Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jasmine's Cafe & Thai Restaurant
(43 Hakiaha St; mains $10-16; 7am-9pm)
Robust all-day breakfasts, decent coffee and stonking
toasted sandwiches, before morphing tastily into a Thai restaurant. Lunch specials ($10 to
$13) are good value.
CAFE, THAI
$$
Information
9am-5pm)
Visitor informa-
Taumarunui i-SITE
(
07-895 7494;
www.visitruapehu.com
; 116 Hakiaha St;
tion and internet access.
Getting There & Away
Taumarunui is on SH4, 81km south of Te Kuiti and 41km north of National Park town-
ship.
InterCity
( 0508 353 947;
www.intercity.co.nz
)
buses head to Auckland ($29 to $61, 4½ hours,
one daily) via Te Kuiti ($14 to $30, one hour), and to Palmerston North ($29 to $61, 4¾
hours, one daily) via National Park ($21, 30 minutes).
PUREORA FOREST PARK & THE TIMBER TRAIL
Fringing the western edge of Lake Taupo, the 78,000-hectare Pureora Forest is home to NZ's tallest totara tree.
Logging was stopped in the 1980s after a long campaign by conservationists, and the subsequent regeneration is
impressive. Hiking routes through the park include tracks to the summits of
Mt Pureora
(1165m) and the rock
pinnacle of
Mt Titiraupenga
(1042m). A 12m-high tower, a short walk from the Bismarck Rd car park, provides
a canopy-level view of the forest for birdwatchers.
To stay overnight in one of three standard
DOC huts
(adult/child $5/2.50) you'll need to buy hut tickets in ad-
vance, unless you have a Backcountry Hut Pass. The three
campsites
(adult/child $6/3) have self-registration
boxes. Hut tickets, maps and information are available from DOC.
Awhina Wilderness Experience
(
www.awhinatours.co.nz
;
per person $90) offers five-hour walking tours with
local Maori guides through virgin bush to the summit of Titiraupenga, their sacred mountain. Farmstay accom-
modation is also available.
Another option is to ride the spectacular
Timber Trail
from Pureora village in the north of the forest southwest
for 85km to Ongarue. Accommodation and shuttle transport is available at
Pa Harakeke
( 07-929 8708;
www.paharekeke.co.nz
;
138 Maraeroa Rd; d $150), an interesting Maori-operated initiative near Pureora village,
and
Black Fern Lodge
( 07-894 7677;
www.blackfernlodge.co.nz
; Ongarue Stream Rd, Waimiha; per person
from $58) at Waimiha gets rave reviews for its home cooking.
See
www.thetimbertrail.com
for maps, shuttle and bike-hire information and route planning.
TOP OF CHAPTER
