Essentially a couple of overnight tramps put together, we wanted to cover a couple of sites in the Coromandel Area; including a walk to the Pinnacles and across the tip of the Coromandel. We had our first experiments with dehydrating our own food, so were also keen to try a much lighter way of carrying our meals around.
We headed off on Thursday night, down through Thames to the Kauaeranga Valley, travelling along dirt roads for some time, finally arriving at the Trestle View Campground. Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we got there, but it was still good practice putting the tarp up in the dark.
We had already eaten, so we quickly set up and headed to bed, with the plan being getting up early and making the walk to the Pinnacles and back a day trip. Unfortunately, the mozzie’s had a different plan, and we were kept up much of the night with the incessant buzzing and biting of the little bastards. Waking up tired, we resolved to hunt down a mozzie net before any more nights were to be spent out in the bush.
It turns out we had set the tarp up right next to a large body of stagnant water – which we had failed to notice in the dark. Regardless, we knew we had to do something about the biters.
A breakfast (scrambled eggs in a bag) set us up nicely for the day, and we were off to the pinnacles.
We headed up past the Hydro camp through to the Pinnacles hut, then headed back down via the Billy Goat Track.
The next night was spent up at the top of Port Charles –Â Stoney Bay
Summary
Location:Â Coromandel
Grade:Easy – well maintained and marked tracks
Time:3 days
Party Size:2