Over The Mountain tracks at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari

 

Damn it! A thick Cambridge frost greeted me at 6am, something I had overlooked in my planning. After a mad dash in the dark, I managed to clear my windscreen enough to get on the road to catch my shuttle at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. Driving at 80km with the windows down in the middle of winter isn't something I want to do too often.

I caught the shuttle at the Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Education Centre car park on Tari Road in Pukeatua. Three of us caught the 7.30am shuttle. There’s also a 9am shuttle if you fancy a sleep in. Our lovely driver, Anne, is a volunteer for the Trust. She gave us the history of the Trust, co-governing with Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Ngāti Hauā, and Raukawa, as well as the Trust's present-day challenges. The shuttle only runs on weekends and must be booked online at Sanctuary Mountain's website. We were dropped off in front of Maungatautari Marae on Hicks Road, about 15 minutes’ walk to the northern entrance gate. This is the last public toilet until you get to the Info Centre in the Southern Enclosure.

These are the tracks description on the Sanctuary Mountain website:

Wairere Traverse: A well-formed 11km track that takes approximately 5 hours one way (or 10 hours return) and requires a high level of fitness. The route climbs through ancient podocarp forest with towering rimu and tawa with birdsong from some of New Zealand’s rarest species along the way. The track is steep in places and can be muddy in wet weather—good gear and preparation are essential.

Te Raki and Te Tonga tracks: These follow a historic route to Pukeatua Peak, offering 5–6 hours of walking through lush forest and up to the southern peaks. Expect occasional panoramic views across the Waikato landscape and rich flora and fauna along the way.

These tracks are best suited to confident, well-equipped hikers aged 12 and over, and are not monitored by Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari staff.

From the road to the northern entrance is a good 20-minute uphill on a farm track. I heard a kākā nearby and looked up in time to see it fly off in the distance. The fence was designed to keep pests out, not keep the birds in.

I walked Te Raki and half of Te Tonga track until the Pukeatua Peak junction, then crossed over to the Wairere Traverse. My knees were pretty shot by then, and I thought the forest gravel track was a nice way to finish off the last few kilometres. I can't tell you about the track conditions for the first half of the Wairere Traverse, but looking at the topo map and comparing it to my experience, I reckon it would have been challenging, but lovely. There's no real view from Maungatautari Peak or Pukeatua, unless you're maybe 8 feet tall. If rugged, isolated bush mountain tracks make you froth, then this one is for you.

From the northern entrance, the gravel track follows alongside the pest-proof fence. The birdsong here was incredible! The shady spots were chilly, so definitely make sure to have extra layers. There was no easing into Te Raki Track, it definitely stopped feeling chilly at minute five! Any delusions of looking good in my selfies went out the window, but it was nice to be back in the bush. I heard the first tieke (saddleback) not far from the wooden bench on the first ridge. It's easy to spot their reddy-orange wattle and saddle hopping along the forest floor. A nice treat after an hour of Ronna vs mountain elevation.

While still on the ridge, I heard it. Out in the distance was the unmistakable song of the kōkako! It wasn't nearby, much further down the valley I reckon. Te Raki and the Wairere Traverse tracks met up for the first time about 15 mins from Maungatautari Peak. You’ll have a two metre gap in the trees and that's all you'll see of the valley below. At 797 masl, it's the highest point on the mountain, and where I met a trail runner (the only other person I met on the track that day). I had asked him what the track conditions would be like from there, thinking whether or not to backtrack to the junction. He said it was about the same, maybe with more mud. It wasn’t the same, and there was definitely more mud. Some sections had 30-degree descents, so prepare your quads, and if you’re a shorty like me, plenty of bum sliding too!

Pukeatua Peak (753 masl) is a 10-minute side quest from the main track. Again, no real views. I had completely missed the orange markers at the junction telling me to return to the main track, so I spent 10 minutes trying to find a non-existent orange marker at the trig. The tracks had been well marked up to this point, so to save my shorts from more bum sliding, I headed back down to the junction, shaking my head wondering how I had missed two markers! I could have kissed the junction signs when I saw a forest gravel path leading to the Wairere Traverse track. My knees were done, and I was more than ready to enjoy the bush and eat my snacks.

The birdsong on this section of track was incredible. I saw a few more tieke (saddlebacks) digging around in the dirt in search of a snack. While I found it easier to spot the tieke because of their orange saddles, seeing the kōkako was just a feeling something was watching me from above. I stopped, looked up and saw it hopping between the branches. Be still my beating heart! My camera was in my bag, and my phone didn’t have the optical zoom to get a clear shot in the canopy. This was my first time seeing a kōkako outside of Manawahe so I was stoked to meet the 'grey ghost' of the forest, even for just a few minutes.

It took me around 7.5 hours to walk Over the Mountain, the track estimate is about 5-6 hours. An 11km mountain track is on pretty challenging terrain, and I moved much slower on the descent. Definitely Type 2 in some sections, and overall, just a challenging bush mountain track that keeps you honest.