Lovers Ensuite-Al fresco (Auckland) Traditional Cache
Lovers Ensuite-Al fresco (Auckland)
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Located in one of the most difficult places in the Waitakarie ranges to get to,also one of the best places to view.The easy way in (apart from helicopter)involves descending off trail from a main track,clambering,rock climbing,needs a good head for heights & not for the faint hearted!
Down the rugged & beautiful Pararaha Gorge, a certain local lawyer discovered a stream running off the main Pararaha Stream. When heading upsteam he found a delightful waterfall and pool below.He returned later to bring his future wife to share with her this gem of a place.
You wont find this trail marked on any of the local trail maps as it has been rated for EXPERIENCED TRAMPERS, CANYONERS ONLY & usually the only ones to head this way are locals who know the traps & tramping clubs who go in well prepared.
NOT for children,pets,possibly wives & it PAYS to go well prepared & under the guidance of someone who knows the area well,as well as having good weather,possibly not the best in winter,in fact I wouldnt go.
You might want to consider the option of walking right down to the sea & back up to karekare beach, in which case use 2 vehicles,leave one in the carpark at the beach, motor on up to the beginning of Odlin track & pick this one up later.
Kay & I were priviliged to go with the aforementioned lawyer to this amazingly beautiful place,as he described it as the one best places that he knew of in the ranges.
In some places the tracks are narrow & with a freefall of up to 40ft right beside your feet,other places require climbing up & down rock & scrub faces which reminded me of the climbing facilities that are in your local gymnasium.No cell phone coverage & it took us 7 hrs to negotiate the gorge,plant the cache , walk out to the coast & back up to the car at Karekare.A distance of about 7kms; more experienced trampers would take half that time,Im sure. We were stuffed!
One of the uses of the stream was to move kauri logs down to the beach by creating dams along the way,then releasing the water to float the logs to the next stage.Along the stream there is evidence of this in the form of huge rotting logs jammed into the sides.
And what did we get out of it?---a new respect of what we were capable of if pushed beyond what we normally would,and a chance to vist a truly awesome place!
The cache is secured in a small rock cave,we are making this one easy to find as we sure as heck dont want to get you this far & reporting a DNF. ( check out the pics)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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