Pouakai Circuit

Kokowai Stream
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After a night in rather uncomfortable bunks at a backpackers in New Plymouth we rose early and set off tramp the Pouakai Circuit. We started at the Kaiauai road end and it took us a bit longer than we thought to get to the Kaiauai shelter, where we stopped for a quick break. We soon learnt why every one else was going the opposite direction to us, steps and lots of them. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Rose’s quads weren’t suffering as a result of descending Egmont. When reached the top of Henry’s peak we stopped for another quick break as we could see plenty more steps down the other side. The cloud was fairly low and there was a chill in the air as we went along the tops to Pouakai Hut. At the hut we stopped for some warm food and avoided the rain that had just started to fall. After eating we geared up in jackets ready for rain, but just as we got back up to the ridge the rain stopped. The rest of the way along the tops, down to the swamp and across to Holly Hut was easy going, Rose’s thighs had warmed up a bit by now. We arrived at the hut in time for lunch, had some food and then were quickly bored as we had the whole afternoon to kill. We decided to get out of our nice dry warm clothes and go and check out Bells Falls. It was a bit further than we’d thought but was worth the trip.

One set of many steps
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The next morning we looked out the hut window and could see fog round over the grassy area in front of the hut, thankfully it was no indication of the weather. The day was stunning; from the hut we could see the top of Egmont and where we’d walked the day before. We set off early as we still had to drive back to Wellington that afternoon. It didn’t take us long to get to the turnoff, from here we descend the slopes of Egmont, most other people continued back to North Egmont Visitors Centre. The track down was quite pretty once we dropped down into the bush. The route we had intended to take didn’t exist anymore as they’ve removed the bridge, so we had to go down and back over the swing bridge. We arrived out keen for an ice-cream and headed up to the visitors centre, that idea was quickly quashed when we looked at the price, $8!! We thought we’d just find one on the way home.