As I commented on the post below, I went on a quick recon walk out to the pinnacles hut today. It's a bit of a highway of a track- a far cry from the usual bush-bashing efforts I'm used to from Canterbury excursions. It ended up being a pretty relaxed effort for David and I- a leisurely 5 hour return trip with stops a-plenty. I was keen to sus the track out to see if it would be appropriate for an early new year time mission for a few of us keen on carrying up boxes of beer and having a good time at the hut (the hut is an 80-bunk mansion!). Initial impressions are good! Just so long as no one dies trying to heave a 24-slab up the stone staircase, we should be good to go.
The pinnacles walk is half an hour northeast of Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula. It starts at 160m elevation and rises to 600m over an infamous 2km stair stretch. The stairs are, in parts, chiseled out of the stone slabs making up the hillside. They were made by the pioneering loggers in the early 1900's for access into the kauri rich area. Some historic kauri dams still stand, which were used to flush the logs down valley after felling.
Anyway.. photos! (maybe more to be added later from David's dropbox)
[Link to topo map location: http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-37.04254,175.712172&z=15 ]
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| The start of the staircase |
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| That tall section is a cooled magma chamber- mountain eroding away from it. |
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| Panorama 1 |
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| Panorama 2 |
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| Panorama 3 |
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| Manuka in full bloom- small stream. |
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