The Kaimais

I had to get out of Auckland this weekend and voiced this issue to a member of the tramping club named Richard; and so a tramping trip was born. Four of us left on Saturday morning at 7 am for the Kaimai ranges which are about 2 hours south of Auckland on the Bay of Plenty (which I discovered is not a bay, rather a fertile valley). It was Richard, myself, a young guy named Tommy and an alumni named Chantelle.
The first day was half spent on a track that was frequently used by dirt bikes and 4 wheel drive trucks, so it was not so scenic. Then we ducked into the dense bush to try and find the hut we had been told about. The bush was so dense, it mostly bushbashing and trying to find a few trail markers pinned to trees. The amusing part is that this hut we were headed to is not on any modern maps and minimally recognised by the DOC, so we were mostly just hoping it still existed! Needless to say, we found the hut, and just before the rain came.
The next day included so more dense bushbashing but the trail opened up and made for a nice 6 hour hike. We got to the car just as it started to rain and headed over to a city called Miranda for some good post-tramping hot pools. Pictures...

Richard and Tommy posing by a waterfall on the first day

Erosion on the trail before we hit the dense bush

A view from about half way up.

The "Bay" of Plenty, just to clarify

Our beautiful hut for the night. Its currently scheduled for removal whenever it next needs work so the local trampers are keeping it up.

Richard cooking some delicious oatmeal!

The view you were waiting for...