Paihia - Opua Forest (Oromahoe Traverse) [04/02/2017]
Trail photos
![Photo ofPaihia - Opua Forest (Oromahoe Traverse) [04/02/2017]](https://s1.wklcdn.com/image_39/1179814/16357803/10257457Master.jpg)
![Photo ofPaihia - Opua Forest (Oromahoe Traverse) [04/02/2017]](https://s2.wklcdn.com/image_39/1179814/16357804/10257458.400x300.jpg)
![Photo ofPaihia - Opua Forest (Oromahoe Traverse) [04/02/2017]](https://s0.wklcdn.com/image_39/1179814/16357804/10257459.400x300.jpg)
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 8.06 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,303 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 2,303 ft
- Max elevation
- 604 ft
- TrailRank
- 52
- Min elevation
- 125 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 3 hours 48 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1197
- Uploaded
- February 9, 2017
- Recorded
- February 2017
near Paihia, Northland (New Zealand)
Viewed 1422 times, downloaded 25 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Route from Paihia to Opua Forest through the Oromahoe Traverse, passing the Paihia School Road Track on the first track, extending the route to complete the Opua Kauri Walk, and following exactly the same path to the return
The route begins at the beginning of Oromahoe Traverse, where the poster is located. Car parks in the population of Paihia are mostly temporary (only for 30 minutes or 1 hour), or they are paid (and quite expensive!). In this case, the car has been left in an area of grass away from the population (right next to the sign), although these car parks are scarce. The sign of the start of the route offers the long option, Oromahoe Traverse, and also a shorter option, that only arrives until the viewpoint of the Paihia School Road Track. In this case, the short route was first done (only in the first leg), and then the long one was completed. Just entering the woods they hear the songs of an unimaginable crowd of birds, and there are signs warning of the fragility of kauris (very valuable and endemic trees in New Zealand that take diseases as a result of fungi and other substances that people wear stuck in the shoes), and the possibility of having Kiwis (endemic non-flying birds also from New Zealand, in danger of extinction, and have become the icon of the country) living in the woods. After a short period of time, you reach the Paihia School Road Track, from which you can see good views of the Bay of Islands, the first place where European colonizers were established, and even Waitangi, the famous place where the polemic Treaty of Waitangi was signed, which regulated the relations between Māori and Pākehā (New Zealanders of European origin), including the annexation of the country to the British Empire in exchange for its protection, although the interpretations are different depending on the side. Continuing along the route, you cross the Opua Forest following a monotonous path, very lush thanks to the covered corridor that forms the trees, with constant increases and descents that make the final cumulative elevation of the route much higher than it would seem in a first moment. During this crossing, many traps can be observed to eradicate the pests of unwanted predators, such as rats and musters, which are a problem throughout the country because there is no other predator that persecutes them (New Zealand was one of Last places to host mammals, since until then it had been a land dominated mostly by birds, which is why many of them were non-flying, since they should not fear predators that carried eggs that rested in nests on the ground) . At the end of the crossing, another sign indicates that, about 800 meters along the road, there is a small route to see kauris, so that it decides to go there. During the short route you can see Kauris of different ages, and all the way is well prepared to avoid direct contact of shoes with the roots of the trees, which could catch the disease that affects them. Unexpectedly, the route ends at a platform where there is a bench to sit and, just in front of the bank, a giant kauri that stands out above the others.
After admiring the tree for a long time, the way back comes again, undoing exactly the same path as in the first leg, now without stopping at the first viewpoint, though.
The route is very well prepared, with footbridges in the most complicated places, and without great complications along the way, apart from the accumulated difference and a slightly more steep climb or descent. Regarding signaling, this is more than correct, and the route does not admit any type of confusion because there are no secondary paths. The Oromahoe Traverse can be a little monotonous because the landscape is always the same; lush paths that cross the forest. Anyway, there is no climb or descent that lasts a long time, and a climb is always compensated quickly with a descent, or vice versa. It is a pleasant route, with a spectacular noise of the song of the birds (there are many!), And with a good surprise if you decide to complete the route with Opua Kauri Walk.
The route begins at the beginning of Oromahoe Traverse, where the poster is located. Car parks in the population of Paihia are mostly temporary (only for 30 minutes or 1 hour), or they are paid (and quite expensive!). In this case, the car has been left in an area of grass away from the population (right next to the sign), although these car parks are scarce. The sign of the start of the route offers the long option, Oromahoe Traverse, and also a shorter option, that only arrives until the viewpoint of the Paihia School Road Track. In this case, the short route was first done (only in the first leg), and then the long one was completed. Just entering the woods they hear the songs of an unimaginable crowd of birds, and there are signs warning of the fragility of kauris (very valuable and endemic trees in New Zealand that take diseases as a result of fungi and other substances that people wear stuck in the shoes), and the possibility of having Kiwis (endemic non-flying birds also from New Zealand, in danger of extinction, and have become the icon of the country) living in the woods. After a short period of time, you reach the Paihia School Road Track, from which you can see good views of the Bay of Islands, the first place where European colonizers were established, and even Waitangi, the famous place where the polemic Treaty of Waitangi was signed, which regulated the relations between Māori and Pākehā (New Zealanders of European origin), including the annexation of the country to the British Empire in exchange for its protection, although the interpretations are different depending on the side. Continuing along the route, you cross the Opua Forest following a monotonous path, very lush thanks to the covered corridor that forms the trees, with constant increases and descents that make the final cumulative elevation of the route much higher than it would seem in a first moment. During this crossing, many traps can be observed to eradicate the pests of unwanted predators, such as rats and musters, which are a problem throughout the country because there is no other predator that persecutes them (New Zealand was one of Last places to host mammals, since until then it had been a land dominated mostly by birds, which is why many of them were non-flying, since they should not fear predators that carried eggs that rested in nests on the ground) . At the end of the crossing, another sign indicates that, about 800 meters along the road, there is a small route to see kauris, so that it decides to go there. During the short route you can see Kauris of different ages, and all the way is well prepared to avoid direct contact of shoes with the roots of the trees, which could catch the disease that affects them. Unexpectedly, the route ends at a platform where there is a bench to sit and, just in front of the bank, a giant kauri that stands out above the others.
After admiring the tree for a long time, the way back comes again, undoing exactly the same path as in the first leg, now without stopping at the first viewpoint, though.
The route is very well prepared, with footbridges in the most complicated places, and without great complications along the way, apart from the accumulated difference and a slightly more steep climb or descent. Regarding signaling, this is more than correct, and the route does not admit any type of confusion because there are no secondary paths. The Oromahoe Traverse can be a little monotonous because the landscape is always the same; lush paths that cross the forest. Anyway, there is no climb or descent that lasts a long time, and a climb is always compensated quickly with a descent, or vice versa. It is a pleasant route, with a spectacular noise of the song of the birds (there are many!), And with a good surprise if you decide to complete the route with Opua Kauri Walk.
Waypoints
Information point
161 ft
Cartell indicador de l'inici de la ruta
Cartell indicador de l'inici de la ruta
Panorama
600 ft
Vista des del mirador de la Paihia School Road Track
Vista des del mirador de la Paihia School Road Track
Photo
Information point
548 ft
Cartell indicador del final de la ruta (Oromahoe Traverse)
Cartell indicador del final de la ruta (Oromahoe Traverse)
Information point
472 ft
Cartell indicador de l'inici de l'Opua Kauri Walk
Cartell indicador de l'inici de l'Opua Kauri Walk
Tree
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