Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk

By far the best way to run this is starting at the car park at the bottom of Panekire Bluff & run clockwise round to Hopuruahine suspension bridge. This gets you up over the bluff early in the morning (while you are fresh & the temperature is lower.)
The track leaves the car park & climbs past the former Armed Constabulary Redoubt, before tackling the main part of the climb. The Panekire Bluff section was my favourite part of the run. A long uphill climb, followed by an undulating section, saw us at Panekire Hut in just on 2 hours. Waiopaoa Hut was reached an hour later after a very steep descent back down to the lake, lots of steps (some earth, some wooden), this would be a much harder climb coming the other way.
Now the track follows the lake shore, with the occasional sidle or climb up over a saddle to avoid a peninsula, (nothing over about 60m though till Waiharuru Hut). Approximately 3Kms later the turn off to Korokoro falls is reached (a 3.5Km return trip). 8.5Kms later Marauiti Hut is reached after more pleasant weaving in & out of bays along the lakefront, an undulating piece of track, it climbs up & over a number of small ridges above & beside the lake . 6Kms further now to the Waiharuru huts, lots of opportunities for swimming if the weather is kind along here.
The track now crosses a stream & meanders around a bend before climbing sharply up over a saddle between 2 bays. This is the steepest climb after the bluff, (but still less than 80 metres of climb here). Dropping to the Tapuaenui campsite there is now just over 3Kms of lovely flat trail that stays close to the lake to reach Whanganui Hut. Our journey ended here as the last 4Km of track was still closed due to rockfall. This is due to reopen in February, allowing you to juggle cars rather than having to catch the boat back to the start, though some may still prefer this option.
With the sidetrip to Korokoro Falls I registered just over 45Kms, add the last 4Kms to the finish & you should have completed just under 50Kms by the finish of your run. Then there are just another 7 Great Walks to go to complete the set!