Labo(u)r-day weekend

We'd been planning for some time to spend the first bank holiday weekend we've had here hiking in the Coromandel, a penisula about two hours drive to the east of Auckland. We'd been told the traffic over there would be really awful, so decided just to do two days, avoiding the Friday night/Saturday morning traffic. This turned out to be a rather good plan, due to heavy rain most of Saturday. The rain continued into Sunday, making our drive out of Auckland less than pleasant. However, the forecast was for the weather to clear, so we continued on undaunted.

The nice man in the Kauaeranga Visitor Centre was clearly very bored, but he promised us the weather would clear, so we collected our hut passes and started on our way. The hike up was fairly steep, with many steps hewn into the rock, and we got a little damp, but by the time we arrived at the Pinnacles Hut all forecasts were correct and the sky was beautifully blue.


After a quick cup of soup in the hut, we made our way up to the top of the Pinnacles themselves. More a scramble than a hike, the last portion of the walk was well worth it - at the top was a secluded spot with wonderful views, fit for any very special occasion...