Following the pathway of Ruhihiwerapini
Reporter Christina Persico takes a guided tour of what will soon be Taranaki’s newest ‘family friendly’ bush walk.
One hundred metres a week, over two Taranaki summers, Te Ara a Ruhihiwerapini, the pathway of Ruhihiwerapini, will take shape.
Starting at the end of Surrey Hill Rd, Taranaki’s latest bush walk trail will connect Oakura with Pukeiti Gardens, a distance of 12.2km.
Right now it’s just untamed bush on a New Plymouth District Council paper road on the border of Egmont National Park.
We walk across private land and over the Oakura River to an entry point.
There are no visual clues that this piece of bush is any different from the bit a few metres over, apart from the odd piece of marking tape.
Marked by GPS co-ordinates only, the 20 metre-wide ‘‘road’’ is the basis for this trail to go ahead.
No one knows why the road is here or what its original purpose was – ‘‘that’s what we’re trying to find out,’’ said the council’s group manager of strategy Liam Hodgetts.
There is plenty of scope to find the best route and also avoid wahi tapu, including urupa and pa¯ sites, said Keith Manukonga of Nga Mahanga.
Ruhihiwerapini was a Nga Mahanga ancestor and lived by the beach in what is now Oakura.
‘‘When he travelled inland, that was the route he took,’’ Manukonga said. ‘‘He went inland visiting his relatives, looking for bird life, medicine plants.’’
The iwi were happy to work with the council but nothing is final yet, he said.
‘‘Our biggest concern is how people are going to look after it and respect it.’’
The path runs along the flanks of the Kaitake Ranges and will be mostly 2m, with the council building 9.5km of the track and Taranaki Regional Council the other 2.7km, within the boundary of Pukeiti. The total cost will be about $5.9 million.
After nearly an hour of walking, dodging vines and holding on to trees, we’ve only travelled about 400m as the crow flies – which will equate to four weeks’ work. There will be certain trees they can’t remove, and 25 streams to cross – a helicopter will potentially be required to drop in beams for bridges.
‘‘It’s like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’’ project director Stefan Kiss said as we glimpse our exit point again.
The plan is to make it reasonably family friendly, aimed at ages 12 and up for cycling, Kiss said.
‘‘It’s generally a bit of a climb but we’re trying to make it as friendly as we can for cycling.’’
Work is expected to begin next summer, with pauses over winter and with completion at the end of summer 2021-22.
Public consultation on the trail is open until March 20.