What a surprise we get! We headed towards the “allowed to spend the night” symbol of our mobile application without knowing where we were going. But wow, when we get to the gorges of Karangahake we stay stunned! If New Zealand has these surprises.
The car park is in front of a furious river that runs through an open canyon in an impressive gorge. From there several walks leave to know the place more closely. A few years ago this whole area was plagued with gold mines, so these roads run through the old mining operations.
The first thing we had to do is cross the river by a suspension bridge that moved at every step. But it is not the only one we crossed, in order to obtain the valuable mineral a railroad was built where the old mine railroad passed. The walk follows a good part of this route, including the steel girder bridges that rise over the river and over the road.
After one of them you reach a tunnel of more than a kilometer! When you look from the outside, they seem scarce 200 or 300 meters ... but when you start walking, illuminated only by a few orange lights, without knowing that you are stepping on or around you, looking straight ahead, in the light of the end of the tunnel, which every time It seems farther away… you have a tremendous desire to leave! And Lety kill me for convincing her to enter ...
In the end it is not so much, you reach another bridge and the path back to the parking lot. A beautiful hike in a truly amazing place!
Here we have spent only one night, because we have not yet got used to the cold of the night. So, advised by an Australian, we prefer to pull towards Waihi beach (according to the hottest 4 degrees).
USEFUL INFO
Overnight There are about 5 or 6 places where you can spend the night, at most two nights in a row. At the time we went (July) they were only occupied 3. There are very clean bathrooms 24 hours and running water.
Hikes There are several well-explained walks on the informational sign near the first bridge. The one we did was 3 or 4 km and simple. After passing the great bridge we turn left to pass another smaller bridge and reach some ruins of mining operations. Then we retraced our steps, crossed the smaller bridge and continued straight ahead, leaving the river on our right. You reach other ruins and just beyond the steel bridge that crosses the road. It leads directly to the one km tunnel. When you leave it, you cross a new bridge and turn right, to follow a small path next to the river, which, after just over a km leaves you again in the parking lot.
