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When I was growing up and tramping with my dad, the Kiri track was one of our favourite tramping tracks. It's a great route up onto the Pouakais with stunning views of Taranaki once you emerge from the bush and follow the ridge lines up to Kiri peak and then cross the saddle over to Pouakai peak. You can then make it a loop walk by taking the track around the top of the ranges back to Pouakai hut and then descend down the old Plymouth track.These tracks have been officially close for years but I …

After having to abandon a summit attempt on Taranaki due to winter conditions (new snow down to 1300m), my daughter Sarah and her boyfriend were keen to do an evening tramp on the Pouakais to see Pouakai tarn at dusk.When we left home just before 6:00pm there was still cloud over the mountain but it looked like there would be a good chance of it clearing up for the evening so off we went.  We set off into the bush at around 6:10 and made good time getting up to the hut at 7:40pm and then st …

On Friday I set out on another climb of Taranaki keen to get in another snow climb before the snow is all gone. I decided to take the Khyber pass route with the intent of getting into the bottom of crater valley and then having a snow climb directly up into the crater.  This route takes the old summit track up razor back ridge then traverses across to pass just above Humphries Castle. There was a large bank of cloud to the north west of the mountain that was closing in behind me as I climbe …

One of my favourite New Zealand shorebirds is the NZ Dotterel or tuturiwhatu. They're friendly inquisitive birds but also feisty when defending their nest or young. We only have a few locations left now on the Taranaki coastline where they can still nest and most of these sites aren't protected. The best location, where there is normally 2 or 3 pairs, is at Sandy Bay near Oanui where they are in a protected reserve with a team of dedicated locals perfoming pest control.Despite the poor weather f …

Every spring I look forward to getting in a few good snow climbs on Taranaki. This year the snow seems to be melting off much faster with a much lower snow base than past years. I've been wanting to make a climb for a few weeks but the weather or other events have always got in the way.  I was also a bit nervous about my fitness as I haven't been doing any tramping recently. On Saturday morning the mountian was clear though there was a bit of cloud around. I decided this was my opportu …