There’s more to Central Hawke’s Bay than the main road through Dannevirke as David Coxon found on a recent recce.

Story & photo by David Coxon

Travelling once again with Gillian and Ashley, the first leg of this trip was to travel from Woodville to Dannevirke, using Pinfold Rd and Top Grass Rd to stay as close as possible to the Ruahine ranges, exploring the road ends along the way. 

Being quite close to civilisation, the main route and many of the side roads were sealed, and we only encountered a few short sections of well-maintained gravel.  After a couple of less than exciting road ends that took us to locked gates leading into farm properties, we struck gold, or actually  copper, with Coppermine Rd, an easy  detour off the main route that ended at a car park at the boundary to the Ruahine Forest Park, complete with a grassy-banked stream perfect for picnics, and pools deep enough for cooling off on a hot day.  

There were also some walking tracks heading into the Ruahine ranges.  However, with the topo map showing that the short loop had a climb of 200m – about the same a climbing the stairs to the top floor of the Auckland Sky Tower – and the longer track climbed 500m to reach Whariti Peak, we decided that they were not quite the short stroll we were looking for.

Great camping spot

Following the same pattern, we were stopped by a couple more farm gates before finding Kumeti Rd.  This took us to a very attractive bush-lined entrance to the Ruahine Forest Park, where we passed a peaceful, shady and spacious camping area with a toilet and fire pits before the road ended abruptly with a drop into the stream.  

Returning to the camping area for a better look around, we decided that if our planned accommodation at the Dannevirke camping grounds didn’t meet our expectations we would return here for the night.  In the meantime, however, we had a few more tracks to explore.  

Laws Rd looked hopeful as on the map it ended in a valley with a track continuing into the ranges, however, once again it ended at a collection of farm gates.  As we were turning around, the vehicle I had noticed some way behind us pulled up at one of the gates.  

Spooky!

I was expecting the driver to get out and either ask if we were lost or open the gate and go about his business, but no, he just sat there and glared at us.  As we headed back to Top Grass Rd the same vehicle dogged our path, finally leaving us when we turned north to continue our trip.  A little creepy!  

Our next encounter at the Ruahine Forest park boundary in Tamaki West Rd, was much more congenial when we met a group of DoC staff doing general maintenance.  After a quick chat we left them to their work and walked about 200m to a large grassy picnic and camping area where we stopped or a late coffee break.  

Although lacking a toilet, this area had a few picnic tables and was another beautiful area to come the chill out.  While in the area, we also tried Tamaki East Rd, and while this eventually stopped at a farm gate, it was about eight km to the gate and the road passed through some very attractive and remote-feeling hill country that was well worth seeing.

Camp ground first

By now we had reached the end of our enthusiasm and were glad to head out to Dannevirke and our accommodation at the local camping ground.  This was May’s first ever camping experience, and although I have done a lot of camping over the years, it has nearly always been either in the middle of the forest as part of a multi-day tramping trip, or on school fields and farmland as part of longer 4WD tag-along trips.  

Staying in a proper camping ground has never been of interest to me since the discomforts of camping need to offset by the peace and tranquillity of the surroundings.  However, times and needs change, and we had decided to trial basic campground camping for two nights as a way of making overnight trips more affordable.  

Even though we were there a week after New Year, the grounds were spacious, clean and quiet – except for the dawn chorus!  It was a brilliant camping ground that we both loved, and we are now sold on camping, at least in fine weather.

Birdsong

Day two started early thanks to the dawn chorus, with a relaxing breakfast accompanied by birdsong while we developed a plan to head to the coast near Porangahau via a string of back roads.  A brief run up SH2 north of Dannevirke and a couple of side roads out towards the coast took us onto Maunga Rd, for a long and interesting run through the ranges on roads normally only used by the locals.  

We were thoroughly enjoying the isolation and scenery on the mainly gravel roads, when we caught up with a large mob of sheep heading in our direction.  At the advice of the bloke driving them along, I tried pushing my way through them, but it was impossible.  

The mob had packed the road from fence line to bank and there was just nowhere for the sheep in front of me to move over.  Eventually we gave up and decided that a coffee stop to enjoy the view would be more productive than following the sheep.  

Part 2 continues next month

To read the full story in the May 2019 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (April 22) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store