A relatively fine forecast and a suitable tide was the chance we were looking for to escape the city for a day and experience some isolated coastline. After an early start to make the most of the longer pre-Christmas days, we were soon north of Masterton on Route 52, a slower but more interesting drive than SH2. Just past Tiraumea we turned off into Waihoki Valley Rd for a run through some very scenic back country on some unsealed, minor roads. This was quite a long run, with very little traffic and plenty of chances to stop to enjoy the views and photograph some of the interesting old farm buildings, before we finally reached Coast Rd, the southern road into Akitio. Although still gravel, from here it was an easier drive following the Owahanga River then climbing over the coastal ranges and down into Akitio. Here our plan for a late morning tea turned into an early lunch as some took advantage of the shop / takeaway at the camp ground to get a few extra treats. Clambering through the driftwood and onto the beach for a solitary walk was a good bit of exercise, and the sun and fresh sea are was a refreshing tonic for me after the mainly wet and blustery Wellington weather of the last few weeks. These experiences are one of the main reasons I enjoy this type of travel so much.
While we were enjoying our break, the tide waits for no one and we had one more coastal destination to reach before the tide got too high. Leaving Akitio, we took River Rd, the northern access to Akitio, then turned off onto Glenora Rd to take the road less travelled, finally rejoining Route 52 at Ti Tree Point. From here it was a reasonably short run on a sealed, but windy road to Wimbleton then down to the coast at Herbertville. Just before Herbertville we took a gravel road to the left for about a kilometre before following a track through the grass-covered dunes onto the beach. With the tide still being reasonably low, the run up the beach was fairly easy beach although the strong sea breeze was blowing up some sand. It is rather interesting trying to judge your speed when the surface around you is all moving. After about a kilometre, we were stopped by the rocky outcrops at Cape Turnagain, where we found that we were the only ones on the whole beach, giving us that rare pleasure of not having to share the experience. Unfortunately the continuing flurries of wind-blown sand made it a bit impractical to enjoy an afternoon coffee so after enjoying just being there for a while we headed back, planning to stop at the Wimbledon Tavern if it was open. As we returned down the beach, I realised that the wind had filled in all our tyre tracks, and all grass covered dunes look the same. Luckily I was using the GPS to track our route, and that got me back to the right gap in the dunes to get onto the track back to the road – that could have been embarrassing!
Back on Route 52, we found the Wimbledon tavern was open, so enjoyed a civilised afternoon coffee break before heading back towards home. Of course we couldn’t just go straight home, and just past Wimbledon there are a couple of loops into the hills that provide an interesting run through some pine plantations and along ridges overlooking more farmland. These finally took us to our last destination for the day, Waihi Falls. This is somewhere we have been a number of times, but it is always hard to not stop in if we are in the areas. On this trip the falls were in full flow after all the wet weather and when we got to the bottom of the falls, the gusts of wind lifting the spray off the falls made it feel as if it was raining. I spent more time than I should have trying to capture the power of the falls without soaking my camera but was eventually dragged away by the general desire to start the relatively long trek home.
We took the scenic route back to Route 52, which we then followed all the way back to Masterton and the formal end of the trip. Although it was still another hour’s drive to get home, the late evenings meant we still got home before dark after a long but very enjoyable escape.
