Thanks your majesty

This weekend was our last three day one until October; courtesy of Her Majesty. While no big deal back in 'blighty, here it is a public holiday; albeit celebrated in June, not on her actual birthday of 21 April - go figure!

It had been a while since we had completed a decent tramp so I arranged to head to the Coromandel National park with friends. We planned to walk the famous Pinnacles trail (Kauaeranga Kauri Trail), which traverses steep and rugged country along tracks built by kauri bushmen between 1870's & 1920's up to the top.

Unfortunately Amanda's back had taken a turn for the worse, so she stayed behind to enjoy a girly weekend instead.

The traffic on the long weekends is notorisouly bad as everyone leaves Auckland, the majority for The Coromandel. Therefore we were up at 5.30 for Amanda to drop me off with Jan & Matylda.

My fuddled brain cursed me at the time but it was a wise choice; virtually empty roads meant we made very good time. So good that we were worried there may be nowhere open to grab a pre walk brekkie in Thames. Thankfully there was; and a farmers market too. And fed and caffeinated we picked up supplies before heading to the trail start.

We had been warned the that trail was very difficult, with lot's of steps and the trail spent almost entirely in ascent. While not as bad we had been led to believe it was still no walk in the park. ;0)

Steep in places the trail passes through a mixture of dense rainforest and open bush with three river crossings; two of which were made by suspension bridges. The views from the top across the Coromandel Peninsula and beyond were spectacular.

We had booked into the DOC hut for the night to make a weekend of it and avoid the need to do the track down again the same day. The DOC reckons 3 hours to reach the hut and we did it 2 hours 30 so not bad going. Great timing too as it started raining just after we arrived.

We stripped of layer after layer during the ascent but piled them back on, while resting at the hut. The elevation and the strong winds making us rather chilly. Worst of all we realised we only packed enough coffee for the morning - disaster! Thankfully the on site warden found us a tea bag to share. Never has a cup of tea been so welcome :0)

The rain abated and a quick bite and a warming cup of tea later we left the hut (and our packs) to scale the summit. A short but steep climb including ladders and footholds bolted to the rockface.

Lovely and sunny up here and just as well as the wind was very strong. At the very top we engaged in a spot of rock climbing to perch upon the rocks from which the trail takes it's name and thus sit an elevation of 759m; Matylda almost getting stuck as it was a lot harder getting down than up.

The sun was setting now and the changing light transformed the views once more as headed back to the hut for dinner - barbecued steak, broccoli and beetroot with a sole glass of vino; turns out we did not bring enough wine either!

The clouds cleared and we were afforded great views of the night sky, even the Milky Way was itself was visible - a band of stars and galaxies traversing the sky.

The hut itself slept 80 on bunks and while chilly had cooking facilities and was a great place to sit and eat. Breakfast with a view!

Our descent the next day took a little longer as we took the more difficult and more rugged "Billy Goat" track. Three and half hours were required to knock this one off and we all had aching feet and knees by the end. This track was more interesting however, some great valley views, disused Kauri hauling tracks and lots of large Ponga.

We got lucky with the weather again - warm enough to wear shorts and not a drop of rain. A real bonus since the same walk in the rain would have been a lot harder and not as enjoyable.

Not having eaten much since we breakfast we stopped off at Kaiaua for fish and chips with fine views of the Coromandel Peninsula mountains; the Pinnacles themselves somewhere amongst them.