This article was published in Tararua Tramper November 2025
Whakanui Creek waterfall via Old Whakanui Track
SF – Saturday 20 September
The original plan was to follow the same route as in 2022 (Whakanui Creek 27 4 2022), but we decided to choose easier spurs than the steep WS trapline spurs.
We set off from Hine Road Recreational Area car park in Wainuiomata, walked up Nikau Creek Track following the creek upstream, and eight minutes later found the start of the Old Whakanui Track, revealed by an erected pile of stones and big branches intended to block off access. We stepped over the blockage and started the steep and slippery ascent to the spur. Complaining calf muscles and some hard breathing later, we were up on the spur and rewarded with beautiful bush - kidney ferns galore. I have walked up the Old Whakanui quite a few times, as has David carrying out his pest control duties, and we exchanged our discoveries. Once on the spur, the ascent eased, apart from one section where we could either climb over a dead tree, or walk over rotting tree roots.
Less than two hours from the start, at the intersection of the Old Whakanui Track and the topo-marked track that leads from the (West) Whakanui Track to the East Whakanui Track and LG Track (Lost Glennis, named after Glennis who got lost), we decided it was a bit early for morning tea and continued upwards to the top of the ridge (.711) on the LG track. Ten minutes later we went off the track to find a way down to the Whakanui Creek waterfall. After morning tea in a spot sheltered from the northerly wind, we started our descent to the waterfall, bashing through some light bush and navigating to find the way down. Not long later, we found a tape marker and hints of a trail appeared. Every now and then the trail disappeared, but it wasn’t difficult to find the way down. David’s confidence in the leader’s navigation skills went from ‘moderate’ to ‘very confident’ - a sign of imminent disaster, I pointed out. Fortunately nothing of the sort happened.
The last little scramble from the ridge down to the waterfall was probably the most challenging of the trip, but it was nothing compared to the near-vertical scramble down to the creek, via a different spur on the other side, that David and other adventurers did three years ago. Within 30 minutes we were at the top end of the waterfall. David put his gloves in the creek while taking a few selfies and the others found this interesting. We wanted to admire the waterfall from below. Getting there was a bit more challenging than I had thought, but a few minutes later we were at the bottom of the waterfall, posing in front of David’s camera and the waterfall for more selfies.
From the waterfall, we climbed up to the spur directly northeast and had an early lunch before continuing up the spur, with impressive views of Mt Matthews and the East Whakanui saddle. We admired the lovely, untouched bush and an hour or so later found the abandoned WS trapline, deemed to be too dangerous to continue servicing because of the very steep descent to the creek. We followed the trapline for a few minutes to the East Whakanui Track, followed it back to the (West) Whakanui Track and took a 30-second detour along the McKerrow Track to take photos of Wainuiomata and Wellington harbour. We could see the South Island. On the way down the Whakanui we met a lady who previously serviced the WS trapline and now tracks kiwi in the Turere Stream and Skerrets Creek catchments. She pointed out old kiwi poo on the track, and we childishly came up with a new word ‘poo-ologist’, to which she replied that she was only a ‘kiwi-poo-ologist’!
Instead of walking down to the bridge over Skerret’s creek and down Sunny Grove, we took the track parallel with Sunny Grove ending at the Sinclair cemetery and the Garden of Remembrance at the carpark. Stats for the trip: length 11.5km, duration 7h 5m (including breaks), ascent/descent 1,050m. (M V)
Mike Voets (leader), David McNabb, Peter Tunnicliff