Ten members of the group and three friends enjoyed a 4 night stay at the Tauhara Retreat Centre at Acacia Bay, Taupo from 27 to 31 October 2015.

We arrived late afternoon and settled into our accommodation. The couples staying in the cottages and the single members in the bunkrooms. We enjoyed dinner and lots of chatter before bedtime.

The next day our first hike started at Huka Falls, crossing the bridge past the viewing areas for the Falls. The track climbs to the cliff tops with great views of the river. It gradually descends and continues along the river to the Aratiatia Hydro Dam and rapids. We got to the lookout point in time to have our lunch before the dam’s control gates opened to allow the rapids to flow, a spectacular sight. We then walked back to the Huka Falls – a good 4 hours or more of walking. We went to the Mosaic Café for coffee on the way back to Tauhara.

The second day the weather report was not good so we went to the Waipahihi Botanical Reserve. This was founded in 1966 to rescue 35 neglected hectares from housing subdivision. Today it is a wonderful park of NZ forest trees and native plants and a refuge for bird life. There are lovely picnic spots and beautiful lake and mountain views. There are 2000 rhododendrons, and azaleas and camellias. The colours were amazingly vibrant and beautiful. There are also bush and fern walkways as well. We spent 2 hours in this peaceful beautiful haven. The weather was sunny and warm!!!

We then went to 2 mile bay and enjoyed our lunch by the lake, then walked to the end of the path around the lake and back to the cars.

We finished the day with a wonderful swim at De Bretts Hot Pools – we had one ‘boy’ in the group who enjoyed many trips down the slide!!!

Our last day saw us drive to Kinloch and start the hike to Kawakawa Bay. There were great views of the lake as the track climbs from Whangamata Bay and sidles along the cliff top. The bush is dominated by rewarewa and some giant matai, also beautiful pungas and tree ferns. We reached the rocky lookout after 2 hours and then down to the lake edge at Kawakawa Bay. We had our lunch here and returned by the same track. A total of 6 hours hiking so we were glad to get our boots off and enjoy an ice cream before heading home. A great achievement for the whole group.

We came home the next morning having had a wonderful time exploring new places and enjoying the company of this great group of friends.

A big thank you to everyone for all their help with dinners, dishes and organising!!!

Thelma Cane,  Convener.

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