Tinui Anzac Walkway (instead of Waiorongomai Hut) – Sunday 7 March 2021
After stalking Metservice for 2-3 days it was decided that, given the promised rain in the mountains, the planned trip up the Waiorongomai River was not a goer. Instead, it seemed a better choice to head towards the coast and the Tinui Anzac Walkway. Two of the group had walked this before and two didn’t even know it existed.
The walkway is about an hour’s drive from Masterton on the Castlepoint Road, on a working farm and forest, is open from 1 November to 25 April and has a load of historical significance. Tinui was the first place in the world to hold an Anzac Day ceremony – in 1916. The local vicar wanted to remember the young men from the area who had gone to WW1, as well as those who had died, so he erected a cross on the top of a hill overlooking Tinui village. A modern version of this cross is the destination of the walkway.
The day was sunny and windless, so a good choice weatherwise. The walk begins at the local cemetery, initially heads across farmland and then into eucalypt and pine plantations before taking us up a steep track and 300 metre climb through regenerating native bush (protected by a QE2 National Trust covenant) to the Anzac Cross and trig point at the top. We took about an hour to get to the top, admired the spectacular views, explored a few optional tracks, had lunch, took the long way home and made it a 4-hour outing by the time we got back to the cemetery.
Trip participants – Margaret, Denise, Chris, Nigina
