Pirongia

From our house in Hamilton we can nearly see Mount Pirongia. This is no great surprise since its the tallest peak in the Waikato region (nearly 1000 m). It also happens to be the largest area of native forest in the Waikato basin. On sunday we went climb up it.

Pirongia is short for Pirongia te aroaro o Kahu; the scented pathway of Kahu. Pirongia is actually made up of a series of basaltic cones (old volcanos), we climbed up the less poetically named Ruapane (Pit of heads, some 700 odd metres high).

some of Pirongias extinct volcano cones

Kahu, by the way, was the wife of a local Maori chief. She features prominently in place names around here. We are all recovering from illness so cant comment on the scent of her pathway, but it was very steep. Thandi is taking well to climbing mountains. She sang and shouted the whole way up, and slept the whole way down, and on the whole I think she prefers being above the ground than under it.

looking across the Waikato basin

We didnt see much wildlife, thanks to Thandi's advanced warning system, but the views were well worth it. I have included a video to give you a feel for the place. Again, sorry about the rapid panning/zooming.



The lower slopes are mostly made up of podocarp forest, which gives way to hardy shrubs, scrub and flax higher up. From Ruapane you can see eastwards across the waikato basin (including Hamilton) to the Kaimai range, and westward to Raglan harbour. There is lots more to explore in Pirongia, so watch this space

In other news nothing much has happened.