A trip to Winzenberg Hill has been on our 'to do' list for quite some time. It's just around the corner from home, at Mt Holdsworth, and we hoped it would provide a view down the Waingawa Valley to our home.
The track to the summit has recently been opened by the South Wairarapa Tramping Club. The volunteers who spent many hours cutting through thick scrub certainly deserve a Tui!
Heading north from the caretaker's house the track runs along the true left of the stream past the helicopter landing pad and water tanks, and then into the beech forest. It crosses the stream a handful of times then heads up the eastern branch to the 380m contour before crossing the stream and heading north-west onto the prominent spur that leads to the northern end of the ridge running south-east back to the summit at 729 metres ASL.
The walk gave us the opportunity to freshen up on some basic navigation - taking and following a bearing, and once out in the open resection (triangulation) to determine our position. All good stuff for a summer of tramping ahead.
Regular openings in the canopy provide great views north-west to Mt Holdsworth and along to Jumbo, with both Powell and Jumbo huts visible.
The trip to the summit took one hour and ten minutes, just long and steep enough to feel like we'd done a work-out.
The area was once farmed, with pockets of original beech remaining. As such the regrowth is dense, particularly at the higher altitude, with gorse slowly being forced back by the natives. Sign of pigs in the area was unwelcome, but more common in the Tararua's now as DoC seem to have forgotten all the hard work done by cullers in days past. We were similarly disappointed to see a large number of goats near Mid Waiohine Hut a couple of years ago.
Views from the summit were much better to the south, over the Atiwhakatu Stream, and to the north up the Waingawa Valley than to the east. We didn't get to see our home unfortunately.
Route map:
Trip times:
