact owners for booking)
Length: up to 35 km
Configuration: three long loop routes
Grade: Undulating to steep, informal paths and farm tracks
Status: on-leash; walks closed September and October for lambing.
Cafes and restaurants: none locally
More information: http://www.haurata.co.nz