KEY POINTS:
Hey, this is tramping as I remember it from the far-off times when I wore a younger man's clothes, more like bush-crashing than strolling along the manicured tracks which seem to be the norm these days.
The route had been cut through the bush only a couple of weeks before by Geoff Chapple and his team from Te Araroa - the long pathway - to fill in another link in the planned hiking trail the length of the country.
It isn't quite bush-crashing but at times it's pretty close to it as we skip over tree roots, duck under branches, dodge the stumps of cut-off saplings, clamber up slippery slopes and keep an eagle-eye out for the next orange triangle marker - all that stands between us and being lost.
This is not only a good walk, it's also an excellent test of how well I'll cope with a trek in Nepal which is now only a few weeks away. Fortunately, the tough new section of the walk occupies only about 3km of our route or it's a test I might well fail.
We're actually doing the walk the other way around to Chapple's north-to-south option when he walked the planned route of Te Araroa back in 1998.
Done this way, it all starts in very civilised fashion at the Dome Tearooms, 7km north of Warkworth, on State Highway 1, where the Dome Forest Walkway has its origins.
From the tearooms carpark a neat set of steps carries the walkway up the hillside into the bush. We're just starting on these when a fit-looking bloke emerges from the tearooms, obviously refreshed by a nice morning tea, and says encouragingly, "You'll need good knees for that".
True, the knees do take a bit of strain during the 1.2km clamber up to the Dome itself, but the track is nice and smooth - maintained, according to a sign, by the Mid-North branch of Forest and Bird, who presumably were also responsible for putting identification plaques on trees en route - so it's really quite a gentle introduction.
There used to be good views from the top of the Dome but these are now largely obscured by the regenerating foliage. Fortunately, there's a viewing platform just short of the Dome from which you can gaze out over the beautiful Hauraki Gulf and, on a clear day, even spot the Sky Tower sprouting from the heart of the city.
From the Dome a short track extension meanders gently down to the Waiwhiu Kauri Grove, home to about 20 good-sized kauri which somehow escaped the attentions of the loggers.
However, at the Dome trig station a warning notice helpfully suggests that if you plan to carry on any further you need to be fairly fit and to have good footwear, a verdict with which my tiring leg muscles will later whole-heartedly agree.
The next stage of our route is along a rough but well-established track which basically follows the ridge line through attractive regenerating bush, with lots of ups and downs, most of the ups producing spectacular views over the countryside out to the coast.
Suddenly, the bush ends and we're walking through a young, fresh-smelling pine forest where the track meets up with a forestry road. Unfortunately, there's nothing to indicate which way to turn but, after studying the lie of the land, we opt for going left (and I'm later assured by Chapple that the omission was fixed in time for the official trail opening on November 4).
Luckily, a left turn proves to be smarter geographically than it is economically because a comfortable stroll down the forestry road leads to the public road along the bottom of the Waiwhiu Valley where a couple of Chapple's orange triangles tell us to turn right.
Just a kilometre or so down the road another set of triangles points the way back into the bush and a track leads down to a pretty stream, where some invitingly flat boulders overlooking a quiet pool provide the ideal place for a lunch break.
That also turns out to be a good choice because this is the point where we enter the new link in Te Araroa, a track through the Totara Peak Scenic reserve, which is tough going for an ageing, semi-fit, occasional tramper.
What makes it hard work is the need to simultaneously dance around roots and stumps, duck branches and supplejack vines and clamber up steep hillsides while not losing track of those vital orange triangle markers.
Still, the route is nice enough, meandering for a time alongside the stream through an attractive mix of bush, then climbing steeply to the top of the ridge where there are more views.
Occasionally, over my puffing and panting, I can hear tui chiming melodically, fantails complaining about the noisy intrusion or grey warblers cheerfully - and incorrectly - forecasting rain.
As I strain up one particularly steep slope, a tremendous crashing from just above my head signals that I've disturbed two fine fat kereru who had been enjoying a post-prandial nap in the bushes. One over-stuffed bird almost smacks me on the ear as it struggles to carry its bulging belly to safety.
Much clumsy fluttering later, the two eventually perch high in a puriri tree from where they look indignantly down while my lungs gradually recover from the combination of exercise and shock.
Not too long after that our semi-bush-crashing challenge comes to a successful end at a lovely, smooth, well-kept four-wheel-drive road that is a paper extension to Conical Peak Rd.
A pleasant 2km stroll along this leads to a newly formed pathway which circumvents a couple of houses and eventually down a set of steps to a real road, Govan Wilson Rd, where, by the time you read this, a sign will have been installed proclaiming the start of another length of Te Araroa.
For us, however, journey's end was a bit further away, along Govan Wilson Rd to Matakana Valley Rd, and then down into the valley itself where my tramping companion has a small hut and a huge garden.
Altogether, it took us about five hours moving at a steady but not particularly fast pace. Still, the official signage being installed by the Department of Conservation suggests that from the tearooms to Govan Wilson Rd could take seven hours, so maybe I'm fitter than I thought. Bring on Nepal!
Checklist
Further information
You can find out about Te Araroa and its developing network of tracks at Te Araroa.
The Department of Conservation website at DoC has lots of information about walkways or you can try the Warkworth regional office at (09) 425 7812.
The Dome-Gocan Wilson Rd Walkway officially opened last week.
The adjoining section of the Te Araroa, the Mt Tamahunga Walkway, was described by Geoff Chapple in Travel on January 24.
