UPDATE Spicer Forest is open but the cache remains at the northern edge of the forest just before you leave the fenceline to enter the forest. There is no need to enter the forest to retrieve the cache, simply cross the stile at the given "STILE" waypoint and follow it to the cache. Please note that most of the information below is no longer applicable, and is kept only for references sake.
 |
| A view south along and through Spicer Corridor |
Spicer Corridor
It’s always neat when you discover a walking trail that you’ve been oblivious to for years – but in hindsight makes perfect sense. Little did we know where we would be taken when we decided to follow the mysterious track plastered with yellow markers pointing us to Kaukau & Ohariu Valley Road from the DOC sign just south of Colonial Knob. From the sign, Kaukau is a 10km, 5 hour walk away. Ohariu Valley Road is slightly closer, only 2km away and clocking in at 40 minutes.
As it turns out, there is a walking track that goes through a corridor-like green belt deep in the interior of Spicer Forest, not only this, it is also part of the national Te Araroa walkway. Frankly, that’s rather odd. We never knew of the track at all. There are only two access points for this section of walkway which runs through the Spicer pine plantation, Ohariu Valley Road from the south and Colonial Knob from the north. Access is otherwise very limited, and it bypasses Tawa completely.
 |
| A map from Google Earth of the area |
From Google Earth, there is a very apparent thin corridor of grass with a larger field to the north cutting through Spicer Forest – this is the track you will follow. From the ground, it’s an entirely different perspective however. There are no substantial views in any direction, except small peeks east across Tawa through the growing pine trees – more views are present during the ascent up the Colonial Knob walkway, but these soon vanish. The width of the corridor varies from hundreds of metres to barely noticeable. Dotted along either sides is the occasional eucalyptus tree, but whether these were planted or grew naturally is not known. Old farming equipment, small rotting posts, rise out of the ground in some places, indicating the area’s use before being planted.
Walking along the track is rather eerie. If you are lucky enough, occasionally you may hear the creak of the pine trees amongst the general silence, there are red sections of tape gripping around some pine tree trunks but not others, it can be quite muddy in sections, and there is the occasional Ongaonga plant in places.
It’s a relatively flat walk once you are on the rolling ridgeline – but there is a steep, slippery, section at the northern end of the forest where it would be quite easy to lose your footing. No doubt you will if you aren’t careful. You probably won’t meet anyone whilst on the track, but if you look at the marks in the ground, you can see it is well used by serious mountain bikers.
Birdlife is scarce - if you are lucky the occasional pheasant, rosellas and the distant squalling of seagulls over the Spicer landfill.
 |
| Looking northeast near to the turnoff to Spicer Forest in Colonial Knob Reserve |
 |
| Turn left here. |