Motorhomes Caravans & Destinations
TE MATA PEAK
“The trail soon seems to overhang a deep, narrow valley and you’ll be looking across the tops of the redwoods that grow from it.”
Duration: 2-2.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 5.5km
Terrain: Open hilltops with some steep and exposed climbs
Start/end: Te Mata Park main gates
For a hill that tops out at just 399m above sea level, Te Mata Peak offers ridiculously good views. Seeming to bubble up from the Heretaunga Plains behind Havelock North, the peak’s open ridges and summit provide 360-degree panoramas across almost the entirety of Hawke’s Bay.
GETTING THERE
Te Mata Park’s main gates and car park are on Te Mata Peak Rd, 5km southeast of Havelock Park. There’s no public transport to the park.
STARTING POINT
The car park immediately beyond the park’s stone gateway is set beneath tall Californian redwoods. An open-topped shelter above the car park has maps and park information, and there are toilets and tables beside the shelter. 01 The various walks in popular Te Mata Park are colour-coded – the route described here is the Rongokako Trail, which is marked with blue triangles and is the most dramatic of the park’s walks. It starts at the shelter above the main gates, heading up immediately beside the road. Along the right edge of the trail, you’ll notice (and probably smell) the white trunks of the yellowscented eucalypts – imports from Australia. By the Te Aratipi mountain-bike track junction, the walk turns away from the road and descends gently into a large grove of Californian
redwoods. In their native North America, these redwoods, or sequoias, are the planet’s tallest trees.
02 The walk zigzags up a slope, weaving through the redwoods. The trail soon seems to overhang a deep, narrow valley and you’ll be looking across the tops of the redwoods that grow from it. Turning left by a fence, the trail bottoms out among the most
impressive section of redwoods, where it crosses a stile and emerges into open grassland.
03 The summit climb begins here, winding onto, and then along, a broad ridge.
There are some precipitous sections along the ridge, with steep drop-offs and a short scramble up a well-stepped rock face known as the Goat Track (it’s better ascended than descended). Crossing a narrow gap in the ridge, the final steep climb awaits, rising to the summit, which you’ll share with those who drove up the road. The view from the summit stretches along Te Mata’s hog’s back ridge and takes in Napier, Hastings, the Mahia Peninsula, the Ruahine, Kaweka and Maungaharuru ranges, and even distant Mt Ruapehu on a fine day.
04 The blue triangles continue directly across the summit car park, where the track rolls across the lumps and bumps of the ridge to Saddle Lookout and a view back to the summit. The walk cuts across the inside corner of the road (past a drinking fountain) and back into the cover of bush. It descends quickly to cross Te Mata Peak Rd just below Peak House, continuing down to the main gates and car park.
TAKE A BREAK
Around 1km up the road from the park’s main gate, with a grand view of its own, Peak House (thepeakhouse.co.nz; 357 Te Mata Peak Rd, Havelock North; h7am-3pm Wed-sun) is a lodge-like coffee, beer or wine stop with a breakfast style menu (avocado on toast, muesli). There are several points on the final descent where you can branch off to the cafe.
There’s no real track here; look out for the orange markers. The route edges a swamp before coming out onto the southern end of 3km-long Te Werahi Beach.
03 Walk along the sand edging the sinuous loops of Te Werahi Stream, then wade across and climb to the signpost on the headland. Around the next bend, pretty Cape Maria van Diemen comes into view and you’ll enter an unusual landscape of artfully eroded gullies and colourful patches of pink, peach and orange claycoated stone. Some of this section is quite steep and it can be difficult to spot the orange markers against the peach coloured slopes of Herangi Hill.
04 Around 2km after Te Werahi Beach, you’ll reach the junction with a side track leading to Cape Maria van Diemen, the North Island’s westernmost point. If you’ve got 90 minutes to spare, it’s worth the 2km (each way) detour to what looks like rocky islets, anchored to the shore by sand dunes. If not, content yourself with the gorgeous views from just up the next hill.
05 The next 3km of track is rough and steep before it eases into a smooth stretch through low scrub heading for the northwestern end of remote Paengarēhia/
Stop to watch the breakers rolling in along the empty beach before starting your return journey.
06 The final leg takes around 80 minutes and, in places, can be a bit of a slog. Start by heading across the scrubby dunes before delving into the shady patch of bush. Another reed-lined boardwalk follows, and then another patch of bush before the route heads up through the cattle farm.
Stick to the fence to avoid the bulls.
TAKE A BREAK
The Kauri Unearthed food truck serves burgers, nachos, and fish and chips from the trailhead car park, operating from roughly 11am to 3pm in summer. Hours are sporadic in winter.