Whatipu Tramp

At the start of summer we headed back out to the west coast with a few friends and colleagues for a tramp. Easily one of our best yet; a nice 4 hour loop climbing up the Omanawanui Track and then descending down the Kura Track. The climb from the carpark starts almost straight away and was a good warm up as we climbed up to 180m and then 290m. Amazing views of the coast and the Manakau Heads opposite. A good mix of open headland, scree, lava and scrub; the remainder of the track undulated along the ridge, before crossing the road onto the Kura track. This was downhill all the way and returned us to the valley floor through native bush with the odd stream crossing or two. < br /> < br />