Taraire Ridge and Pukenui Loop

Head from the carpark following the gravel walkway. Head straight past the first gate into the 'Kiwi Area' and keep following the gravel path around. You will soon come to a second gate and head on in through that.... then, as the sign says, follow the orange triangles (not the pink trappers ones).

The first bit is really easy running on well manicured trails. There is the occasional rough bit, but at first you will find it smooth going - easy way to warm up. Even the first few up and downhills have steps for most of them. I could see they were still quite new. I could understand though, as there are kauri all around including an absolute beaut (make sure you take the short detour). With Kauri Dieback becoming so prevalent, anything to save these stunning trees is ok by me... even if it means running totally on boardwalk!

Then the going gets a bit more technical, still some steps thrown in and some boardwalk... at 5km you come to a signed intersection. This is where you can go left and complete the Pukenui Loop, or head right onto the Taraire Ridge Track... as is the way for this run. Then everything changes, no manicured trails here... from here on in it's technical, technical and more technical. Ups and downs, tree roots by the million, so small stream crossings and a healthy dose of mud.... pretty much everything we look for in a trail! It this section you have to pay attention to the triangles, because quite often there is no apparent trail. But they are there and slowly you will work around the loop and back to that first gate we walked by at the start... make sure to check out the second large kauri not to far from the end.