Wairoa Rafting

Our annual Xmas camping trip this year was to Rotorua. Camping is what kiwi's at this time of year, at least the ones who are either to poor, or like us, to tight to stay in a Motel. It can be a tad crowded; otherwise lovely campsites, are akin to the black hole of Calcutta. Still it is a tradition, and at least its all over with after a few weeks.

We brought a larger tent for this years trip. This proved a mixed blessing. While providing much needed space it also proved to be a bugger to put up. Nothing seemed to line up properly and somehow the tent when finally assembled ended up occupying some of next doors pitch!

Looking back from the comfort of home, it was a fun holiday. The highlight for me was some grade 5 rafting on the Wairoa River. I have been wanting to do this trip for a few years. This has proved difficult in the past as the water in the river is from a dam release, which only happens for a few hours every two weeks. There are other more scenic rivers to raft, but in terms of excitement it was right up there, and was certainly worth the wait

Mt Holdsworth Trip

Looking up to Mt Holdsworth.


We had a friend, Robin Waterhouse, stay with us over Xmas this year. Robin is a avid tramper, so on the weekend prior to Xmas we headed off on a two day trip to climb Mt Holdsworth in the local Tararua range. This area is where I do the majority of my tramping. The Tararuas have a reputation of being a rather dour range with some of NZ's worst mountain weather. Its reputation regarding weather is well justified, but other than that, I feel that it is one of the most underrated tramping areas in NZ.

On the first day we tramped up to Powell Hut. The hut is just on the tree line and has some nice views. The last part of the track to the hut is very steep, with some minor scrambling. We stayed here the night as the tops were in the clouds, and Neena was pretty tired after the days exertions.

The next morning was cold, but more importantly clear, so Robin and I headed on up the hour or so's walk to Mt Holdsworth. The two pictures here were taken on this last part of the walk.

On top of Holdsworth.