Tramping the Tararuas: Waiaua Gorge Hut

Overview: an overnighter on Mt Taranaki's less visited western slopes to Waiaua Gorge Hut via the Ihaia Track.

The Ihaia track begins inauspiciously at the end of Ihaia Road, a short distance inland from the coastal town of Opunake. There's a small area to park the car and a DOC sign telling you to follow the markers over farmland to the Te Papakura o Taranaki National Park boundary. It's a quick 800m over open paddock to the wall of trees that delineate the national park.

The track is often muddy and there is frequent tree fall and storm damage. There's a fair bit of limbo-ing and scrambling over and under fallen trees at times. It's beautiful forest though, especially farther in from park boundary.

There's an untamed quality to the track that lends it a certain charm, despite the fact I was frequently grumbling to myself about having to circumnavigate yet another fallen tree and/or bog.

After winding gently up through the forest for ~3km, a signposted junction is reached. I turn right, following the sign directing me to Waiaua Gorge Hut. This section of track is a recent diversion not yet shown on Topo50 maps, cut due to what is apparently irreparable storm damage to critical sections of the old track.

The track had been a bit on the rough side up until this point, but this diversion is on another level. It's muddier and scramblier, but still not without its charm. Less than a kilometer later, the track has brought me to the broad, open bed of the Waiaua River.

Ghostly, lichen-covered skeletons of long-dead trees dominate my view while a take a quick break. Further up the river, a small side stream is crossed and swaths of young tutu plants are colonising the otherwise vacant expanse. Marker poles guide the way and it's mostly easy going.
After the river bed, the forest is re-entered and it's a muddy slog up a steep slope before eventually arriving at the hut. A clearing outside the hut affords fantastic views over the densely forested and steep-sided gorge that gives the hut its name.

It's a great spot, even with the mountain obscured by cloud. The hut itself is cosy and well appointed, with two separate bunkrooms off the main area. As the evening progressed, the cloud around the mountain began to clear, revealing the peak illuminated by the golden dusk sun.

Despite a forecast that predicted cloud and showers, the next day brought sun and clear skies. This cemented my potential plan for a side trip to Brames Falls.

A signpost points the way to Brames Falls and more distant destinations such as Syme Hut and Lake Dive. A short distance from the hut, a ladder descends the near vertical drop part the way down into the Waiaua gorge. The remaining descent is a steep scramble before arriving at the river, and after crossing there's a steep clamber out of the gorge onto the bluffs above.

Once on the bluffs, the track is relatively easy-going, though overgrown in places. I had read somewhere that the falls were about an hour from the hut, I naively thought this was a significant over-estimate. It was not.
A signposted viewpoint of Brames Falls is reached about 1.5km from the hut. The falls are quite distant from the viewpoint, there might be other closer view points further up the track but I decided here was good enough.
From here the falls are a white streak dropping over a cliff face into the densely forested bowl below.

After returning to the hut to retrieve my pack it was time to return to the car. Better weather today meant the peak of Taranaki made a striking view from the Waiaua River.